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Adobe RGB vs. sRGB

kygardenkygarden Registered Users Posts: 1,060 Major grins
edited January 3, 2009 in Finishing School
I've been wondering about this...the color space question. I've got a D700 and always shoot RAW. I use Adobe Lightroom for post processing. I've always used sRGB as my monitor's color profile and also on my camera. Would there be any obvious/noticeable differences (improvements) if I were to set my monitor to Adobe RGB and my camera to sRGB? Then when I export photos as JPG, I'd set them to sRGB for web use and so on, right? I assume it would it not do me any good to switch to Adobe RGB if I were not going to send the files to the people printing my photos as Adobe RGB (smugmug or maybe even shutterfly - assuming shutterfly will accept adobe RGB)??? Maybe I'm answering my own questions. :) I suppose I'd just like some thoughts on Adobe RGB vs. sRGB and whether or not it's worth me fooling with making a change to start using Adobe RGB. If it's just going to make my life more complicated and not make an improvement that I can see with my eyes, then I guess it wouldn't be worth messing with.
https://www.thephotographyhobbyist.com/

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    kygardenkygarden Registered Users Posts: 1,060 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2008
    Never mind. http://www.smugmug.com/help/srgb-versus-adobe-rgb-1998 That along with other sites I've seen tell me I'm probably better off not fooling with anything other than sRGB.
    https://www.thephotographyhobbyist.com/
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    arodneyarodney Registered Users Posts: 2,005 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2008
    kygarden wrote:
    Never mind. http://www.smugmug.com/help/srgb-versus-adobe-rgb-1998 That along with other sites I've seen tell me I'm probably better off not fooling with anything other than sRGB.

    If you shoot Raw, it doesn't matter what you set the camera for, its only affecting JPEGs.

    As to why you'd want to avoid sRGB for anything but web posting:
    http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/pdfs/phscs2ip_colspace.pdf

    And since you shoot Raw:http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/family/prophotographer/pdfs/pscs3_renderprint.pdf

    The s in sRGB often stands for Stupid RGB!
    Andrew Rodney
    Author "Color Management for Photographers"
    http://www.digitaldog.net/
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    pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,699 moderator
    edited December 31, 2008
    kygarden wrote:
    I've been wondering about this...the color space question. I've got a D700 and always shoot RAW. I use Adobe Lightroom for post processing. I've always used sRGB as my monitor's color profile and also on my camera. Would there be any obvious/noticeable differences (improvements) if I were to set my monitor to Adobe RGB and my camera to sRGB? Then when I export photos as JPG, I'd set them to sRGB for web use and so on, right? I assume it would it not do me any good to switch to Adobe RGB if I were not going to send the files to the people printing my photos as Adobe RGB (smugmug or maybe even shutterfly - assuming shutterfly will accept adobe RGB)??? Maybe I'm answering my own questions. :) I suppose I'd just like some thoughts on Adobe RGB vs. sRGB and whether or not it's worth me fooling with making a change to start using Adobe RGB. If it's just going to make my life more complicated and not make an improvement that I can see with my eyes, then I guess it wouldn't be worth messing with.

    You do NOT want your monitor to use a profile called sRGB.

    Your monitor needs to use a profile you have created when you calibrate your monitor with a hardware tool to calibrate your monitor like a Spyder3Pro, or a Color Munki, or and Eye1Display2 colorimeter.

    As Andrew said, if you shoot RAW, the choice of Adobe RGB or sRGB only applies to the jpg you see on your camera's LCD.

    I use ProPhoto as the working color space for Photoshop ( this is the default for Lightroom too ) and only convert to sRGB for images that are bound for display on the web or are to be printed via firms on the Web.

    Files converted to Adobe RGB will have larger gamuts than sRGB, and some ( but not all ) inkjet printers can print this larger gamut as well. If you plan to print your images with a printer with 8 or more colored inks, AdobeRGB may be a good choice for you.

    If you are displaying images via a gallery on the web, sRGB is your best choice, because most web browsers are not color aware and will ignore the ICC profiles attached to the image. Most monitors on the web are not profiled either, unless the owner is a photographer or graphic artist with a serious understanding of color spaces used on the web.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
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    azariazari Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited January 3, 2009
    Color Space
    I concur with what the previous posters have said.

    Let me add a my own $0.02, though as well.

    If you check color with your camera's LCD screen, you should set your camera to sRGB, not Adobe - while this will only affect JPEG (and TIFF) format from your camera, your NEF/RAW capture contains a JPEG BASIC image (created using the chosen settings in your camera) that is displayed on your camera's screen. (you can 'extract' this JPEG from your NEF/RAW image using http://drchung.new21.net/previewextractor/...)

    You should also set the sharpening and white balance correctly (use the PRE option w/ a gray card, or set it manually to the correct setting, or - if all else fails - use the Auto setting). Again, this will affect your 'proof image' (the embedded JPEG) displayed on the camera and your histograms.

    I shoot NEF/RAW in 14 bit with lossless compression and use ProPhoto RGB for Camera RAW and Photoshop (CS4) processing, only downsampling once I create the final versions for Web (sRGB) or printer (Printer ICC files w/ softproofing/tweaking prior to printing).
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