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Color Wheel Cheat Sheet

The color wheel is a visual representation of color relationships that can help photographers understand how to use colors effectively in their images. It shows primary colors like red, yellow and blue that can't be created by combining other colors, and secondary colors like orange, purple and green that are made by combining primaries. The color wheel also illustrates complementary colors opposite each other that create high contrast, and analogous colors that are adjacent and create harmony. Understanding these color combinations can enhance photographic compositions.

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Rhiannon Morse
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290 views

Color Wheel Cheat Sheet

The color wheel is a visual representation of color relationships that can help photographers understand how to use colors effectively in their images. It shows primary colors like red, yellow and blue that can't be created by combining other colors, and secondary colors like orange, purple and green that are made by combining primaries. The color wheel also illustrates complementary colors opposite each other that create high contrast, and analogous colors that are adjacent and create harmony. Understanding these color combinations can enhance photographic compositions.

Uploaded by

Rhiannon Morse
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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color wheel

CHEAT SHEET
Color is fundamental to composition in
photography. Colors can enhance our
images depending on the way we use
them. But how do we know which colors
work together? It can be very useful to
look at the color wheel in case you are
confused by various relationships between
colors.
However, some colors that lie next
In order to find the most to each other on the color wheel
complementary color, you look can also complement each other.
at the opposite color on the color Analogous colors work to produce
wheel. Complementary colors a subtle and delicate difference.
provide a striking contrast.

The color wheel is a circular scheme


that visually represents the relationships
between colors.

The most common types of color pairings

3
are the following:

• primary colors
• secondary colors
• complementary colors
• analogous colors

1 2
the
PRIMARY & ANALOGOUS
SECONDARY COLORS COLORS essentials
3 COMPLEMENTARY
Primary colors are those you can’t Analogous colors are groups of three
create by combining two or more other colors that are next to each other on
colors together - these are red, yellow
and blue. Secondary colors are the
colors that are formed by combining any
the color wheel. Red, orange, and
red-orange are examples. The term COLORS
analogous refers to having analogy,
two of the primary colors - these are or corresponding to something in For example, if you were shooting a
orange, purple and green. particular. subject that was predominantly red
and want to add a striking contrast you
would use green, the color opposite on
the wheel.

There are also tertiary colors - they An analogous color scheme creates
are created when you mix a primary a rich, monochromatic look. This is
color with secondary color and there especially true for the right side of our Complementary colors are pleasing
are six of them - red-purple, red- color wheel between red and green. to the eye and they look rather
orange, blue-purple, blue-green, The colors here might be considered refreshing. We can use a combination of
yellow-orange and yellow-green. pastel shades, subtle but very effective complementaries to draw attention to the
in compositions. subject or make a bold statement.

TIP:
TIP:
Unlike complementary colors, TIP:
The color wheel gives you
analogous colors give a more If you don’t want to go
opportunities to create brighter,
soothing look to your photographs. overboard with complementary
lighter, softer, and darker colors by
Use them to suggest serenity. colors, use one color as
mixing white, black, and gray with
background and the other as
the original colors!
accents.

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