Colour Space Question?

[weepete]

Hi all,

I am currently reading The Digital Negative by Jeff Schewe (I've also read The Digital Print by him and found it to be a good read). He seems to be a big proponent of using the Prophoto RGB colour space when editing. In camera I only have two choices of colour space: sRGB or Adobe RGB.

My questIon is would shooting in Adobe RGB and processing as a Prophoto RGB have any negitive impact or loss given that the colour gamut of Prophoto RGB is much bigger and therefore any colours in Adobe RGB will be contained in the larger colour space?

 

[KmH]

If you shoot Raw files, Raw files have no color space so it doesn't matter what your camera is set to.

The version of ACR that is included with Photoshop CS/CC (Camera Raw) allows the user to specify a working color space. The version of ACR that is Lightroom's Develop module doesn't.
Lightroom uses a color space very similar to ProPhoto RGB.

Many image editing experts recommend using the ProPhoto RGB color space when editing because of the wide gamut of colors the ProPhoto RGB color space includes.
I am not aware of any digital camera that offers a wider gamut color space than Adobe RGB.

The experts also recommend doing as many of your edits as possible using a 16-bit color depth.
Not all editing tolls can do 16-bit depth edits. The math needed to make those tools work would take way to long to do in a 16-bit color depth, so those tools only work in an 8-bit color depth.

How an image will be used determines the output color space needed.
The web is sRGB. Some print labs can print from the Adobe RGB color space.
Some editorial users require image files be in a color model amenable to off-set press printing - CMYK.

From page 55 of The Digital Negative:

ProPhoto RGB is the only editing space in Adobe Raw processing applications large enough to contain all the information your camera can capture, and all the colors today's high end printers can print.

 

[weepete]

Thanks KmH, it didn't occur to me that the colour space would just apply to the output!

I take it the choice in camera colour space purley applies to the jpegs then. I've got my defaults in photoshop set to Adobe RGB (though I have started soft proofing them in sRGB for the ones I post here) I have noticed a difference in the side by side view in some photos so that's good. I recently got a colour calibration device so I'm just starting to think about this stuff.

 

[hirejn]

Shooting in Adobe RGB and editing in ProPhoto doesn't increase color space, nor does it cause you to lose colors. It simply limits the file to Adobe RGB. The problem is most lab printers are limited to sRGB and some colors may be lost if you send ProPhoto or Adobe RGB files to a lab (labs hate that). You can use soft proofing in Lightroom to find and correct color problems, or submit an sRGB file and let the lab correct using its software and judgement (the option I choose). Of course I use a calibrated monitor, which is a must unless you want to play the print slots. Color space applies to JPEG files from camera and profiles assigned to converted RAW files. RAW files themselves have no color space assigned.

 

[mmaria]

several times Adobe RGB, sRGB and ProPhoto RGB has been mentioned here. Every time ProPhoto gets all the compliments, and of course they're deserved.
But.... no one ever mention (at least not in the threads I came across) that you need to think about it very detailed in order to chose what suits to you and your needs.
Experts recommend ProPhoto and there are justified reasons for that. They use high end equipment, printers and paper when they print their images. They would certainly not use ProPhoto if they put that image, low res file of course on web.

Ask your lab what they prefer and edit in their preferable color space. For the web use sRGB. Use ProPhoto if you are a professional photographer with all devices needed and all knowledge needed to really justify use of ProPhoto. simple.

For the average user and someone who really is not so familiar with color space-way of displaying images-print I would certainly not recommend using ProPhoto. 16 bit is even questionable.

This is just my opinion and I'm not thinking particularly of anyone and I do agree with hirejn.

KmH always have good information

ProPhoto RGB is the only editing space in Adobe Raw processing applications large enough to contain all the information your camera can capture, and all the colors today's high end printers can print.

 

[Derrel]

Here is my advice: set the camera to sRGB. SHoot in sRGB. Edit in sRGB. Upload images to the world wide web in SRGB. Send images to your lab in sRGB.

Watch as most of your worries simply fade away.

Yeah. Ultra wide-gamut ProPhoto color space, yadda yadda yadda. MOST of the web, and the world, runs on sRGB. Go ahead, write your Craig's List for-sale advertisements all in Latin..it will make you feel educated, and superior to the hoi polloi. This is Jeff Schewe's position.

There are "best practices" and theoretical ideal practices, and then there is the way actual people, computers and their operating systems, inkjet printers, computer monitors, web platforms, smartphones, tablets, and labs EXPECT things to work. The sRGB way.