Color spaces and the like?

cambler

I'm still unclear on the optimal workflow and uploading parameters for printing.

Typically, I have my D70 shoot in Adobe 1998, work in that space, and convert to Epson 2200 PG before I print at home. That tends to work very well for me.

For Smugmug, do I want to convert to EZPrints' profile before reducing to full-res JPEG and uploading? Do I want to imbed the profile, or, as it seems, will it just be stripped?

Can someone give me a little adult supervision and suggest a workflow that's canonical to uploading and printing at Smugmug?

Many thanks!

mercphoto

Upload as Adobe sRGB space. From what I know, no need to imbed the profile either. As much as I don't like it, I've resigned to using sRGB for everything so I don't need to remember to convert later.

Now, if people like Andy would go to the Mac world and stay there, maybe we'd make some progress! In all honesty, I don't know why serious and professional photographers put up with a computing environment that is not color-aware.

Andy

loads of info here on dgrin on this topic can you please look at the linked threads and then ask specific questions?

cambler wrote:

I'm still unclear on the optimal workflow and uploading parameters for printing.

Typically, I have my D70 shoot in Adobe 1998, work in that space, and convert to Epson 2200 PG before I print at home. That tends to work very well for me.

For Smugmug, do I want to convert to EZPrints' profile before reducing to full-res JPEG and uploading? Do I want to imbed the profile, or, as it seems, will it just be stripped?

Can someone give me a little adult supervision and suggest a workflow that's canonical to uploading and printing at Smugmug?

Many thanks!

cambler

Okay, so in reading many threads, the bottom line seems to be that sRGB is the color space in which to do everything.

Specific question: If the above is true, why does EZPrints provide an ICC, if they're just going to ignore it and use sRGB?

Specific question: If I stop doing my workflow in Adobe1998 and start doing it in sRGB, are there any implications for quality? The accepted myth is that Adobe1998 is a "better" space than sRGB - ignoring that religious argument, are there any other issues?

mercphoto

cambler wrote:

Specific question: If the above is true, why does EZPrints provide an ICC, if they're just going to ignore it and use sRGB?

Dunno.

Specific question: If I stop doing my workflow in Adobe1998 and start doing it in sRGB, are there any implications for quality? The accepted myth is that Adobe1998 is a "better" space than sRGB - ignoring that religious argument, are there any other issues?

As far as I can tell, it is 95% a religious argument. Those who claim no benefit to sRGB are, in my mind, being narrowed minded. And while it is true that sRGB represents fewer colors than Adobe1998, if the image you took is in-gamut with sRGB then what's the big deal? That is something no one has explained to me yet. The old "you are throwing away colors" argument doesn't fly with me.

From what I can tell, for the photography that I do, I'm in-gamut with sRGB and therefore it makes my life easier. Not everyone is in that boat, of course.

Baldy

Ooooooo, I'm so tantalizingly close to releasing short color sections on smugmug entitled, "The lessons of a million prints." Wish I had it for this post.

The point is most books approach this from a color science/theory viewpoint, whereas these sections show how often consumers actually return prints and why.

I wrote a section on sRGB versus Adobe RGB because it's behind our 4th-most common complaint: my photos look washed out.

Here are two versions of the same image captured in RAW with no adjustments except the top one is saved in sRGB and the bottom in Adobe RGB:





Adobe RGB is a great color space but it cannot be displayed through any Windows-based web browser without looking washed out, nor printed through any of the mainstream commercial printers without being washed out.

It's good for wide-gamut inkjets when you've got colors in your image that sRGB cannot capture, such as the cyan in HP's original logo. It's our experience that perhaps 1 in 100 images have out of gamut colors in sRGB.

If your colors are not out of gamut, sRGB is a better choice because the increments between colors are finer.

Clear as mud?

Thanks,
Baldy

Dianne

I'd love to look at the threads, but the link doesn't lead me to messages. Can you tell me what you used for search terms....or suggest what I should try ???? Thanks!

andy wrote:

loads of info here on dgrin on this topic can you please look at the linked threads and then ask specific questions?

onethumb

cambler wrote:

Can someone give me a little adult supervision and suggest a workflow that's canonical to uploading and printing at Smugmug?

see this post

Don

Andy

Dianne wrote:

I'd love to look at the threads, but the link doesn't lead me to messages. Can you tell me what you used for search terms....or suggest what I should try ???? Thanks!

just type in "color management" in the search box