Color · Color Models
Additive vs Subtractive Color
also known as light mixing vs ink mixing
Additive color starts from black and adds red, green, and blue light; combining all of them makes white, which is how screens work. Subtractive color starts from white paper and adds inks or pigments that absorb light; combining them approaches black, which is how printing works. The two behave in opposite directions, so a color's meaning depends on which system you are in.
Don't confuse it with
Additive = RGB, emitted light, sums to white (screens). Subtractive = CMYK/RYB, reflected light via pigment, sums to dark (print/paint). The primaries and the result of full mixing are opposite.
In the wild
On a screen, red plus green light makes yellow (additive); with paint, red plus green pigment makes muddy brown (subtractive).