Colour space - sRGB Vs Adobe RGB

Again one of my "the title says it all" posts. I'm about to embark into the

post-processing world and want to find the right balance in my camera settings

to give me flexibility as well as efficiency.

 

What do you guys use and what are the issues?

In the upper right hand corner of the page is "search photo.net"

Just type in your title and you will get many answers.

srgb for web, adobe for everything else... which in practice means shoot in adobe, convert to srgb only the web versions.

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oh, google gave me this...

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http://www.google.no/search?q=adobe+rgb+vs+srgb&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

 

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I shoot in Adobe RGB Color space II because it captures a wider color space. I rarely ever make a JPEG in sRGB even when I am using it for the web or for digital projection which I do a lot of even when I am asked to do that. Joe Smith

Capture in RAW 16 bit when critical. Process in a wide gamut space like ProPhoto RGB, and

convert at last step to sRGB for web or other end use.

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I moved from Adobe RGB a couple years back to ProPhoto. Preserves more of the capture on

raw conversion than Adobe RGB does.

I capture in Adobe, convert to sRGB before printing or posting to the web. If you shoot RAW, you can decide which color space at the time of RAW conversion.

Ok, of all of the issues that I've asked about over the last 2 months this is the one that has my head REALLY spinning!

 

However... am I right in thinking that shooting in RAW/NEF is my insurance policy and that I can select aRGB or sRGB in post processing based on end application?

 

If so that gives me some degree of comfort that my camera setting defaults are not wasting image data.

 

Incidentally do I still need to consider this issue for looking at my images in my image management system/browser or is this more a print/publication dilemma?

...and just as a sanity check... is there anything that I could set on my D80 (assuming that I'm shooting in RAW) that would bugger up my post-production choices?

 

Current settings are RAW file storage, Colour III (which I believe is sRGB but sounds like that can be changed as will and is somewhat superfulous if I'm shooting in RAW)

Adobe RGB gives a larger colour gamut than sRGB, and hence more information to work with in post processing. Making a jpeg for web, it would normally not look right unless it's been exported as sRGB, as that is all that browsers currently support. <p>

Does the choice make a huge difference? No, you'd probably only notice it if you start doing comparisons of the same shot in both colour spaces, but just as shooting RAW makes sense because you retain as much information as possible, so AdobeRGB makes sense because you're not throwing information away that just <i>might</i> have a subtle yet visible effect on your finished image some day.

This article is an excellent educational piece on color space:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/prophoto-rgb.shtml

If you are not aware of this web site, bookmark it as you will be going to it many times for many different things. Joe Smith

ProPhoto RGB is the best for editing, etc, but when it comes to output color space it

depends totally on the output device. sRGB will be OK on pretty much anything, though.

Maybe not great, but OK.

I know when I'm out-of-my-depth, so shoot raw and output sRGB.

Depends on your output. For prints from a Frontier machine I either shoot JPEGs in sRGB or convert NEFs to sRGB JPEGs. sRGB is a pretty close match to Frontier, altho' you can sometimes download and use the actual profile for a particular printer.

 

For output from a high end printer at home or from a lab (non-light sensitive emulsion prints: inkjet, whatever), you can take advantage of the larger gamut. In that case, you should shoot RAW.

"...am I right in thinking that shooting in RAW/NEF is my insurance policy and that I can select aRGB or sRGB in post processing based on end application?"

 

Sort of, but not exactly. Specifically, you are best off staying in Adobe RGB until you have finished all your editing and then saving a master file. Then convert that master file to sRGB for the web and for printers that don't recognize Adobe RGB. Otherwise, what you are buggering up is the exposure because these vital settings and not realizing that the red channel is boosted by the WB coefficient often leads to underexposure.

 

"Incidentally do I still need to consider this issue for looking at my images in my image management system/browser or is this more a print/publication dilemma?"

 

Mostly you do not need to worry about color space as long as you are working in a color aware environment. To accurately see those colors though you will need to calibrate your monitor. To accurately predict how those colors will appear you need to soft proof them using the destination's color profile (more reading for you at Luminous Landscapes and at http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm I'm afraid). You will still have to do soft proofing even when you are working in sRGB, as there are times when the gamut of even that color space exceeds the gamut of the printer. I have found that the best way to deal with out of gamut reds (the biggest problem area) is to find a printer that works in Adobe RGB -- otherwise learn to be satisfied with muted reds.

 

 

 

"...and just as a sanity check... is there anything that I could set on my D80 (assuming that I'm shooting in RAW) that would bugger up my post-production choices?

 

Current settings are RAW file storage, Colour III (which I believe is sRGB but sounds like that can be changed as will and is somewhat superfluous if I'm shooting in RAW)."

 

My advice is to set your camera at low contrast, low saturation, Color Mode II, and to ignore the red channel when checking the camera's histogram. People often underexpose because the embedded JPEG they read their histogram from has too much contrast, too much saturation, is using Mode III, and because they don't realize that the red channel is being boosted by the WB coefficient.

My lab works with a Lambda 170 laser printer. By default this machine works with Adobe RGB 1998, images at 200ppp; that`s my reason to use it.

Why a Wide Gamut space like ProPhoto? So, I go back to images continually. You may

repurpose them for other print devices. Use the Color Think profile viewer to see how

color spaces overlap and fall short. ProPhoto is large enough to encompass most profiles -

Adobe RGB is smaller.

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Why is this important? Things change. Once you convert out of the RAW file to begin

editing, you have to choose a color space. Given different output devices, you would

simply as a last "print" step convert a master file to a print file - be it sRGB, printer/paper

profile, etc. The large color space allows you to preserve as much color information into

the final color space as possible. I faintly recall that Adobe RGB fell short of one axis in a

printer color space? or some such that I viewed.

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I'm thinking the new enhance magenta ink in Epson 7880 probably exceeds one of sRGB

or Adobe RGB with the expanded gamut.

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Anyway - I use a wide gamut color space for master files to preserve as much info as

possible for future use.