Preferences: sRGB, or Adobe RGB?

[cderousseau]

When working on my layouts in PS Elements, I stay with the sRGB color space; I also keep to sRGB for JPEGs intended for online display, but I convert the "for printing" full-resolution flattened versions to Adobe RGB, and that's gotten me wondering: is there a sort of "scrapping standard" color model?

Do designers typically embed color profiles in their product files? If so, is sRGB or Adobe RGB the preferred color model? Or is there no real consensus about which to use?

Fellow scrappers, when you're working with digital products which may have originated with different designers, do you have a preference for working in one color space or the other, or don't you worry about it? Do you generally save your digital layouts with one or the other profile embedded, or none at all?

[iUma]

Cindy, I can't wait to hear the answers to your questions. I had to get a new Macbookpro and had to reinstall PSCS3. The issue of which color space to use is up again for me. I know some printing services, like Costco, I think, have only one color space that they prefer. I'm still confused about all this. Thanks for asking the questions.

[nirecreations]

I too am looking forward to this answer, thanks for asking it!

[audrey77]

Very good question... I am looking forward to the answer as well!

[KellieMize]

I'm also looking forward to the answers, lol.

Since I rarely work on stuff for print, I design in sRGB. But honestly, if someone changed my settings I don't think I'd notice.

[cderousseau]

According to a piece I read recently (in one of my photo mags, I think), sRGB is superior for onscreen use, and Adobe RGB for print use; I haven't personally tested its assertion that Adobe RGBs tend to appear duller onscreen, but I can say from personal experience that I do seem to get printouts which appear truer to what I saw on my monitor when I print from Adobe RGB files—especially if I've remembered to also specify "Adobe RGB" anywhere there's a choice given, as I'm setting up the print order...although I also have to say that I never really noticed much of a difference until after I went from working primarily in ACD Systems' Canvas X to working mostly in PS Elements, and switched from an H-P to an Epson printer...

[bluelemur01]

Well, I'll share my opinions & a few experiences with you all.

First, keep in mind that sRGB is by far the most widely used color profile in the US. Most printing stores, both on-line AND bricks/mortar, have machines optimized to print out sRGB files. In fact, many stores (such as Wolf & Ritz Camera) may not even be ABLE to print out Adobe RGB files "as is". You may need to resave them with an sRGB profile or ask the store to turn off "color management" on their machines in order to correctly print Adobe RGB files. However, sometimes if you shoot in Adobe RGB and then convert to sRGB, you may lose some definition/color range in your pic and may need to adjust it for print.

I took some pictures for a client last year and had my camera set to Adobe RGB. In Photoshop, I worked on them in Adobe RGB color space and saved them with the Adobe RGB color profile. I usually work on client photos in sRGB but had set my equipment to Adobe RGB for some personal work & forgot to set it back.

When I gave the disc of pics to the client, they called me in a terror saying that the pictures were all printing green! (Scary!) It turned out that the places they were trying, big photo chains like Ritz, Walgreens & Wolf, could not handle Adobe RGB files. But many of the clerks didn't understand or realize this and were unable to diagnose why the pics looked green. I had to resave all the pics with sRGB profile and refund their money (to account for their "pain & suffering", lol...I always want a happy client!)

Many pros say that if you have a fabulous monitor, like an EIZO ColorEdge (top of the line), AND use a very good camera, AND print out using the best professional printers that understand how to print Adobe RGB files, AND print large-size prints...THEN you may see better color range and depth if you shoot and work on them in Adobe RGB. However, for most people, even many pros, sRGB is just fine! There are lots of top photographers who do wedding, portraits & write books who use sRGB and have for years.

I have not seen a real discernible difference in my photos when I use Adobe and sRGB in terms of quality. So I have been using sRGB for now b/c it's easier.

Sometimes if you have an Adobe RGB file, you DO need to convert it to sRGB for it to "look right" on the web or on monitors that are not optimized for ADobe RGB. In fact, a photo with Adobe RGB can actually look somewhat dull or flat if viewed on a system optimized for sRGB, even though the same photo "is" better and may look better if viewed/printed on machines that "do" Adobe RGB.

Here's an article by Ken Rockwell: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm

So the short answer is that the way the colors look in your photos depends on MANY things, not just aRGB/sRGB: It depends on your camera, your exposure, your editing software, your printer, the paper you use, the printer profile, etc.

I can't say that you should use sRGB instead of Adobe, because I can't answer that for every person. But in my experience, the current state of affairs on the web and at print places makes it easier and just-as-high quality for me to use sRGB.

I look forward to reading what others have to say and what others think about this!

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

Taking Scott Kelby's advice, I changed the settings on my camera and PS to always work in the Adobe RGB color profile. Jennifer covered everything, I just thought I'd add my preference. I only convert to sRGB for the file that I post online. I know that Shutterfly's recommendation is to upload an RGB version for their books.

[cheekymonkey]

Wow... if only this thread was posted eight months ago, I wouldn't have had to reprint my DD's birth announcements! I've paid close attention to retail print places color mgmt feature since then, but never really understood why it was happening.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on this Jennifer, I definitely understand the whole RGB thing better now!

[cderousseau]

Sometimes when I go to open a digi-scrapping product file, I'll have one of those little boxes briefly pop onscreen to inform me that the file's being converted to a compatible color space. That's what got me wondering in the first place about whether digital scrapping designers typically embed one or the other particular color profile in their product files, or maybe none at all...

[echogirl]

Thanks Jennifer...that was very informative!! Great question, Cindy!