Understanding basic color theory
Color can be measured and described in many ways, probably more than any other medium. There are whole topics dedicated to color: science, psychology, sociology, and of course, technology. Let me explain each of these in relation to color and why they are important.
Color science
Color reaches our eyes through visible waves of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun and is measured in nanometers (nm). Our eyes, along with our brains, translate light into color. The perception of each color we see is based on a different wavelength of this radiation, with red (740 nm) being the longest wavelength we can see and violet (380 nm) being the shortest (Figure 11.1):
Figure 11.1: Wavelengths of visible light (image: Lance Phillips)
Artificial light mimics these wavelengths of the Sun. All the color that we see with our eyes is light either reflected off surfaces or emitted by a light source.
The retina in our eyes is most...
