Simen Kvaal wrote:
> 
> >That depends. In rgb-calculations cyan is the opposite of red, if for
> instance
> >you were using another hightech multimedia-tool like for instance
> fingerpaint
> >you'd have green as the opposite of red.
> 
> This is not entirely true. There is a common misunderstanding, that additive
> colors (light) behave different from subtractive (pigments). It is correct
> that green is the opposite of red, but the misunderstanding lies in what is
> "red" and what is "green".
> 
> Here is a show-off from a class I attended once. (This is for information,
> and not to make a fool of anyone. It is not easy to come up with all this
> one ones own; I know. :) )
> 
> Usually, you say that red, blue and yellow are mixed together to make black.
> In pigment-theory, yellow is a primary color, which is true, because yellow
> pigment is the pigment that reflects everything which is not blue! Red is a
> primary color in both systems, however the color is not the same! Red is the
> pigment that reflects all colors but green. The red pigment reflects
> red+blue light when illuminated with white light, and thus "red" is not
> actually red, but red+blue=magenta! "Blue" pigment is really cyan. We have:
> 
> "red" (magenta) pigment = <1, 1, 1> - green
> yellow pigment = <1, 1, 1> - blue
> "blue" (cyan) pigment = <1, 1, 1> - red
> 
> The opposite color is the color on the "other side" of the color wheel. Now,
> we can see that red is the opposite of green in common language, but it is
> actually magenta that is the opposite color of green and vice versa.
> 
> If you open the standard color-picking tool in Windows or any graphical
> package, you can see the color-wheel, and verify this.
> 
> Observe that opposite colors also exists in light-systems, as opposite = <1,
> 1, 1> - original.
> 
> Simen.

If you open the standard color-picking tool in Windows you are again relying on
a computerized, scientifically based, interpretation. I'm not debating what
you're saying here. As I already stated: it's not clear what everyone means by
red although there is some common idea about that. If you're looking at the
difference between blue and green it's getting more difficult as a thread in the
binaries.images group illustrates. Apart from the fact that it is sometimes hard
to decide if it's more green or more blue there is also the problem that not
everyone sees it in the same way. A significant part of the male population is
simply colourblind.

It is tempting, if you're working with computers, to pin down colours on their
values, use a scientific approach. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with
that. My point is: colours are a matter of perception. This is not less
scientific as there has been a lot of research on how people react on colours.
The Bauhaus gave a lot of attention to colour-theory, partly based on artistic
principles, but also on psychological research. You could say that that theory
is outdated but I think there's more in those theories than just some
numbercrunching.

Regards,

Remco

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