<p>When using software to invert the colors of a picture or screen, the software just blindly (literally) uses a mathematical formula to calculate the inverted color of each pixel.</p>

<p>For example, in RGB, if a pixel's color is represented by (100, 25, 5), then the inverted color of that pixel is calculated as (155, 220, 250).</p>

<p>However, human perception of color is not the same for all colors, we have different sensitivity to different color ranges.</p>

<p>What ends up happening is that objects/subjects in pictures that are inverted this way are hard to distinguish. The relationships between the colors are, at least perceptually, completely changed.</p>

<p>So, <strong>if I wanted to invert the colors of a picture, but keep the proper "perceptual relationships" between the colors of that picture. How should I do it?</strong></p>

<p>By the way, you can easily test this by fiddling with the Accessibility features of your computer or phone and turning on (at least on Macs and iPhones) the "Invert colors" option.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-31T12:31:07.330Z
I think this Q is impossible to answer, as "perceptual relationships" is kind of a vague description & likely opinion based. Furthermore, inverting the colors will inevitably  grossly change color-contrasts and aesthetic aspects, whatever you tinker around with it.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-31T15:06:57.850Z
@AliceD, you are right that final perception is impossible to determine. However, it has already been quantified how the color receptors in the eye respond to color (see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cone-fundamentals-with-srgb-spectrum.svg). So then you could think of the question as: how can we invert colors in a picture and get the same relationship of eye sensitivity to colors as the original colors would have.
Nico Brenner
<perception><color><sensory-perception>
What is the "perceptually correct" range or map of negative (inverted) colors?
Nico Brenner
# What is the "perceptually correct" range or map of negative (inverted) colors?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-07-31)

When using software to invert the colors of a picture or screen, the software just blindly (literally) uses a mathematical formula to calculate the inverted color of each pixel.

For example, in RGB, if a pixel's color is represented by (100, 25, 5), then the inverted color of that pixel is calculated as (155, 220, 250).

However, human perception of color is not the same for all colors, we have different sensitivity to different color ranges.

What ends up happening is that objects/subjects in pictures that are inverted this way are hard to distinguish. The relationships between the colors are, at least perceptually, completely changed.

So, **if I wanted to invert the colors of a picture, but keep the proper "perceptual relationships" between the colors of that picture. How should I do it?**

By the way, you can easily test this by fiddling with the Accessibility features of your computer or phone and turning on (at least on Macs and iPhones) the "Invert colors" option.

**Tags:** perception, color, sensory-perception

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think this Q is impossible to answer, as "perceptual relationships" is kind of a vague description & likely opinion based. Furthermore, inverting the colors will inevitably  grossly change color-contrasts and aesthetic aspects, whatever you tinker around with it.  
> **username_0**: @username_1, you are right that final perception is impossible to determine. However, it has already been quantified how the color receptors in the eye respond to color (see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cone-fundamentals-with-srgb-spectrum.svg). So then you could think of the question as: how can we invert colors in a picture and get the same relationship of eye sensitivity to colors as the original colors would have.  

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## 0 answers

