What Colors Make Black? Paint, RGB and Rich Black

Mixing all three traditional primary pigments makes a near-black paint, while carefully chosen complementary pigments such as ultramarine blue and burnt umber produce a deep chromatic black that is richer than plain tube black. On screens, black is zero red, zero green, and zero blue, while print uses either 100K black or a multi-ink rich black.

Mixing black with paint

Paint uses subtractive pigment mixing, so adding pigments causes more wavelengths of light to be absorbed.

Mixing red, yellow, and blue creates a very dark neutral. The exact result depends on the pigments and proportions, and it may lean brown, blue, or purple rather than becoming perfectly neutral.

A more reliable alternative is to mix complementary or near-complementary dark pigments.

Ultramarine blue plus burnt umber is the classic combination for a deep chromatic black.

Changing the ratio makes the black warmer or cooler. More burnt umber creates warmth, while more ultramarine creates a cooler black.

Black in RGB light

RGB is additive light, and black is the absence of emitted light: rgb(0, 0, 0), or #000000.

As the three channels increase equally, black moves through gray toward white.

Designers often use near-black rather than absolute black for interfaces, because pure black text on pure white can feel harsh. Examples include #0E1014 and #111827, which remain extremely dark but carry a slight blue cast.

Black in CMYK printing

Standard process black is C0 M0 Y0 K100.

This is called 100K black and is the right choice for small black text and fine elements.

Large black areas use rich black, which adds other process inks. One common recipe is C60 M40 Y40 K100.

The exact rich-black recipe should be confirmed with the printer because total ink limits and production conditions vary. See what is CMYK for the details.

Black HEX examples

• Pure black #000000
• Cool near-black #0E1014
• Blue-gray near-black #111827
• Soft black #242424

Near-blacks provide a less absolute appearance while still giving strong visual contrast. Check any near-black text color with the contrast checker.

How to adjust black

Add white paint to black to create progressively lighter grays.

For chromatic black, change the ratio of the pigments. More blue produces a cooler result, while more brown creates a warmer black.

If a mixed black has an unwanted color cast, introduce a very small amount of its complementary color to move it toward neutral.

Experiment with paint, RGB, CMYK, and OKLCH mixing using the color mixer, then check color name lookup for the closest name.

FAQ

What colors make black paint?

All three traditional primary pigments create a very dark mixture. Complementary dark pigments, such as ultramarine blue and burnt umber, produce a particularly useful chromatic black.

What is black in RGB?

Black is rgb(0, 0, 0), or #000000. It represents zero output from all three RGB channels.

What is the difference between 100K and rich black?

100K uses only black ink, C0 M0 Y0 K100. Rich black adds cyan, magenta, and yellow, such as C60 M40 Y40 K100, to create a deeper large-area black.