Before we jump into the realm of digital color remember that the translations can be difficult. Digital color is Additive Color. Paint mixing is Subtractive color. Here is a good explaination found with Google:

CMY Colour Mixing Basics

A subtractive color is a color created by the absorption of certain wavelengths of light and the reflection of others, typically using pigments or dyes in mixtures such as cyan, magenta, and yellow.

Definition and Principle

Subtractive color is the method of creating colors by mixing pigments, inks, or dyes, which work by subtracting (absorbing) certain wavelengths of light and reflecting the remaining wavelengths to produce a perceivable color. Unlike additive color, which relies on light emission (like in screens), subtractive color depends on reflected light from surfaces. When you combine multiple pigments, more light is absorbed, and the resulting color becomes darker, trending toward black if all primary pigments are mixed equally.

Primary Colors in Subtractive Mixing

The primary colors for subtractive mixing are generally:

• Cyan – absorbs red light

• Magenta – absorbs green light

• Yellow – absorbs blue light

When combined:

• Cyan + Magenta = Blue

• Cyan + Yellow = Green

• Magenta + Yellow = Red

• Cyan + Magenta + Yellow = near Black (in theory; in practical printing, black ink is added as K in CMYK)

These are the basis of CMY(CMYK) color models used in printing, painting, and other color production methods.

Applications

Subtractive color is widely used in printing, painting, photography (FROM NEGATIVE), and physical color mixing because pigments can filter out unwanted wavelengths, producing a controlled range of colors. For instance:

• In printing, ink layers subtract certain wavelengths to produce the desired visible colors.

• In painting, mixing pigments allows artists to create new colors based on how each pigment absorbs light.

Comparison with Additive Color

• Subtractive color: Uses pigments, relies on reflection, combining colors absorbs light.

• Additive color: Uses light sources (like RGB screens), combining colors emits more light, producing white when all primaries are combined.

Understanding subtractive color is fundamental to color theory, printing technology, and visual arts, as it explains how physical materials produce the spectrum of visible colors.


Please consider that while using this tool. There’s a lot of jiggering of color between native screen (RGB) math and #HEX math for screen display and translation to subtractive color for display. So this tool will give you good to excellent aproximaations of paint colors. Nothing substitutes making actual color charts from your three primaries.

This tool is for not only color mixing but accessing color/evalue. establishing value range for your paintings.

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