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Magenta, a purple hue in terms of color theory, is a color evoked by light having less power in green wavelengths than in blue/violet and red wavelengths (complements of magenta have wavelength 500–530 nm).[2] In light experiments, magenta can be produced by removing the lime-green wavelengths from white light. It is an extra-spectral color, meaning it cannot be generated by a single wavelength of light, being a mixture of red and blue or violet wavelengths. The name magenta comes from the dye magenta, commonly called fuchsine, discovered shortly after the 1859 Battle of Magenta near Magenta, Italy.
In the Munsell color system, magenta is called red–purple. In the CMYK color model used in printing, it is one of the primary colors of ink. In the RGB color model, the secondary color created by mixing the red and blue primaries is called magenta or fuchsia, though this color differs in hue from printer's magenta.
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Historical development of magenta [edit]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2007) |
| Magenta dye | |
|---|---|
 Color coordinates |
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| Hex triplet | #CA1F7B |
| sRGBB (r, g, b) | (202, 31, 123) |
| CMYKH (c, m, y, k) | (3, 100, 3, 0) |
| HSV (h, s, v) | (327°, 96%, 34%) |
| Source | [Unsourced] |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred) |
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Magenta dye (1860) [edit]
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 fuchsine made from coal tar dyes in the year 1859. The name of the color was soon changed to magenta, being named after the Battle of Magenta fought at Magenta, Lombardy-Venetia.[3]
| Process magenta (subtractive primary, sRGB approximation) | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates |
|
| Hex triplet | #FF0090 |
| sRGBB (r, g, b) | (255, 0, 144) |
| CMYKH (c, m, y, k) | (0, 100, 0, 0) |
| HSV (h, s, v) | (320°, 100%, 100%) |
| Source | [2] CMYK |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred) |
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Process magenta (pigment magenta; printer's magenta) (1890s) [edit]
In color printing, the color called process magenta, pigment magenta, or printer's 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 hue magenta is the complement of green: magenta pigments absorb green light; thus magenta and green are opposite colors.
The CMYK printing process was invented in the 1890s, when newspapers began to publish color comic strips.
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: [3]. A printer's magenta is usually out of gamut on a computer display, so the color at right is only an approximation.
| Magenta (additive secondary) | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates |
|
| Hex triplet | #FF00FF |
| sRGBB (r, g, b) | (255, 0, 255) |
| CMYKH (c, m, y, k) | (3, 100, 0, 0) |
| HSV (h, s, v) | (300°, 100%, 100%) |
| Source | X11 |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred) |
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Quinacridones [edit]
Starting in 1935 the family of quinacridone dyes was developed. These have colors ranging from red to violet, so nowadays a quinacridone dye is often used for magenta.
Electric magenta (additive secondary magenta) (web color fuchsia) (1990s) [edit]
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 color fuchsia is named after the color of the flowers of the Fuchsia plant (named after Leonhart Fuchs), although the flowers can be red, pink or violet.
Electric magenta vs. process magenta [edit]
Note that while both of these colors are called magenta they are actually substantially different from one another. Process magenta (the color used for magenta printing ink—also called printer's or pigment magenta) is much less vivid than the color electric magenta achievable on a computer screen—indeed, CMYK printing technology cannot accurately reproduce pure magenta as described above as electric magenta (1/2 100% blue light + 1/2 100% red light=magenta) on paper.
When electric magenta is reproduced on paper, it is called fuchsia and it is physically impossible for it to appear on paper as vivid as on a computer screen.
The name fuchsia was chosen as the alias for electric magenta because that is the color name for the color that in printed reproduction is its equivalent.
Since prior to the introduction of personal computers magenta was synonymous with printer's magenta, colored pencils and crayons called "magenta" are usually colored the color of process magenta (printer's magenta) shown above.
Additional variations [edit]
On the color wheel [edit]
If the visible spectrum is wrapped to form a color wheel, magenta (additive secondary) appears midway between red and violet:
In culture [edit]
In art [edit]
- Since the mid-1960s, water based fluorescent magenta paint has been available to paint psychedelic black light paintings. (Fluorescent cerise, fluorescent chartreuse yellow, fluorescent blue, and fluorescent green.)
- By the early 1960s, vivid colors in the magenta range became available, and as a result many become aware that magenta, yellow, and cyan make better primary pigments than red, blue, and yellow (although this information had been discovered by printers in the 19th century; magenta, cyan, and yellow have been in continuous use as the primary colors in printing since the late 19th century).
In astronomy [edit]
- Astronomers have reported that spectral class T brown dwarfs (the ones with the coolest temperatures except for the recently discovered Y brown dwarfs) are colored magenta because of absorption by sodium and potassium atoms of light in the green portion of the spectrum.[4][5][6]
In parapsychology [edit]
- To psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye, someone who has a magenta aura is usually described as being artistic and creative. It is reported that typical occupations for someone with a magenta aura would be such professions as artist, art dealer, actor, author, costume designer, or set designer.[7]
In politics [edit]
- The color magenta is used to symbolize anti-racism by the Amsterdam-based anti-racism Magenta Foundation.[8]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ RGB approximations of RYB tertiary colors, using cubic interpolation.[1] The colors displayed here are substantially paler than the true colors a mixture of paints would produce.
- ^ Bruce MacEvoy. "Light and the Eye", Handprint. A chart citing R.W.G. Hunt 2004. The Reproduction of Color.
- ^ Maerz and Paul. A Dictionary of Color, New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 126 Plate 52 Color Sample K12–Magenta
- ^ Brown Dwarves (go halfway down the website to see a picture of a magenta brown dwarf):
- ^ Burrows et al. The theory of brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets. Reviews of Modern Physics 2001; 73: 719-65
- ^ http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/davy/2mass/science/comparison.html > "An Artist's View of Brown Dwarf Types" Dr. Robert Hurt of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
- ^ Oslie, Pamalie. (2000.) Life Colors: What the Colors in Your Aura Reveal New World Library, Novato, California. See magenta auras: pages 44-51.
- ^ Magenta Foundation. Organization website.
External links [edit]
- How the color magenta was discovered in 1859 through research into coal tar (aniline) dyes.
- Pictures of actual aniline dye samples in various shades of magenta.
- Magenta is a product of the brain rather than a spectral frequency
- Colour Mixing and the Mystery of Magenta, Royal Institution video
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