Member-only story
Seeing red as yellow and magenta
The mysteries of red as a secondary color for printing digital media and data visualizations.
When most of us see or ponder the color Red, we rarely consider it to be a combination of Yellow and Magenta. Indeed, we might think of Red as one of the primaries in the Red Green Blue (RGB) display color space. Perhaps we consider it in terms of its long wavelengths, approximately 625–740 nanometers, in the visible spectrum. Rarely, do we realize that Red is actually a secondary color in Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key Black (CMYK) color space. During the color printing process, the color Red is produced by combining Yellow and Magenta. In this writing, I explore the Magenta, Yellow and Red combination for depicting data visualizations. Beyond the CMYK printing process, the results are fascinating in terms of color deficiency tests. Let’s get started by reviewing some color theory fundamentals that result in Red becoming a secondary hue for printing while still serving as a primary color for displays.
