Understand Color Space sRGB and Adobe RGB

Immediately, we must first adjust the camera, at a certain point and we must reach a decision about the color space to be used.

And there you can see the camera menu with the tem labeled Color Space . The two choices are sRGB and Adobe RGB .

I started using sRGB because that's what the default camera to use. After a while, I learned that Adobe RGB is a larger color space, so I started using it.

Now, after being asked again, which color space should be selected on their camera, I review this issue. In this article, I will look at this option and help you choose which is right for you.

About Color Space Options

Let's start from the beginning. What is Space Color? This is only the range of colors available for your camera. Commonly used in the digital world, some form of RGB color space, which stands for Red Green Blue. That means that all the colors in that space are created by several combinations of three colors.

sRGB is safe

Your camera will default to sRGB, so if you don't remember this setting, that's what you use. This is the color space that Microsoft created in 1996.

Therefore, if you post an image, it will become sRGB.

So using sRGB is a pretty safe choice.

Adobe RGB

The options available on your camera are Adobe RGB. It was created in 1998 by Adobe Systems with the idea to cover most of the colors that can be achieved with a CMYK printer. (Commercial printers usually use a completely different color space called CMYK, which stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black.) Adobe RGB is actually a larger color space - buildings that say it is about 35% larger than sRGB After this, many photographers turn to Adobe RGB including myself. I did it, with a simple reason that bigger is definitely better.

After a while, you might encounter occasional problems if you want to use Adobe RGB. Specifically, when you post an image, the color will look compressed and strange. In my experience, I found a picture message that should look like the picture on the right

If you post an Adobe RGB image online, it will automatically be converted to sRGB. When that happens, the color can be compressed, ending up like the picture on the left. For that I must note that this problem can be fixed. If you convert your photos to sRGB before posting to the paper the problem will disappear.

Pros and cons of Adobe RGB

The advantages of increasing Adobe RGB size are not very clear because they can also appear. For example, the monitor only displays sRGB Color Space colors (typically around 97% color). You might not be able to use additional Adobe RGB colors. Some online printing labs assume you are uploading an sRGB file for your printouts.

As a result of all the problems, I end up with the following list of pros and cons for each color space:

We will return to the pros and cons, but first, let's move on to how the same problem arises in post processing.

Choosing Color Space in Post-Processing

You will face the same questions with Color Space in your post-processing. You can set Photoshop and Lightroom to process your photos in sRGB or Adobe RGB. Actually, if you shoot with RAW (and it should), this will be where you actually set the color space in the first place. When retrieving RAW files, the camera captures all the colors it has and no color profile is specified. Instead, you do it in Photoshop or Lightroom. I should note that there are other Color Space options available too, but for simplicity's sake, I will use the same options that you chose for your camera.

Photoshop

To adjust the Color Space of an image in Photoshop, click on the Edit drop-down menu and select Color Settings (or press Shift + Cmd / Ctrl + K). When you do, a dialog box will appear (see below). It will have many choices but don't worry, you will only change one setting. That is the RGB setting under Working Spaces in the upper left. Just replace it with sRGB or Adobe RGB.

Now when you save your file like JPEG or whatever file format you choose, the color space you choose will be used.

Lightroom

work differently. You did not select the Color Space you want Lightroom to use when your photos are edited. Lightroom uses a very large Color Space called ProPhoto RGB (even bigger than Adobe RGB). You can't change it. Instead, you choose Color Space when exporting photos from Lightroom. ::::: ;; If you know Lightroom, you know it doesn't really change your photos, but saves changes elsewhere. When it's time to bake your changes into a photo and make a JPEG or some other type of file, you will go through an export process. Just right-click and select Export. When you do, a dialog box will appear with many choices (see below).

One option under the File Settings section is Color Space. Just choose what you want. When you have made all the settings, clicking Export and Lightroom will create the file. Lightroom will also remember your choices for your next photo.

Sometimes you will send files from Lightroom to other software applications such as Photoshop. Lightroom lets you set the Color Space that you assign to photos when you do them. To do this, enter the Edit drop-down menu, and click Preferences, a dialog box will appear. There will be several tabs at the top. Click on an External Editing labeled. Then a number of choices will appear, one of which is Color Space. Just choose sRGB or Adobe RGB.

Some Possible Strategies So at the end of the day, which one should you choose, sRGB or Adobe RGB? I cannot answer it for you because it depends on the factors mentioned above. I can only answer it for myself and hope my answer and these factors will really help you. That said, there are basically three strategies, but only two of them are really feasible. This is how I see it.

Information

sRGB : Your first choice is to stick with sRGB. This is safe, and you will never have problems with color compression. If you post most or all of your photos online, this is probably the best choice. Even when it comes to printing, it will do a good job and you might never notice a difference. Yes, this is a smaller color space, but still works well for photos and prints online. Think of it like this; Have you ever seen a picture in an online gallery that has incredible eye-popping colors? Now, because you're online you know it is on sRGB. This is good enough.

Try to use both: The second choice is to try and use both. In particular, there are those who recommend using sRGB if you plan to publish to the web and Adobe RGB if you plan to print. That makes sense, but if like me, you sometimes post to the web and sometimes print depending on how the results turn out, then this advice isn't very helpful. When it comes to the settings on your camera, you need to choose Adobe RGB to preserve a larger gamut (set aside the RAW file for now). Then you will save it in Adobe RGB if you will print or convert it to sRGB for digital display. That is basically the same workflow as just using Adobe RGB all the time, which is our third choice, so we should ignore this option.

Adobe RGB : The third option is to use Adobe RGB along the way, and remember to convert it to sRGB as the last step for every photo you send to the web. Which retains the greatest color gamut for your photos. As mentioned before, Adobe RGB is pretty much designed for printing, and most agree that this is a better choice for doing so, so there are advantages there. The only downside is that you must remember to convert it to sRGB when posting to the web. But, to be honest, how hard is that? Not all. If you're interested in getting the best picture, you shouldn't do this and give the biggest color gamut? I think there is a pretty convincing argument for both sRGB and Adobe RGB.