Confused About Color Space

[dmu]

I carefully went through and chose sRGB for my Canon 30D and I went through a

process to choose sRGB in photoshop. I also have it chosen sRGB for my monitor.

Now, when I load RAW files into PS, it says that there is a mis match and that

the working space is sRGB while the embedded file is Adobe RGB. What am I doing

wrong?<div></div>

[ellis_vener_photography]

"I also have it chosen sRGB for my monitor."

 

Mistake! SrGb is a color Space, and it is not designed to take int othe characteristics of a display device like a monitor. To get good color on your monitor you need to profile it with a colorimeter or spectrophotometer and calibration and profiling software.

 

To go deeper into your problem: If you had shot a JEG instead of a raw (.cr2) file it would have shown up without the mismatch warning. Raw files do not have either color space, or bit depth assigned to them. The are pretty much just what the name implies : raw data. You can use Photoshop's raw processor to then make a JPEG, TIFF or PSD format version of that raw data in which the color space and bit depth are stated, along with some other things like white point , etc.

 

Which version of Photshop are you using?

[emre]

You should not get that at all because RAW files do not have a color space. When I tried to drop a CR2 in CS3 it invoked ACR. Are you sure you are not dealing with a renamed JPEG?

 

In any case, there is no harm in selecting the first option (Use the embedded profile) as long as you make the necessary color space conversions when you have finished retouching the file.

 

Where you made a mistake was in selecting sRGB for your monitor. The correct thing to do would have been to create a profile for it. Do you have a calibration suite?

[blumesan]

Obviously somewhere between downloading the raw images to your computer and opening the images in Photoshop the Adobe RGB profile has been attached to your file. The most likely culprit is the raw processing software that you use. As has been pointed out, the raw file itself has no color space until it has been processed by a raw converter, at which time a color space is attached to the image. If you use ACR as your converter you are given an option to choose which color space you want (ACR 4.x gives you the choice of sRGB, Adobe RGB and ProPhoto).

[sandy_labana]

Darrin: Mike Blume is correct. Follow his directions, if you are shooting RAW, You do not

need to set your monitor on sRGB. When your RAW converter assigns sRGB to you image

when it is brought into Photoshop, the monitor uses the sRGB data and displays the image on

the monitor using your monitor's profile. Caliberate your monitor in any of the many ways,

including Photshop or color management provided in the operating system of your computer.

Unless color matching for display or printing from various devices is critical to your needs

you can do with software caliberation, at least till you experience difficulties in color

matching. Sandy

[obakesan]

Hi Darrin

<P>

I'm assuming you're using something like Photoshop to handle the whole thing. So when you've opened the image, it brings up a preview window of the RAW file right?

<P>

If it does, then this is Adobe Camera Raw at work. Now, look down on the bottom left of the screen and you'll see that you can choose the colourspace you want. *<i>I don't know if they've changed the location on other versions</i>

<P>

As others have mentioned RAW files have no colourspace (which is just a set of tags to say what level of R, G or B to associate with the numbers) and this colourspace is 'created and attached' at the time that ACR is converting the RAW file into something inside Photoshop.

<P>

hth

[colinsouthern]

Darrin,

 

May I be so bold as to suggest my "patent-pending" 3 step process that - in 2 weeks or less - will turn you from being the person asking colour management questions, to the one answering them (don't ask me how I know this! ;)

 

1. Browse to www.amazon.com

 

2. Search for "Real World Colour Management" by Fraser, Murphy, and Bunting, and

 

3. Click "Buy Now"

 

I PROMISE you that it will slowly and methodically answer so many questions about colour management. So much more than we could ever post here - including so many more things that you need to know - and all of it written by professional authors with a lifetime of hands-on experience in the industry (and nice guys to boot!).

 

It'll be the best investment you've made in a long time.

 

Cheers,

 

Colin

[dmu]

Thank you all for the help, I will try this tonight when I get home. I just had just changed the monitor from my original calibration to sRGB to see if it would help. I have switched it back to my calibration now. I use the Canon EOS Utility for my initial conversion. I am using cs2, but I am not yet familiar what ACR is, I am sure I will figure it out.

 

I was browsing the Real World book in the store last week. That is what got me to line everything up with sRGB. Before, they were mixed and not matched. I will let you know what happens, thanks again.

 

Darrin

[dmu]

One more question. If it is true that RAW data has no color space associated with it, then why does my Canon 30D let me choose Adobe or sRGB? Why does it not just say RAW and let me choose what to use in the Editing tool like Digital Photo Professional or Photoshop? Also, if I am going to use sRGB in my editing tool, is there any benefit to choosing this on the camera menu?

 

Thanks,

 

Darrin

[emre]

That's for the embedded JPEG, Darrin.