Exercise Three:

Color Mixing

Introduction & Objectives

Lesson 3 has covered color mixing by several color specification systems. Within each system it was demonstrated that the color dimensions of hue, value and chroma can be manipulated to create a multitude of color. In this exercise you will manipulate value and chroma to create a graded series with a hue or hues. A graded series is a hue or hue progression that ranges gradually from light to dark. A hue progression consists of successive hues from the electromagnetic spectrum, e.g., yellow-orange-red, or yellow-green, or some other logical hue progression such as orange-red-brown. Graded color series are useful for symbolizing quantitative area data on thematic maps as will be covered in Lesson 4. The objective of this exercise is to create the same graded series using:

the Munsell system
the Pantone system
Process Color Mixing: Yellow, Magenta, Cyan and Black (CMYK)

Web Sites

Additional Materials

Color Plate Figure 19.5 in Robinson, et.al., 1995
Plate 1c, Color Plates, in Dent, 1996 (facing pg. 306)
Pantone Color Formula Guide
A Process (CMYK) Color Chart or Book (optional)
Textbook - Robinson, A., J. Morrison, P. Muehrcke, J. Kimmerling, S. Guptil: Elements of Cartography, Sixth Edition, John Wiley and Sons, 1995;
Textbook - Dent, B.: Cartography, Thematic Map Design, Fifth Edition, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Dubuque, IA, 1999;
Module Overview notes on Color Theory;
Adobe Illustrator 7.0 (or your individual/insittutional graphics software).

Instructions

Read each question carefully.
Link to the relevant web sites where required.
You may wish to download a copy of the exercise for ease of use;
Answer all written questions in the spaces provided;
After viewing relevant web sites, use the BACK toolbar icon in Netscape to return to this exercise.
Marks are indicated per question.
Be sure to fill in your instructors email address where requested so that your answers will be submitted directly to your instructor.

Fill in the following submission information:

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Subject, e.g., Exercise Three:

Part 1 - Munsell System (10 marks)

Select a hue from the Munsell hues visible on either Robinson et. al., Color Figure 19.5 or Dent, 1999, Color Plate 1c.
Refer to your selected Munsell hue.
Decide on a graded series of 5 value/chroma variations within that hue. Keep in mind that there must be a visible difference between each hue in your series.
Give the Munsell color specification for each hue within your graded series (e.g., 5PB 4/6,.....)

Part 2 - Pantone System ( 5 marks)

Refer to the Pantone Color Formula Guide.
Locate 5 Pantone colors which most closely resemble your Munsell graded series.
Give the Pantone specification for each color (e.g., Pantone 612,.........)

Part 3 - Adobe Illustrator Process Color Mixing (10 marks)

Read this part carefully before beginning.

In this part you will create the same graded series as above using the CMY process color mixing java applet (Java Applet created by Phillip Dukes of Bringham Young University, email: g-prd@physics1.byu.edu)
To create colors, select the Color Printing section, modify the percentages of cyan, magenta and yellow by using the up and down arrows, then drag and overlap the squares to form the color.
You may refer to a process color chart for examples.
Write the percentages of CMYK for each process color in your graded series. Note that there is no Black in the java applet; you may therefore wish to refer to a color chart or create the darker color(s) on Adobe Illustrator of other graphics software to match the darker color(s) in your graded series. Enter 0 when no black is used.

Colors % CMYK
Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

To Be Submitted: Answers to Parts 1 through 3.

Assessment for Exercise 3:

Part 1 - 10 marks
Part 2 - 5 marks
Part 3 - 10 marks

Total Possible - 25 marks

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For questions or comments: email: lagaro@email.uncc.edu

Created 5/28/98 by Laurie A. B. Garo. Last updated 5/21/99 by lg.
The URL for this page is http://www.uncc.edu/lagaro/cwg/color/exercise3a.html