RAW - Which colour space for viewing images?

[frank_ellis2]

I'm just staring to shoot RAW on my Canon 5D and have a question.

 

I'm using Digital Photo Professional, Lightroom and Photoshop CS3.

 

When viewing RAW images, which colour space am I suppose to be using? I want to

make colour adjustments and then convert the images to JPG in either sRGB or aRGB.

 

Does RAW even -HAVE- a colour space?

 

I do understand about colour management, but not in the RAW world.

 

 

-Frankie

[emre]

RAW files do not have a color space. You are supposed to pick one appropriate to the file you are converting. Try to use the smallest one that has an acceptable level of clipping. In increasing order of size: sRGB, Adobe RGB, Prophoto.

[sandy_labana]

You can use any color space to open Raw images using Raw Converter or any other

software that opens Raw Files. I used to open images in Adobe RGB for viewing and

editing and convert to sRGB for web and printing. More recently, I open in sRGB for

viewing and editing and I do not see any advantage for using any other color space for my

use. If I need to process image for different use needing different color space, I can

always go back to Raw image as that file remains unchanged and you can open it again in

any color space. Images look very nice in aRGB and ProRGB on screen but do not work

very well for web or printing. Of course if you are doing complicated retouching of your

images and want to save them in wider gamut color space (aRGB or pro RGB), then you

should open in that color space and save them in PSD format and convert a copy of your

edited image to sRGB and save in JPG format for web. Hope this helps. Sandy

[ellis_vener_photography]

Raw files do not have a color space assigned.

 

The profile (not color space) you should be viewing them with is your monitor's profile, which since you understand about colour management, you should have built for your monitor using a colorimeter or photospectrometer (like the X-Rite Eye One devices)and calibration and profiling software.

[Ed_Ingold]

I doubt there is an "acceptable level of clipping" in the context of a 16-bit master image file. Clipping is not a big issue (other than for sRGB) mainly because the gamut of most subjects is smaller than the absolute limits. You can use Soft Proofing in Photoshop to highlight out-of-gamut areas.

 

There are good arguments for using ProPhoto RGB for high-bit RAW files (q.v., http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/prophoto-rgb.shtml). For one, you get better definition in the reds and yellows, which are important for landscapes and portraits. It is equally arguable that you should never deliver images to the customer in ProPhoto color space unless you are certain that they work in a color-managed environment. ProPhoto is inappropriate for an 8-bit file (e.g., JPEG) - choose sRGB or possibly Adobe RGB instead.

[colinsouthern]

One of the problems with very large colourspaces like prophoto and LAB is that they're capable of describing colours that we can neither print not see - if you're making large changes to image tone you can end up making a rod for your own back.

[robert_martin5]

The color space you select in the RAW converter depends on what software you plan to use in viewing the image. If the viewing software is color managed (Photoshop is color managed), you can select any profile, but most viewing software and the internet is not color managed. If the software is not color managed, you need to use sRGB profile to get colors that look correct.

 

Color managed software reads the embedded profile of the image and modifies the image data before it is sent to the monitor so it will display the same for all profiles you select. Non color managed software just send the image data to the monitor with no changes - for this software the image should only use sRGB profile.

[godfrey]

Lightroom has no colorspace setting ... it's designed for photography and promotes all

preview and adjustment operations to a very large, 16bit@channel colorspace similar to

ProPhoto RGB, which is the best setting for image editing: the largest possible gamut with

the deepest possible channel depth.

 

When transferring image files to Photoshop for selective editing, Lightroom renders the

image into a PSD or TIFF file. I recommend setting Photoshop's Color Settings to the North

American Prepress bundle, and then setting the working colorspace to ProPhoto RGB. This

is the default that Lightroom will auto-render a file to.

 

I'm not sure what you use Canon's DPP for or how it fits into your workflow, but again if

you're doing RAW conversions with it, you should go for the maximum bit depth and color

gamut possible for output.

 

Godfrey

[aubrey_haynes]

I did not ask the original question...... Thank you Godfrey for that information.

[scottelly]

From what I can tell, using the largest possible color space is NOT a good thing to do. I do not know exactly why yet, but it seems to have something to do with mathematical interpretation and viewing of images. Aparently you can use chroma variant profiles to allow greater color manipulation/adjustment than typical color profiles can handle, without the clipping issues that would normally be experienced. I'm currently exploring color space, and it looks like the following is the best article I've found regarding the "viewing" settings for color space settings:

 

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302827

 

There are many other interesting and enlightening articles I've come across. Try searching metacrawler.com for the term "color space" and search variation, like "monitor color space" etc. You will find articles at places like The Luminous Landscape (particularly this article: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/prophoto-rgb.shtml ), apple.com and other places. You will also find threads in forums like this one (which is how I ended up here). No doubt, there is a vast amount of information at adobe.com or on their associated sites. I imagine that Epson, Sony, Kodak, and other manufacturers of high-end color devices and software would offer significant sources of information. I'm headed to Nikon next, to see what I can learn about the color capture capabilities of their new cameras. I intend to visit Broncolor about this subject too, in the hopes that they will at least have good links if no information regarding color space or color settings.

 

The Leica R9 digital camera (introduced years ago) apparently captures 16 bit color, rather than the new 14 bit color depth of the latest Canon and Nikon cameras, so I will be researching through Leica too.

 

Definitely read in Wikipedia about color and color space. It's full of information and reference materials (particularly external links).

 

Visit the god of color photography if you're serious about learning this stuff. That's where I started, because I saw the tip of the iceberg before, and then at his site I was able to look under water and see how big the iceberg really is (well, I got a hint at it anyway).

 

Joseph Holmes - Wikipedia describes him as the Ansel Adams of color. I found him through the Canon web site, where he has earned the designations of "Print Master" AND "Explorer Of Light." This makes him one of the rarest and most recognized artisans in the Canon world.

 

Good luck Frank. You're making the right choice, shooting RAW. It will expand your world.