A fundamental requirement of color pictures: neutrals in the scene must be neutral in the reproduction. To obtain a neutral scale (gray balance) in the reproduction, with no apparent dominant hue, one must print the correct amounts of cyan, magenta and yellow inks in each step of the scale. Black ink is not used in obtaining gray balance. When gray balance is achieved, the hues of most of the other colors in the picture will be correct.

The values of cyan, magenta and yellow needed to produce a neutral gray when printed at normal density.

The dot values or densities of cyan, magenta, and yellow that produce a neutral gray.