.
Primary Colors
Secondary Colors
Tertiary Colors
Color Model
Analogous Colors
Complimentary Colors
Color Triads

For years one of the hardest things to do was to get as close as possible between the color of the fabric on the website and the one you received in the mail.

For many years, people were disappointed. But now more time and effort is put into ensuring hi-quality images of fabrics are available from the fabric manufacturers. They now understand the importance of having color correct images of their fabrics online. To add even more accuracy, our suppliers also color correct across the ranges to ensure more consistency when comparing different lines and manufacturers.

Our color matching system breaks down all the colors in the fabric and then matches to the selected color from the color wheel or to the image you have uploaded. The fabrics are the displayed from those with the most similar color coverage to least.

Color Theory
Sir Isaac Newton first put together a circular diagram of colors in 1666. This color wheel allows you to see groupings of colors that are harmonious together and other colors that might clash.

Primary Colors
The primary colors are RED, YELLOW, and BLUE.
These colors, in traditional color theory, cannot be formed by mixing any other color. All other colors are derived by combinations of these colors. They are represented in HTML as:

- Red: #ff0000 or #f00 in CSS
- Yellow: #ffff00 or #ff0 in CSS
- Blue: #0000ff or #00f in CSS

 Secondary Colors
Secondary colors (represented in the related image) are ORANGE, GREEN, and PURPLE. These colors are the combination of red and yellow (orange), yellow and blue (green), and blue and red (purple). They are represented in HTML as:

- Orange: #ff9900 or #f90 in CSS
- Green: #00ff00 or #0f0 in CSS
- Purple: #ff00ff or #f0f in CSS

Tertiary Colors
Tertiary colors are YELLOW-ORANGE, RED-ORANGE, RED-PURPLE, BLUE-PURPLE, BLUE-GREEN, and YELLOW-GREEN. These are the combinations of the secondary colors. They are represented in HTML as:

- Yellow-Orange: #ffcc00 or #fc0 in CSS
- Red-Orange: #ff6600 or #f60 in CSS
- Red-Purple: #cc00cc or #c0c in CSS
- Blue-Purple: #9900ff or #90f in CSS
- Blue-Green: #00cccc or #0cc in CSS
- Yellow-Green: #ccff00 or #cf0 in CSS

Color Model

Once you understand the basics of color theory, you can start learning how to combine those colors into a harmonious whole. There are certain colors that look good together, while other colors look so painful you have to click away before they burn your eyes. And while you might recognize these combinations when you see them, there is a theory based on the color wheel as to which colors will look nicest together.

It is important to understand that this color model is not the same as the RGB color wheel used in most computer applications like ours.

The RGB color model used in most computer applications is based on different primary colors

The differences:

1) The RGB wheel uses red-green-blue as it's primary colors.

2) Colors in RGB are based on the idea of transmitted light. The different colors are made by mixing frequencies of light.

3) The wheel used in computers places green in the same place where yellow is on the RYB wheel.

4) RGB can produce 16.8 million colors. In contrast the Itten color wheel can only produce around 100,000 distinct shades. This is because the itten wheel is based on pigment (paint) colors, and the reason why the tool has to convert most RGB colors to the closest match

Colors can be chosen based on their position on the color wheel in relation to each other.
One side of the wheel is made up of cool colors and the other warm. Yellow, orange and blue are considered warm. Green, blue and violet are cool.

Interesting combinations can be achieved by using colors from the opposite side of the wheel. the result is always a warm and cool color. This creates the effect of both colors looking more intense when side by side.
Color choices must always start with and understanding of the emotions they evoke. When we say warm colors we are referring to the feelings they give us.

Many adjectives can be easily converted to colors. What colors would you think of if I said 'fresh'? What color would you think of if I said 'dangerous'?

Next time you begin a design, start by attaching adjectives to the idea. If you want the design to look fresh, clean and dynamic then you need to choose a blue as the base. There are many different combinations that can be chosen and each one gives a different feeling to the viewer. With our color matching tool we allow you to change the output of the color find depending on the color mix you are after.

If you do not choose any color mix (default setting):
The default setting uses the same color (hue) as the one chosen and will display them from the fabric with the most similar color to the one with least representation in the fabric.

Analogous Colors
This selection choosers colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel from the one you chose. The base color plus two colors 30° either side For example: green, yellow-green, and yellow; or red, red-orange, and orange. Play with the hues and saturation of analogous colors to create a harmonious color scheme.

Complementary Colors
Complementary colors are those colors that are opposite one another on the color wheel. By using colors that are opposite one another, you create color schemes that have high contrast and so are brighter and more vivid. Some contrasting colors are: red and green or blue and orange.

Color Triads
By placing an equilateral triangle on the color wheel, you can create color schemes that have a lot of life to them. This scheme uses the colors at 120° around the color wheel (360°).The most basic color triad is the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. But others are: green, purple and orange, or yellow-orange, blue-green, and red-purple.

Some more color theory
Color theory encompasses a multitude of definitions, concepts and design applications. All the information would fill several encyclopedias. As an introduction, you can review more color theory at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory
http://www.liquisoft.com/colortheory.html
http://poynterextra.org/cp/colorproject/color.html