Compare CMYK and RGB color spaces.

• A. CMYK is subtractive color used for print; RGB is additive color used for screens.
• B. RGB is subtractive color used for printing; CMYK is additive color used for screens.
• C. Both CMYK and RGB are additive color spaces.
• D. RGB is only used for black and white images.

Answer: (A)

Color spaces describe how we reproduce color, either with light or with pigments. When light is used, as on screens, colors are produced by adding light from red, green, and blue primaries. Combining these lights in different intensities builds other colors, and at full intensity they create white. That additive approach is why screens rely on RGB.

When printing with inks, pigments are used to subtract light from white paper. The inks absorb certain wavelengths and reflect others, so cyan, magenta, and yellow work together to produce the broad range of colors; black ink is added to deepen darks and improve contrast. This subtractive system is why printing relies on CMYK.

Because of these fundamentals—light-based additive mixing for displays versus pigment-based subtractive mixing for print—the statement aligns with how each medium actually creates color. Converting between spaces can lead to color shifts, since RGB and CMYK have different color gamuts and handling of black, but the core idea remains: additive for screens, subtractive for print.