Additive color is a method to create color by mixing a number of different light colors, with shades of red, green, and blue being the most common primary colors used in additive color system.

Additive color is in contrast to subtractive color, in which colors are created by subtracting (absorbing) parts of the spectrum of light present in ordinary white light, by means of colored pigments or dyes, such as those in paints, inks, and the three dye layers in typical color photographs on film.