Colour workspaces
Discussion
I'm just starting to get into digital photography and Photoshop, and am a bit stumped with the various colour workspace options that are available - e.g., Adobe RGB, ProPhoto RGB, sRGB etc...
What I'm trying to do is scan slides using a slide scanner, then tweak them a bit in Photoshop (remove dust, tweak colour settings etc...), then print them out on an Epson 2100 with the best quality possible.
From what I've seen and understand, ProPhoto RGB is the best space to use as it has a wide gamut most suited to 16 bit per channel images, so I've set the output space of my scanner and the working space of Photoshop to this workspace, and I assume this will give the best output results when I print the photo.
Am I right with this way of thinking? I'm still a bit of a novice, so don't have a particularly strong grasp of colour spaces and gamuts.
Any advice would be appreciated!
What I'm trying to do is scan slides using a slide scanner, then tweak them a bit in Photoshop (remove dust, tweak colour settings etc...), then print them out on an Epson 2100 with the best quality possible.
From what I've seen and understand, ProPhoto RGB is the best space to use as it has a wide gamut most suited to 16 bit per channel images, so I've set the output space of my scanner and the working space of Photoshop to this workspace, and I assume this will give the best output results when I print the photo.
Am I right with this way of thinking? I'm still a bit of a novice, so don't have a particularly strong grasp of colour spaces and gamuts.
Any advice would be appreciated!
This kind of caries on from the thread about printing.
ProPhoto RGB is, I think, a Kodak profile. If you want the widest gamut of colours you could work in Wide Gamut RGB, it's so wide you monitor will not be able to display the colours and you can't print them either. Most professionals use Adobe RGB 1998 or maybe Colormatch. sRGB is a profile cobbled together by Microsoft & HP which is designed to display images across different makes of monitors and computer platforms, and, hopefully, they will look similar. So if you are posting to the web the is the kiddie and by default most consumer cameras and computers are set up to use this space. However, it's a compromise and an inferior space to Adobe RGB which is what I would use for printing.
You are right in scanning in 16 bits as it will give you more latitude to make colour adjustments with out throwing away information. But for a better result alter grey balance curves, etc. in the scanning software.
Colour management is a thorny and contentious issue but fortunately some other nice people can explain it better than I.
Check out the colour management section here:
www.neilbarstow.co.uk/home.html
There are some more downloads covering this topic at Martin Evenings website. His book 'Photoshop for Photographers' is highly recommended:
www.martinevening.com/
Look for colour management under the 'Photoshop Work' heading.
& here:
www.photoshopforphotographers.com/index2.htm
and go to downloads and download 'Color management in Adobe Photoshop', in fact I would start with this as it is well written and sums it up nicely.
The only other thing you may need is some asprin as it may make your head
HTH
Paul
>> Edited by Bacardi on Tuesday 2nd December 22:23
ProPhoto RGB is, I think, a Kodak profile. If you want the widest gamut of colours you could work in Wide Gamut RGB, it's so wide you monitor will not be able to display the colours and you can't print them either. Most professionals use Adobe RGB 1998 or maybe Colormatch. sRGB is a profile cobbled together by Microsoft & HP which is designed to display images across different makes of monitors and computer platforms, and, hopefully, they will look similar. So if you are posting to the web the is the kiddie and by default most consumer cameras and computers are set up to use this space. However, it's a compromise and an inferior space to Adobe RGB which is what I would use for printing.
You are right in scanning in 16 bits as it will give you more latitude to make colour adjustments with out throwing away information. But for a better result alter grey balance curves, etc. in the scanning software.
Colour management is a thorny and contentious issue but fortunately some other nice people can explain it better than I.
Check out the colour management section here:
www.neilbarstow.co.uk/home.html
There are some more downloads covering this topic at Martin Evenings website. His book 'Photoshop for Photographers' is highly recommended:
www.martinevening.com/
Look for colour management under the 'Photoshop Work' heading.
& here:
www.photoshopforphotographers.com/index2.htm
and go to downloads and download 'Color management in Adobe Photoshop', in fact I would start with this as it is well written and sums it up nicely.
The only other thing you may need is some asprin as it may make your head
HTH
Paul
>> Edited by Bacardi on Tuesday 2nd December 22:23
I've found a great book which I've just finished reading which explains this subject very well!
It's called "Real World Color Management", and is written by Bruce Fraser, Fred Bunting and Chris Murphy.
If you want to find out more about profiling scanners, monitors and printers, and how to ensure that what you print matches what you scan and see on your screen, this is the book to get.
I now know what Perceptual rendering intent means!
I've now just started reading "Real World Adobe Photoshop 7" by David Blatner and Bruce Fraser, which is looking like it's going to be just as useful.
Amazon links are:
Color Management book
Photoshop book
It's called "Real World Color Management", and is written by Bruce Fraser, Fred Bunting and Chris Murphy.
If you want to find out more about profiling scanners, monitors and printers, and how to ensure that what you print matches what you scan and see on your screen, this is the book to get.
I now know what Perceptual rendering intent means!
I've now just started reading "Real World Adobe Photoshop 7" by David Blatner and Bruce Fraser, which is looking like it's going to be just as useful.
Amazon links are:
Color Management book
Photoshop book
Technically you would be better off using Adobe RGB 1998, as it has a wider gamut than sRGB - apparently sRGB clips off a significant amount of cyan when you convert to CMYK to print.
I used to use Adobe 1998, but I put a lot of stuff on the web, and most browsers assume that jpeg files are sRGB, with the effect that they will appear very desaturated (especially reds) if they are in fact Adobe 1998 - or any other profile. Personally I've never been able to notice a difference when I've printed comparisons between the two, so now I use sRGB exculsively because it saves the hassle of having to convert back to sRGB to post on the web.
I used to use Adobe 1998, but I put a lot of stuff on the web, and most browsers assume that jpeg files are sRGB, with the effect that they will appear very desaturated (especially reds) if they are in fact Adobe 1998 - or any other profile. Personally I've never been able to notice a difference when I've printed comparisons between the two, so now I use sRGB exculsively because it saves the hassle of having to convert back to sRGB to post on the web.
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff