Color Space question

[BillClark]

Through some previous readings and advice from the 'Magic Lantern' guides, I have been using the Abobe RGB color space for all shots. Now I am beginning to wonder if that is the correct decision.

From what I know, and it may be incorrect, the sRGB is standard most everywhere and is best for online/screen viewing. However, for printing, AdobeRGB should be used.

Is this the correct perception out there? Is it outdated?

I ask now, because I am struggling taking what I perceive to be good shots and get them to print correctly. Granted, I am printing at home, but I want to make sure I am not making things harder for myself by shooting in AdobeRGB.

Any tutorials or further sources on information on this would be appreciated.

Thx
Bill

[sybren]

It depends on what you need, really. The important thing to remember is that with AdobeRGB you get a wider gamut (possible colour range) but still use the same number of bits to represent the colours. http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...obeRGB1998.htm explains the effects better than I could, so please read through that - at least the section "INFLUENCE ON BIT DEPTH DISTRIBUTION".

You shouldn't use AdobeRGB just "because it's for print". If you don't use the extra colours you get, you'll be better off with sRGB.

The final conclusion: only you can make the judgement what is better for you. Since you print yourself, you can easily shoot a photo that is typical of your work both in AdobeRGB and sRGB, and print the result. If you can't spot the difference, stick to sRGB. If you can spot the difference, pick the one you're most pleased with.

[rahsoft]

Hi
to throw a spanner in the works
LR2 is recommending colourspace of 16 bit proPhotoRGB.

the explaination given is that sRGB and AdobeRGB cannot encompass the full range of colour available in LR2.

I read the article that you linked to and concluded from the summary that the deciding factor is whether you want 8 or 16 bit for your images.

i prefer to work in 16 bit and then only step down to 8 bit and sRGB to display on the web.
for printing if you have any advantage in adobe RGB then i say take it. you can always change to sRGB if you need to as and when it is required.

Regards

[Doug Pardee]

For normal photo work, sRGB is the way to go.

Adobe RGB is of interest if your photo is going to be printed by a CMYK process ("printing press"). For example, if you got a shot printed in Sports Illustrated.

Ordinary photo printers are not able to reproduce even the full sRGB gamut, much less take advantage of Adobe RGB. Some premium home printers are now starting to get there, but your monitor probably is limited, too.

The difference in color gamut between sRGB and Adobe RGB is very small, and only a few of your photos are likely to get any benefit at all from the added gamut. In the meantime, the rest all lose a little bit of precision.

Bottom line: quality-wise, the difference is unimportant. Convenience-wise, sRGB wins by a landslide.

[sybren]

Originally Posted by Doug Pardee

The difference in color gamut between sRGB and Adobe RGB is very small, and only a few of your photos are likely to get any benefit at all from the added gamut. In the meantime, the rest all lose a little bit of precision.

AdobeRGB gains some colours, mostly in the greens. However, to accommodate for more colours it loses resolution between colours. If you want to reach more colours and still use the same amount of bits, you'll get larger colour differences per bit.

sRGB has less colour gamut than AdobeRGB but the same number of bits. This means that the colour differences are smaller.

If you don't use the extra colours that AdobeRGB gives you, you're throwing away precision in the colours that you do use.

[vandergus]

bottom line: Quality-wise, the difference is unimportant. Convenience-wise, srgb wins by a landslide.

+1


...........

[dcclark]

If your are printing using any of the major online labs (mpix, adoramapix, etc.), they want sRGB only -- as mentioned above, AdobeRGB is only going to be used by magazines or some other highly specific publishers.