Variations of magenta
Encyclopedia
This article is about notable tints and shades
of the color
magenta
. These various colors are shown below.
made up of equal parts of red
and blue
light
. This would be the precise definition of the color as defined for computer display (the color #FF00FF shown in the color swatch above). It is a pure chroma
on the RGB color wheel (Image of RGB color wheel:) midway between violet
and rose
. In HSV colour space, magenta has a hue
of 300°.
Magenta is not a spectral but an extraspectral color: it cannot be generated by light of a single wavelength
. Humans, being trichromat
s, can only see as far as 380 nanometers into the spectrum
, i.e., as far as violet
.
The hue magenta is the complement
of green
: magenta pigment
s absorb green light, thus magenta and green are opposite colors.
Besides being called original magenta, magenta dye color is also called rich magenta to distinguish it from the colors printer's magenta and electric magenta, shown below.
Magenta was one of the first aniline
dye
s, discovered shortly after the Battle of Magenta
(1859), which occurred near the town of Magenta in northern Italy
. The color was originally called fuchsine or roseine, but for marketing
purposes in 1860 the color name was changed to magenta after the battle. Hence, the color is named indirectly after the town.
In color printing
, the color called process magenta or pigment magenta is one of the three primary pigment colors which, along with yellow
and cyan
, constitute the three subtractive primary colors of pigment. (The secondary colors of pigment are blue, green, and red.) As such, the CMYK printing process
was invented in the 1890s
, when newspapers began to publish color comic strip
s.
Process magenta is not an RGB color, and there is no fixed conversion from CMYK primaries to RGB. Different formulations are used for printer's ink, so there can be variations in the printed color that is pure magenta ink. A typical formulation of process magenta is shown in the color box at right. The source of the color shown at right is the color magenta that is shown in the diagram located at the bottom of the following website offering tintbooks for CMYK printing: http://www.tintbook.com/.
Electric magenta, shown at the right, is one of the three secondary colors in the RGB color model
. For computer
color rendition, that specific hue of magenta composed of equal parts of red and blue light was termed the web color fuchsia
and was assigned as an alias for the RGB code of magenta on a list of standardized web colors. "Electric" magenta and fuchsia are exactly the same color. Sometimes electric magenta is called electronic magenta.
The purpose of the RGB color system is to provide the maximum gamut
of colors for reproduction on a computer
or television set
.
This is a Crayola
crayon color invented in 1972. In 1990 the name was changed to shocking pink.
This color was formulated by Crayola in 1972.
This color was formulated by Crayola in 1990.
Tints and shades
In color theory, a tint is the mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness, and a shade is the mixture of a color with black, which reduces lightness...
of the color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
magenta
Magenta
Magenta is a color evoked by light stronger in blue and red wavelengths than in yellowish-green wavelengths . In light experiments, magenta can be produced by removing the lime-green wavelengths from white light...
. These various colors are shown below.
Definition of magenta
Magenta is a colorColor
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
made up of equal parts of red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
and blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
light
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
. This would be the precise definition of the color as defined for computer display (the color #FF00FF shown in the color swatch above). It is a pure chroma
Chroma
Chroma, the Greek word for color, may refer to:* Colorfulness or chroma, the perceived intensity of a specific color* Chrominance or chroma, one of the two components of a television signal* Chroma, a measure of color purity in the Munsell color system...
on the RGB color wheel (Image of RGB color wheel:) midway between violet
Violet (color)
As the name of a color, violet is synonymous with a bluish purple, when the word "purple" is used in the common English language sense of any color between blue and red, not including either blue or red...
and rose
Rose (color)
Rose is the color halfway between red and magenta on the HSV color wheel, also known as the RGB color wheel, on which it is at hue angle of 330 degrees.Rose is one of the tertiary colors on the HSV color wheel...
. In HSV colour space, magenta has a hue
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
of 300°.
Magenta is not a spectral but an extraspectral color: it cannot be generated by light of a single wavelength
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
. Humans, being trichromat
Trichromat
Trichromacy or trichromaticism is the condition of possessing three independent channels for conveying color information, derived from the three different cone types...
s, can only see as far as 380 nanometers into the spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
, i.e., as far as violet
Violet (color)
As the name of a color, violet is synonymous with a bluish purple, when the word "purple" is used in the common English language sense of any color between blue and red, not including either blue or red...
.
The hue magenta is the complement
Complementary color
Complementary colors are pairs of colors that are of “opposite” hue in some color model. The exact hue “complementary” to a given hue depends on the model in question, and perceptually uniform, additive, and subtractive color models, for example, have differing complements for any given color.-...
of green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
: magenta pigment
Pigment
A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...
s absorb green light, thus magenta and green are opposite colors.
Magenta dye (original variation) (1860)
Before printer's magenta was invented in the 1890s for CMYK printing, and electric magenta was invented in the 1980s for computer displays, these two artificially engineered colors were preceded by the color displayed at right, which is the color originally called magenta made from coal tar dyes in the year 1859.Besides being called original magenta, magenta dye color is also called rich magenta to distinguish it from the colors printer's magenta and electric magenta, shown below.
Magenta was one of the first aniline
Aniline
Aniline, phenylamine or aminobenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H5NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the prototypical aromatic amine. Being a precursor to many industrial chemicals, its main use is in the manufacture of precursors to polyurethane...
dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
s, discovered shortly after the Battle of Magenta
Battle of Magenta
The Battle of Magenta was fought on June 4, 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in a French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III against the Austrians under Marshal Ferencz Gyulai....
(1859), which occurred near the town of Magenta in northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The color was originally called fuchsine or roseine, but for marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
purposes in 1860 the color name was changed to magenta after the battle. Hence, the color is named indirectly after the town.
Process magenta (pigment magenta) (printer's magenta) (1890s)
Color printing
Color printing or Colour printing is the reproduction of an image or text in color...
, the color called process magenta or pigment magenta is one of the three primary pigment colors which, along with yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
and cyan
Cyan
Cyan from , transliterated: kýanos, meaning "dark blue substance") may be used as the name of any of a number of colors in the blue/green range of the spectrum. In reference to the visible spectrum cyan is used to refer to the color obtained by mixing equal amounts of green and blue light or the...
, constitute the three subtractive primary colors of pigment. (The secondary colors of pigment are blue, green, and red.) As such, the CMYK printing process
CMYK color model
The CMYK color model is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key...
was invented in the 1890s
1890s
The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...
, when newspapers began to publish color comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
s.
Process magenta is not an RGB color, and there is no fixed conversion from CMYK primaries to RGB. Different formulations are used for printer's ink, so there can be variations in the printed color that is pure magenta ink. A typical formulation of process magenta is shown in the color box at right. The source of the color shown at right is the color magenta that is shown in the diagram located at the bottom of the following website offering tintbooks for CMYK printing: http://www.tintbook.com/.
Electric magenta (additive secondary magenta) (web color fuchsia) (1990s)
RGB color model
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light is added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors...
. For computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
color rendition, that specific hue of magenta composed of equal parts of red and blue light was termed the web color fuchsia
Fuchsia (color)
Fuchsia is a vivid reddish or pinkish purple color named after the flower of the fuchsia plant, itself named after the German scientist Leonhart Fuchs...
and was assigned as an alias for the RGB code of magenta on a list of standardized web colors. "Electric" magenta and fuchsia are exactly the same color. Sometimes electric magenta is called electronic magenta.
The purpose of the RGB color system is to provide the maximum gamut
Gamut
In color reproduction, including computer graphics and photography, the gamut, or color gamut , is a certain complete subset of colors. The most common usage refers to the subset of colors which can be accurately represented in a given circumstance, such as within a given color space or by a...
of colors for reproduction on a computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
or television set
Television set
A television set is a device that combines a tuner, display, and speakers for the purpose of viewing television. Television sets became a popular consumer product after the Second World War, using vacuum tubes and cathode ray tube displays...
.
Shocking pink (crayola)
Displayed at right is the Crayola color shocking pink.This is a Crayola
Crayola
Crayola is a brand of artists' supplies manufactured by Crayola LLC, which was founded in 1885 as Binney & Smith. It is best known for its crayons...
crayon color invented in 1972. In 1990 the name was changed to shocking pink.
Hot magenta
Displayed at right is the color hot magenta.This color was formulated by Crayola in 1972.
Purple pizzazz
Displayed at right is the color purple pizzazz.This color was formulated by Crayola in 1990.