The color

magenta Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...

has notable

tints and shades In color theory, a tint is a mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness, while a shade is a mixture with black, which increases darkness. A tone is produced either by mixing a color with gray, or by both tinting and shading. M ...

. These various colors are shown below.

Definition of magenta

Magenta is a color made up of equal parts of

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

. This would be the precise definition of the color as defined for computer display (the color #FF00FF shown in the color swatch above). It is a pure chroma on the RGB color wheel. In

HSV color space HSL and HSV are the two most common cylindrical-coordinate representations of points in an RGB color model. The two representations rearrange the geometry of RGB in an attempt to be more intuitive and perceptually relevant than the cartesian ...

, ''magenta'' has a

hue In color theory, hue is one of the properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that are described as ...

of 300°. Magenta is not a spectral but an ''extraspectral'' color: it cannot be generated by light of a single

wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...

. Humans, being

trichromat Trichromacy or trichromatism is the possession of three independent channels for conveying color information, derived from the three different types of cone cells in the eye. Organisms with trichromacy are called trichromats. The normal expl ...

s, can only see as far as 380 nanometers into the

spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

, i.e., as far as violet. The hue magenta is the

complement Complement may refer to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class collections into complementary sets * Complementary color, in the visu ...

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

: magenta

pigment A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

s absorb green light, thus magenta and green are opposite colors.

Three major historical variations of magenta

Magenta dye (original variation) (1860)

Before ''printer's magenta'' was invented in the 1890s for

CMYK The CMYK color model (also known as process color, or four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers ...

printing, and ''electric magenta'' was invented in the 1980s for computer displays, these two artificially engineered colors were preceded by the color displayed at right, which is the color originally called ''magenta'' made from coal tar dyes in the year 1859. Besides being called original magenta, magenta dye color is also called rich magenta to distinguish it from the colors ''printer's magenta'' and ''electric magenta'', shown below. Magenta was one of the first

aniline Aniline (From , meaning ' indigo shrub', and ''-ine'' indicating a derived substance) is an organic compound with the formula . Consisting of a phenyl group () attached to an amino group (), aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an in ...

dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...

s, discovered shortly after the

Battle of Magenta The Battle of Magenta was fought on 4 June 1859 near the town of Magenta in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, during the Second Italian War of Independence. It resulted in a French-Sardinian victory under ...

(1859), which occurred near the town of

Magenta Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...

in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The color was originally called fuchsine or roseine, but for

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

purposes in 1860 the color name was changed to ''magenta'' after the battle. Hence, the color is named indirectly after the town.

Process magenta (pigment magenta) (printer's magenta) (1890s)

color printing Color printing or colour printing is the reproduction of an image or text in color (as opposed to simpler black and white or monochrome printing). History of color printing Woodblock printing on textiles preceded printing on paper in both Ea ...

, the color called process magenta or pigment magenta is one of the three primary pigment colors which, along with

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

and

cyan Cyan () is the color between blue and green on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 500 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK c ...

, constitute the three subtractive primary colors of pigment. (The secondary colors of pigment are blue, green, and red.) The CMYK printing process was invented in the 1890s, when newspapers began to publish color

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

s. Process magenta is not an

RGB The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green, and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three ...

color, and there is no fixed conversion from CMYK primaries to RGB. Different formulations are used for printer's ink, so there can be variations in the printed color that is pure magenta ink. A typical formulation of ''process magenta'' is shown in the color box at right. The source of the color shown at right is the color magenta that is shown in the diagram located at the bottom of the following website offering tintbooks for CMYK printing
Tintbooks - Get Accurate CMYK Color Results For Your Printing Projects

Web colors magenta and fuchsia (1990s)

Magenta, shown at the right, is one of the three secondary colors in the

RGB color model The RGB color model is an additive color, additive color model in which the red, green, and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials ...

, used to make all the colors on computer and television displays. It is made by a mixture of red and blue light at equal intensity. It is called magenta on X11 list of color names, and fuchsia on the HTML color list. The web colors magenta and fuchsia are exactly the same color. Sometimes the web color magenta is called ''electric magenta'' or ''electronic magenta''.

Additional variations of magenta

Magenta (Pantone)

Displayed at right is the color magenta (Pantone), i.e., the color that is called ''magenta'' in the

Pantone Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is an American limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color order system used in a variety of industries, notably gr ...

color system. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #17-2036 TPX—Magenta.

Magenta (Crayola)

At right is displayed a Crayola color formulated in 1949; it was originally called ''brilliant rose'' but the name was changed in 1958 to ''magenta''. This color has a hue angle of 329, which is close to the hue angle of the color

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

, which is 330.

Dark magenta

Displayed at right is the web color dark magenta.

Hot magenta

Displayed at right is the color hot magenta. This color was formulated by Crayola in 1990, recycling the name from the color now known as "razzle dazzle rose".

Magenta haze

Displayed at right is the color magenta haze. The source of this color is the "

Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #18-2525 TPX—Magenta Haze.

Magnetic magenta

Displayed at right is the color magnetic magenta. This color was formulated by Crayola in 2019 as a Metallic FX color. This is supposed to be a metallic color; however, there is no mechanism for displaying metallic colors on a flat computer screen.

Quinacridone magenta

At right is displayed the color quinacridone magenta. ''Quinacridone magenta'' is a color made from quinacridone pigment. It is sold in tubes at art supply stores. By mixing various amounts of

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

with it, or applying it in transparent washes, artists may create a wide range of light, bright, brilliant, vivid, rich, or deep tints of magenta.

Sky magenta

Displayed at right is the color sky magenta. The color ''sky magenta'' is a representation of the color of the

sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

near the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

during the brief period of

civil twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surfac ...

, when the pink hues after

sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

transition into the blue shades of early

dusk Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enoug ...

. This color was one of the colors in the set of ''Venus Paradise'' colored pencils, a popular brand of colored pencils in the 1950s. This color is also called ''medium lavender pink''. A

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

of the sky displaying the color ''sky magenta'' in its natural context by photographe
Dave Horne
is displaye
here

Telemagenta

Displayed at right is the color telemagenta. This is one of the colors in the RAL color matching system, a color system widely used in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The RAL color list first originated in 1927, and it reached its present form in 1961.

Amaranth

Amaranth (color) is a reddish-rose color that is a representation of the color of the flower of the amaranth plant. The color amaranth purple is displayed at right.

Orchid

The color orchid, since it has a hue code of 302, may be classified as a rich tone of magenta. ''Orchid'' is a representation of the color of the

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

flower. The first recorded use of ''orchid'' as a color name in English was in 1915. In 1987, orchid was included as one of the X11 colors. After the invention of the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

in 1991, these became known as the X11 web colors.

Pale purple

Pale purple is a pale tint of magenta despite it being called a purple.

Plum

The color plum, since it has a hue code of 307, may be regarded as a dark tone of magenta. The color ''plum'' is a close representation of the average color of the

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

fruit. The first recorded use of ''plum'' as a color name in English was in 1805.

Purple pizzazz

Displayed at right is the color purple pizzazz. This color was formulated by Crayola in 1990.

Razzle dazzle rose

Displayed at right is the color razzle dazzle rose. This color is a vivid tone of rose tending toward magenta. This is a

Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing and retail company specializing in list of art media, art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered ...

crayon color formulated in 1972 and called hot magenta. In 1990 the name changed to ''razzle dazzle rose''.

Rose quartz

There is a grayish shade of magenta that is called rose quartz. The first recorded use of ''rose quartz'' as a color name in English was in 1926.

Shocking pink

Shocking pink (the original 1937 ''shocking pink'') takes its name from the tone of pink used in the lettering on the box of the

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

called ''Shocking'', designed by

Leonor Fini Leonor Fini (30 August 1907 – 18 January 1996) was an Argentine-Italian surrealist painter, designer, illustrator, and author, known for her depictions of powerful and erotic women. Early life Fini was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Ma ...

for the

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

fashion designer

Elsa Schiaparelli Elsa Schiaparelli ( , , ; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian fashion designer from an Italian nobility, aristocratic background. She created the Schiaparelli (fashion house), house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she ...

in 1937.

Shocking pink (Crayola)

Displayed at right is the Crayola color shocking pink. This is a

crayon color formulated in 1972 and called ultra pink. In 1990 the name was changed to ''shocking pink''.

Steel pink

The color steel pink is displayed at right. The color ''steel pink'' was introduced by

in January 2011, when the Ultra Hot and Super Cool set of Crayola colored pencils was fully introduced. "Steel pink" is a deep tone of magenta.

Web color violet

Although called violet, it is actually a shade of magenta.

African violet

The color African violet is displayed at right. The source of this color is the "

Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #16-3250 TPX—African Violet.

English violet

The color English violet is displayed at right. The first recorded use of ''English violet'' as a color name in English was in 1928.

Chinese violet

The color Chinese violet is displayed at right. The first recorded use of ''Chinese violet'' as a color name in English was in 1912. The source of this color is the "

Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #18-3418 TPX—Chinese Violet.

Japanese violet

The color Japanese violet is shown at right. This is the color called "violet" in the traditional Japanese colors group, a group of colors in use since beginning in 660 CE in the form of various

s that are used in designing

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...

.. , Tokyo , 1985. The name of this color in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

is , meaning "violet color".

Finn

The color Finn is displayed at right. Finn is a dark magenta color.

Halayà úbe

The color Halayà úbe is shown at right. The color halayà úbe is a medium dark shade of magenta-pink.

Ube halaya ''Ube halaya'' or ''halayang ube'' (also spelled ''halea'', ''haleya''; ) is a Filipino cuisine, Filipino dessert made from boiled and mashed purple yam (''Dioscorea alata'', locally known as ''ube''). Ube halaya is the main base in ube/purple ...

is the main base in ube/purple yam flavored-pastries and ube ice cream.

References

External links

How the color magenta was discovered in 1859 through research into coal tar (aniline) dyes.

{{Color topics Shades Shades Shades