Integrated Mixture

The law of Integrated Mixture (IntMi), discovered and formulated by H. Kueppers, relates to the mixing of opaque color material and the given possibility to generate achromatic values by using only subsets of the two achromatic Basic Colors White (W) and Black (K). This principle is called Achromatic Mixing.

The chromatic variety of the IntMi is not generated by mixing 3 chromatic Basic Colors as it is done in Additive Mixture and Subtractive Mixture, the difference values of which are complemented by the Basic Colors K and W. In the IntMi all 8 Basic Colors must be available as opaque color material as none of them can be generated by mixing other Basic Colors. (Any teaching or written matter to the contrary is provably wrong!)

IntMi is ruled by the exchange-of-sets principle. We are always dealing with only one opaque ink layer, no matter what type of color shade we are speaking of. In IntMi this opaque layer of ink can be composed of maximally 4 subsets as, in general, each color shade is put together by one achromatic and one chromatic portion. In an Integrated Mixture the achromatic portion consists only of the two achromatic Basic Colors W and K and the chromatic portion of two vicinal chromatic Basic Colors.

In conclusion, in an Integrated Mixture the Basic Colors can combine only in the following 6 groups:

W, Y, R, K

W, R, M, K

W, M, B, K

W, B, C, K

W, C, G, K

W, G, Y, K

This principle of achromatic mixing is not only economical as no chromatic colors are wasted to produce achromatic values, i.e. gray quantities. More truly, it gives much more certainty to obtain the desired mixing result. However, it is true that not all types of opaque black color material are suitable to prepare the mixture. The black color material must not contain soot as the mixture would get a sooty and dirty appearance. The black should only darken, blacken the mixture. For that reason it must be black made of pigments.

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