CYMK or RGB??

CraisLover

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone knew if I should be uploading images that are color-corrected for CYMK or leave them RGB???

Thanks

CraisLover :scratch

lynnma

CraisLover wrote:

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone knew if I should be uploading images that are color-corrected for CYMK or leave them RGB???

Thanks

CraisLover

Hi Crais,

I would have thought (and I'm learning) that you would leave them RGB as from what I'm learning the color space is larger. I think (and please experts correct me if I'm wrong here) CYMK would be the conversion needed for the printer and converts to "similar" colors but looks to me like you lose some.
Just my 2cents.
Lynn

pathfinder

CraisLover wrote:

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone knew if I should be uploading images that are color-corrected for CYMK or leave them RGB???

Thanks

CraisLover

sRGB is standard for the WEB. I am not sure why you would want to change to CMYK to upload to the web. All of my pictures here or on smugmug are sRGB or Adobe RGB.

Corrected for CMYK sounds like your files are set up to print - but I am not sure what question you are asking when you say "color-corrected for CMYK"

Color correction is not really a function of the color space being used, is it? Once an image is color corrected - whether Adobe RGB, sRGB, or CMYK - unless the image color is larger than the color space allows - it should really not look that much different no matter which space its files resides in.

Unless an image utilizes the extreme edges of a colorspace , it should look very similar regrdless of which color space its colors are defined. In other words - you really don't see any sifference in your image when you change MODE from RGB to CMYK, or LAB.

lynnma

pathfinder wrote:

sRGB is standard for the WEB. I am not sure why you would want to change to CMYK to upload to the web. All of my pictures here or on smugmug are sRGB or Adobe RGB.

Corrected for CMYK sounds like your files are set up to print - but I am not sure what question you are asking when you say "color-corrected for CMYK"

Color correction is not really a function of the color space being used, is it? Once an image is color corrected - whether Adobe RGB, sRGB, or CMYK - unless the image color is larger than the color space allows - it should really not look that much different no matter which space its files resides in.

Unless an image utilizes the extreme edges of a colorspace , it should look very similar regrdless of which color space its colors are defined. In other words - you really don't see any sifference in your image when you change MODE from RGB to CMYK, or LAB.

Hi Pathfinder,

It seemd to me I lost a little vibrance when I converted my color space from RGB to Cmyk... also, I thought the actual color space was smaller in cmyk, am I wrong? Enquiring minds need to know:D
Lynn

Baldy

CraisLover wrote:

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone knew if I should be uploading images that are color-corrected for CYMK or leave them RGB???

Thanks

CraisLover

Hey CraisLover,

It's a very good question that we need a help section for at smugmug, and the answer is: RGB.

The reason is sRGB is the color space of the web and of consumer devices like TV, handhelds, etc. IE on Windows defaults to sRGB and won't display your photos in any other space, so you're stuck.

If you don't convert to RGB, smugmug does its best to do it for you, but you'll probably do a better job on your own.

You might ask, "what about print?" The printer we use is EZ Prints, and like every web-based printer I'm aware of, they've gone to sRGB.

So when would you choose cmyk? For high-end traditional printers like magazines use.

I hope this helps,
Baldy
(Chris at smugmug)

scrooks

Baldy wrote:

You might ask, "what about print?" The printer we use is EZ Prints, and like every web-based printer I'm aware of, they've gone to sRGB.

Whoa. I've been using the EZPrints color profile from their website for all my pictures, converting them to that profile before pushing them up. Is that still accurate, or should I switch to a straight sRGB profile?

I just ordered several test prints converted different ways to make sure my customers are getting what I think their getting and to make sure I'm producing the best prints I can for them, but I didn't test any that were converted to the sRGB color profile.

Baldy

scrooks wrote:

Whoa. I've been using the EZPrints color profile from their website for all my pictures, converting them to that profile before pushing them up. Is that still accurate, or should I switch to a straight sRGB profile?

I just ordered several test prints converted different ways to make sure my customers are getting what I think their getting and to make sure I'm producing the best prints I can for them, but I didn't test any that were converted to the sRGB color profile.

Yes, using their profile is the right thing to do. It's very close to sRGB so that anyone with a color monitor calibrated to sRGB can get close.