Refers to a process or state of creating colors by mixing pigments, paints, dyes, or inks. Such colors are perceived by the eye depending upon the degree to which they absorb some wavelengths of light and reflect others; unlike with an additive color system, the object itself does not emit color or light. An object appears to have color due to the section of the electromagnetic spectrum that is reflected by it combined with the sections of the spectrum that are absorbed. Thus, a subtractive color system refers to light absorbed or reflected by the primary pigment colors, which are used to produce the other colors, as laid out in the CMYK color model. Combining one of these subtractive primary colors with equal amounts of another primary creates the subtractive secondary colors, a secondary color combined with a primary produces a tertiary color, and combining two complementary colors produces black.
