BIG ROB Loc: Princeton, NJ 08540

This thread is for a discussion of which color space, sRGB, or, Adobe RGB, you choose to make your photographs in, and the reasons, why you choose to use that particular color space. Also, if you can shed any light, on the quote below, regarding the use of the Adobe RGB color space; (which has been taken directly from a Canon DSLR Instruction Manual.)

PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON CANON'S QUOTE, W/O 1ST STATING WHICH COLOR SPACE YOU USE, & WHY YOU CHOOSE TO USE IT !!!
THANK YOU...

(Note: The color space, refers to the range of reproducible colors;
it's Default setting is sRGB on all camera's.)

QUOTE FROM CANON INSTRUCTION MANUAL:

"About Adobe RGB:
This color space is mostly used for commercial printing and other industrial uses. This setting is not recommended if you do not know about image processing. Adobe RGB, and Design rule for Camera File System 2.0 (Exif 2.21).
The image will look very subdued in a sRGB personnel computer environment and with printers not compatible with Design rule for Camera File System 2.0 (Exif 2.21). Post-processing of the image will therefore be required.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I use Adobe RGB because of the larger colour gamut. I PP the photos in Adobe RGB, save the psd file. Then when converting to jpg I convert to sRGB. I want to preserve, and use, as much of the colour captured as I can for as much of the process as I can.

Since most monitors, as well as my printing service, are sRGB that is my final output colour gamut.

As for the quote, I've no idea, as I use Nikon products.
--Bob

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

I use sRGB.
I used Adobe RGB for a while but switched to sRGB after reading a similar statement in the Nikon Df manual, and because I don't use Adobe PP programs.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

I use sRGB color space from beginning to end. There is no point whatever in a larger color space if the end result is to be sRGB. A larger color space compresses the sRGB colors into a smaller space to make room for the extra colors. If it is converted back... the effect is the same as any lossy compression, something is lost in translation. I do commercial printing with an Epson 7890 24" printer. The Adobe RGB color space is larger for some colors than the gamut the printer can put on paper. The only effect of using Adobe RGB would be to make softproofing more difficult.

If, and only if, you do your own printing and it is for publication, where the color match is of huge significance, use Abobe RGB.

For typical production of prints meant for sale to hang on the wall... it is counter productive to use Adobe RGB as opposed to sRGB. Note that that applies equally to using any wide gamut color space while editing and the having to convert back to sRGB at the end. And of course posting anything to the web using aRGB is foolish.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I got my formal training in ICC Color Management from seminars at PMAI/DIMA conferences, Kodak Bremson User Group conferences, and PPA seminars. There, the experts tell you that in the silver halide-based photo printing industry, the standard is sRGB.

So, when I record JPEGs in the camera, I use sRGB. When I export a JPEG for the Internet or a photo lab, I use sRGB. When I send a file to a commercial "graphic arts" printer using a CMYK press, I ask them what they want, and do that. SOME printers can reproduce photos better from images saved in Adobe RGB. More likely, they just standardize around that color space for OTHER (non-photographic) compatibility reasons.

The quote from the Canon manual is typical of what other camera manufacturers warn, as well. sRGB is the STANDARD color space on the Internet, in the photography industry, in the smartphone industry, in the tablet industry, in the desktop computer industry... This is Canon's way of saying, "You better know what you're doing if you want to take the road less traveled."

I've seen the 3D gamut plots... sRGB contains almost all the colors that are reproducible by silver halide photo papers. MOST of the monitors in the world, including smart phones, tablets, and desktop computer monitors, are factory-calibrated to sRGB, and they are not capable of displaying the full gamut of Adobe RGB unless the manufacturer states as much. Monitors that CAN display Adobe RGB are not cheap.

At the high end, if I'm going to make an inkjet print on an Epson printer, I'll convert a raw image in Lightroom and print directly to the printer driver, which is essentially making the conversion from ProPhoto RGB to the printer profile, bypassing Adobe RGB and sRGB and sending a 16-bit image. That gives me every bit of color range I can muster, for deeply saturated colors even Adobe RGB does not reveal. Of course, I first ADJUST the image using the printer profile as a proofing profile, on a monitor that's calibrated and profiled. I can't see all the color, but I can see as much of it as the monitor allows.

So the only time I export to Adobe RGB or set my camera to record Adobe RGB JPEGs is when someone asks me to do so. I also save raw images, and keep edited PSDs and TIFF images in 16-bit Adobe RGB.

As Canon indicates, using Adobe RGB requires some advanced knowledge... and its main advantages are outside the mainstream of photography.

BIG ROB Loc: Princeton, NJ 08540

What do you mean by tacking onto the end there...."I also save raw images, and keep edited PSDs and TIFF images in 16-bit Adobe RGB."?

Do you use the sRGB for JPEGS, and the Adobe RGB for raw images?

What are PSDs? I will be processing images in Lightroom 6 and shooting them with a Nikon D7200, should I set the camera's color space setting for sRGB, or for Adobe RGB? I'll be shooting raw+ jpeg.
Do you need to set your camera to Adobe RGB because you are using and editing images in Lightroom? Please set me straight on these things, Bill! Thanks, so much. Rob.

I appreciate your great knowledge so much, wherever it shows up on this blog! You are so complete in your answers! I always learn so much from you...Thanks, Rob.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I do that because I don't want to go back and re-convert the image from raw very often. The PSD or TIFF has all my initial image adjustments baked into it, but can be modified somewhat without serious degradation.



I use sRGB for JPEGs, unless told otherwise by a commercial printer.

Raw files have NO profile. However, a raw image file CONTAINS a thumbnail JPEG which has a profile set to whatever the camera menu setting was.

When you convert a raw file in Lightroom, it acquires the WORKING SPACE profile. That can be Adobe's default of ProPhoto RGB (internally), which preserves the most information from the conversion from raw. As you work on it, you are viewing it as converted to the monitor profile, but you can PROOF it in Adobe RGB, sRGB, or a printer's profile, etc.



PSD is a Photoshop Document File. That's Photoshop's layered, lossless file format that gives you the most editable flexibility in Photoshop and many other image editors.



If you record raw images, set the color space to what you intend to use downstream. If you record JPEGs (or raw plus JPEG), use sRGB for maximum compatibility. Again, the profile is only stored in the metadata of the JPEG, whether it's a separate file, or buried as a thumbnail in the raw file.



NO. Adobe RGB is intended for commercial printers and others who have high-end equipment capable of reproducing the expanded gamut of saturated colors contained in that space. You don't "need" Adobe RGB unless you have a printer or service bureau capable of reproducing it, and you should not want it unless your monitor can display it with reasonable accuracy! I've seen many a lab customer frustrated to the gills by profile mis-matches, many of which were caused by bad settings in their post-processing software.



Thanks. I try to cut through the blog fog...

BIG ROB Loc: Princeton, NJ 08540

What is Prophoto RGB?

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

I use sRGB. I shoot canon and Sony, I used Adobe products and Print with Canon. I also use the printer programme to print my images......! Printing using Adobe products resulted in darker muddy pictures - using printer programme stopped this without me making any adjustments to the images.

only common advice is to use one or the other exclusively.

have fun

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

http://www.color-management-guide.com/choosing-between-srgb-adobe-rgb-and-prophoto.html

http://schewephoto.com/sRGB-VS-PPRGB/

https://fstoppers.com/pictures/adobergb-vs-srgb-3167

http://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/2014/05/27/why-use-the-prophoto-rgb-color-space-podcast-423/

The experts - particularly Schewe - disagree - and have "stuff" to back up their position - can you provide an example of why your approach makes sense? It would be helpful to understand why you do what you do.

Zone-System-Grandpa Loc: Springfield, Ohio

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Prophoto RGB or is it Profoto RGB, and I use it because super large prints are made.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Another ICC color space that contains even more saturated colors than Adobe RGB. Use Wikipedia to learn about color management, and visit X-Rite.com and DataColor.com.

alandg46 Loc: Boerne, Texas

Sounds to me like you had both your printer color management and whatever Adobe product you use color management enabled. That does not work. One or the other, with Photoshop or Lightroom's color management, preferred.

alandg46 Loc: Boerne, Texas

Raw does not have a color space.