Printer Ink And The Cmyk Colour Model

Colour ink cartridges for inkjet and other household printers invariably come in three colours cyan

, magenta and yellow. From these basic colours a whole range of hues and tones can be created resulting in full colour images being obtained.

In printing parlance we often hear reference to the CMYK colour model. For reasons about which there is much speculation, the K in this scale represents black. It is variously said that K is used instead of B so as not to confuse it with blue (cyan), or because it represents the key colour.

Cyan and magenta, of course, are not primary colours as such, although they are respectively derivatives of the other two colours that are, blue and red.

When shone through a prism white is the combination of all the primary coloured lights, with black conversely representing an absence of light. In the CMYK printing model however the opposite is the case, with cyan, magenta and yellow combining to provide a black image on a usually white background. However, because most printing is performed in black conventional printers use black as a stand alone colour for the purpose of economy, and also for improved definition.

Ostensibly it would appear that only seven colour combinations could be achieved by mixing the available colours on a printer ink cartridge cyan, magenta, yellow, cyan/magenta, cyan/yellow, magenta/yellow and cyan/magenta/yellow (black). And yet a colour printer will produce images in full colour. The reason this is possible is that it uses a process known as half toning.

Half toning is in fact achieved by recording miniscule dots of each colour on the CMYK scale so closely together that the human eye perceives them and the white background between them as being one solid colour. Thus a certain intensity of magenta ink against a white background will create an impression of pink, and the intensity of the dots will determine the shade of pink that is perceived.

When combined with computer technology we can accurately select the colours we require by stipulating the relative percentage of each colour on the interface provided with the printer software. So if for example the green we obtain by mixing cyan with yellow is too dark we may opt to lighten it by introducing a larger percentage of yellow and by default a lower percentage of cyan.

Modern ink cartridges are sophisticated enough to adjust their output of each respective colour precisely in accordance with our instructions in order to produce the desired outcome.

by: Mark Richards

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