Color Spaces
See one color across every model designers actually work in — RGB, CMYK, HSL, HSB, and LAB — and understand why each exists. Runs in your browser — no server call, no tracking.
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RGB — Additive Light
Red, Green, Blue. Used by screens, cameras, and scanners because light is additive — mixing all three at full intensity makes white. Rooted in James Clerk Maxwell's 1861 color photography experiments and standardized for digital displays through sRGB (1996, HP & Microsoft).
CMYK — Subtractive Ink
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (black). Used in print because ink subtracts light from white paper rather than adding it. The four-color process grew out of 19th-century chromolithography; K exists because mixing C+M+Y alone gives a muddy brown, not true black.
HSL & HSB/HSV — Human-Intuitive
Hue, Saturation, Lightness (or Brightness/Value) — models built to match how people actually describe color ("a darker, less saturated blue") rather than how a device reproduces it. Popularized through color pickers from the 1970s onward, easiest space for picking harmonious variations.
LAB & Beyond
CIE LAB (1976) is perceptually uniform — equal numeric distance means equal perceived difference, which RGB and CMYK don't guarantee. Pantone (founded 1963 by Lawrence Herbert) is a spot-color matching system for exact brand colors in print; RAL and NCS serve the same role for industrial and architectural surfaces.