Exporting from Lightroom: sRGB vs. ProPhoto RGB

[jackie_boldt]

<p>I always export sRGB for my photos on the web (online portfolio and blogging), however when giving my clients the final disc of photos, I give them photos exported as ProPhoto RGB, or if I'm ordering prints for them. But now, I'm noticing that whenever I upload the photos exported as ProPhoto online, they end up with a funny color to them with a greenish tint. It's almost as if all of the red is gone. Thoughts? Anyone else experiencing these issues? What do you normally do when exporting files for your clients vs. web use?<br>

Thanks!</p>

[howard_m]

<p>you should leave them in prophoto for your use only (ie. additional LR or PS work). Then save out a full set as sRGB and *that* is what you give to the client or burn on a DVD. sRGB is the lowest common denominator colorspace (esp. for Windows OS) and will appear correctly. Anything else is a crapshoot as you've experienced.</p>

[jackie_boldt]

<p>Well, shoot. I hope this doesn't cause too many problems for the clients I've given discs too already :( </p>

[howard_m]

<p>it boils down to whether the clients are using colorspace aware browsers or file viewers. If they are, you're OK. </p>

<p>Or, it shows you how many clients actually look at the discs you give them ;)</p>

[kel_madics]

<p>When I was learning this stuff I was using ProPhoto in LR and importing it in photoshop still in ProPhoto and didnt realize i was saving it in Prophoto in my jpegs but the web will NOT tolerate Prophoto so all the images i uploaded in the web where user's computers does not recognize Prophoto have BAD colorcasted images. The bad thing is i have save 100+ images this way so i have to resave them all.</p>

[kel_madics]

<p>Have to learn the hard way. My workflow now is do the edits in Adobe RGB then save in both SRGB full resolution for web then create another folder for Adobe RGB with the images having 360ppi resolution for printing.</p>

[neilambrose]

<p>In almost all cases sRGB is the best for both screen and print.</p>

<p>It's true that ProPhoto is a better gamut in technical terms, but it's only of use if you're printing it on correctly colour-profiled equipment - monitor, printer and paper. Few if any clients will know anything about colour-profiling, and all consumer grade home printers and drug-store printers / kiosks are targeted at sRGB.</p>

<p>And, as you've discovered, sRGB is the only profile that's workable for common web use, as it's supported by most browsers. Other colour spaces are supported partially at best, and more frequently, not at all.</p>

[wedding-photography-denver]

<p>Well covered already.</p>

<p>It all about the Gamut available to work in/with. The larger gamuts are not viewable in many environments as they were intended, nor may they be printed as intended either, hence the use of sRGB for 99% of all images shared electronically.</p>

<p> </p>

[jackie_boldt]

<p>Why don't they tell you this stuff?? :)<br>

Anyway, thanks for all of the help. Does anyone know of a good, easy, and free converter for my clients to use in order to get their photos to sRGB?</p>

[pete_s.]

<p>"...an image file in a wide space such as ProPhoto RGB needs to be kept in a cage, so that it doesn't accidentally get into the outside world. Anyone receiving a copy of such a file who doesn't know what they have, and who doesn't function in a properly colour managed workflow, or who presumes that the file is sRGB, can inadvertently use it to produce some really horrid results." Michael Reichmann<br>

Original here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/prophoto-rgb.shtml</p>

<p>Thing is that ProPhoto files need to be 16 bit files or you can get banding. Jpegs are always 8-bit so they are unsuitable for prophoto. Tiff files are best for 16 bit files as they are more compatible than psd for instance.</p>

<p>So if the clients are fine art printers or graphic pros give them 16 bit tiffs in prophoto otherwise give them 8 bit jpegs with the sRGB profile embedded (not just tagged).</p>

<p>There is no easy way to go from prophoto to sRGB because it requires interpretation since the prophoto image may contain colors that can't be reproduced in sRGB.</p>

<p>I suggest you redo your files to sRGB and give your clients new discs. It's your work out there and it may look very crappy on the clients monitors and prints because you chose the prophoto color space.</p>

<p> </p>

[cenelsonfoto]

<p>I second Pete's advice regarding how to correct your customers' orders. They hired you to provide them copy; do your work, provide new files, ask for the old discs to be returned and destroy them. If I was your customer and you asked me to do the work here, you'd not hear from me again. Just my two cents. Chalk this up to hard-earned wisdom.</p>

[jackie_boldt]

<p>Thanks for the advice. I've sent an email to all of my clients potentially affected by this error explaining to them what happened and if they have experienced this with their photos to email me for a new disc. So far, out of over 50 clients, I have received emails back from 10 of them. Some of them have responded and said they haven't experienced the issues, so I guess some people have the problem and others don't? I'm not sure why that is, but it is. I also offered to re-print any prints that they ordered and came back with that coloring.<br>

Thanks again, everyone!</p>