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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Do you edit in Adobe RGB or sRGB?
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05/09/2014 11:30:16 AM · #1
Do you edit in Adobe RGB or sRGB?

Because I have read online that the person edits in Adobe RGB, with 16-bit depth (how do we set it to 16-bit?), does color correction in LAB mode, then goes back to RGB for final editing.

any comments on this?

(Because I just leave my photos @ sRGB all the time, from camera (i set my camera to sRGB) to editing process to posting online. Do i lose something when I leave the profile to just sRGB all the time?)

Thanks!
05/09/2014 11:34:30 AM · #2
unless you completely understand color spaces... don't deviate.

05/09/2014 11:43:28 AM · #3
I have read on color spaces from ken rockwell (lol) and some useful online articles, and yeah can't fully grasp it all.

Im quite OC on my editing steps list and don't want additional steps (lazy me).
I can't see significant difference in my monitor, but if there is significant difference then I might add 'conversions' in my editing process.

How about you Mike do you convert when you edit? (if its just okay to know). Thanks! ^_^
05/09/2014 12:35:07 PM · #4
I would do as Mike says and leave it.
05/09/2014 12:49:09 PM · #5
i shoot in sRGB and edit there too. i know in an older version of lightroom it would change to prophotoRGB when going to edit in Photoshop and i just left it, but i would have issues if i tried to copy develop setting from a RAW to a psd or tiff.

Lightroom warned me not to change, so i didnt but something was wrong and i didnt know enough not to change it and i just dealt with it.

Message edited by author 2014-05-09 12:49:50.
05/09/2014 12:59:51 PM · #6
If you're shooting jpeg, doing minimal edits, and posting on the web, leave it in sRGB. That's the least error prone thing to do. If you use Adobe RGB, you will soon be posting things asking why your colors look dark and desaturated.

There's a lot to be said about color spaces, and entire book chapters have been written about them. The basics you need to know, that I won't back up with any facts, is...

There's essentially no reason to use Adobe RGB for anything. The gamut of Adobe RGB doesn't match any device in the real world. sRGB is very roughly the gamut of most consumer grade monitors. Most consumer level print operations also use sRGB (or something close to it) as well.

If you're making significant changes to an image, you should probably do two things: 1) switch from 8-bit to 16-bit, and 2) change to ProPhoto RGB for the editing stage. Lightroom, for example does everything with 16 bit ProPhoto RGB. Those two changes will give you a lot of headroom in your editing. Once you've done your editing, you'll have to remember to convert it back to 8-bit and sRGB for output, though.

Don't even get me started on printing. If you're sending it out to Costco or someplace, just leave it in sRGB. If you're printing it yourself, you might want to invest the time in understanding this stuff yourself.

05/09/2014 02:42:07 PM · #7
Originally posted by Ann:

If you're sending it out to Costco ...

... you should (as mentioned) leave in sRGB, but you can also download Costco's Printer Profiles, which (AFAIK) they get from Dry Creek Photo. However, I print at Costco all the tie without using them and have been satisfied with the results, which are quite close to what I expect (even though I use an old uncalibrated CRT monitor).

Once you capture an image in sRGB with your cammera, I don't think you can really expand the gamut much by switching to another color-space anyway.

Message edited by author 2014-05-09 14:44:03.
05/09/2014 02:50:15 PM · #8
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by Ann:

If you're sending it out to Costco ...

... you should (as mentioned) leave in sRGB, but you can also download Costco's Printer Profiles, which (AFAIK) they get from Dry Creek Photo. However, I print at Costco all the tie without using them and have been satisfied with the results, which are quite close to what I expect (even though I use an old uncalibrated CRT monitor).

Once you capture an image in sRGB with your cammera, I don't think you can really expand the gamut much by switching to another color-space anyway.


That's true...once in sRGB, stay there.

However, you should capture in RAW if possible to get the widest gamut and most information in your original. That uses the camera's own (wider) gamut--the sRGB/aRGB setting doesn't matter if you shoot RAW, except for the JPEG preview the camera shows you. Then what everyone else said applies.

Here's an article that shows you the color space difference: //fstoppers.com/adobergb-vs-srgb

A detailed (but old) article here: //regex.info/blog/photo-tech/color-spaces-page1
05/09/2014 03:02:38 PM · #9
I think the costco profiles are very close to sRGB. I used to use them, and couldn't tell the difference. Costco also has some sort of color correction that is automatically applied unless you request it be turned off. My personal opinion is for Costco, you should just use sRGB and let them do the auto color correction. Most of this color calibration stuff gives a false sense of accuracy anyway. No matter how perfectly calibrated your monitor is or how well profiled your printer is, when you move from a backlit screen to printed output, you will need to make some changes to get it to look right. Typically, midtones on the printed page are generally a bit dark compared to the monitor, reds need more saturation, and blacks are less black. If you're far enough down the color management road to care whether your "midtones really pop", Costco's probably not the right place to get stuff printed anyway.

For most everyday stuff though, Costco does a darn fine job for a really reasonable price.
05/09/2014 05:04:05 PM · #10
Thanks so much everyone.

Maybe I should just stay in sRGB.
I'll just change from 8-bit to 16-bit once I edit in photoshop from ACR (would this matter even if I don't convert to Prophoto RGB?),
and just convert back to 8 bit when saving jpegs.

If I save to TIFF for printing, should I use 16-bit or 8-bit?
05/09/2014 06:41:38 PM · #11
Originally posted by lovemelvin:

If I save to TIFF for printing, should I use 16-bit or 8-bit?

You need to check with whatever place you are using for prints -- not all of them take TIFF files at all. I don't know about Costco, but I will check ... my camera only captures JPEG anyway, so I've never edited in 16-bit...

If you save in TIFF format you should be able to use the LZW compression option to reduce the file size -- it is lossless so the entire file will be restored when uncompressed.
Originally posted by Costco Photo Live Chat:

Paul says: I'm talking about color-depth ... 8-bit color vs 16-bit color.

Nakieta says:
The 16 bit should be ok.

Paul says:
Very good -- I will try that out on my next print(s).

Nakieta says:
The reference number for this chat isCU0452770. Thank you for contacting Costco Photo Center Online Chat.


Message edited by author 2014-05-09 19:01:08.
05/10/2014 01:29:25 AM · #12
Apparently my CostCo will only accept sRGB files during upload. It has failed upload of aRGB when I had inadvertently failed to convert. Not sure about any other file types. They state that their profiled printers accept sRGB files only.

I usually do not let them color correct, and I've found that they reproduce my errors quite accurately. I'm fully satisfied with their prints. $0.13 for a 4" x 6" and one hour service is hard to beat...
05/10/2014 08:37:13 AM · #13
As another data point, if you shoot in Raw you can ignore most of this until you save as a JPG (sRGB usually) for printing or display.
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