Basic Color Profiles Question (using PNG's)

Hi,
I've read up on color profiles, and I must admit, it all seems a bit complicated to me.
I've tried saving images with sRGB color profile, Adobe RGB, and even NO color profile.
While each test has yielded various saturation levels (sRGB seems more saturated than Adobe RGB), the one single constant in all of them is that IE displays more (too?) colorful images than FF.
I understand that IE doesn't color manage while FF does, but that hardly explains the results I'm getting. If I don't color manage a document, shouldn't it display the same way in IE and FF? And how to explain that the sRGB profile documents are more saturated in IE than the Adobe RGB ones, if IE cannot read color profiles? And why does FF display *both* sRGB and Adobe RGB as less saturated than these same images in IE?
Thanks.

Actually, Photoshop DOES embed a profile in a PNG if you use Save As, not Save for Web. Go figure.
[ admin - it was an oversight, that some bored engineer undoubtedly has addressed by now ]
Microsoft shows no sign of interest in advancing the state of the art of computing, and I mean that in the most serious, somber way. There's no evidence that Internet Explorer will ever take into account a monitor profile.
And no, there's no way to make Firefox and IE match on anything but an sRGB monitor. Sorry. This is one reason why I have set up an sRGB reference system myself.
-Noel

Similar Messages

Confused about color profile support in PNG

NOTE -- you have to hover over the image to see the real images. The images embedded in the webpage have their profiles stripped -- just like photoshop does! Interesting.
I ask a similar question on this before, but couldn't give a satisfactory demonstration of how photoshop doesn't support color profiles in png's.
But now I have a great one.
Picture A: this is with the correct color profile and displays correctly in firefox and probably other browsers -- also displays correctly on windows desktop and in large-icon view.
Ok, anyone who doesn't believe me, grab that image and try to read it into photoshop...
I do, and get no warning on profile mismatch like I do on jpg's or tiff's:
photoshop strips the existing profile and adds sRGB which isn't the correct profile.
This is how photoshop transforms good colors into bad:
Completly screwed up.
I have had multiple people notice how my png saved images from photoshop had "off" or bad colors -- usually washed out in comparison w/my monitor profile.
I can get 'ok' results if I flatten the image and *convert* my existing profile to sRGB -- and I usually get
something that looks 'acceptable'...though the jpg's render in accurate color.
Basically, photoshop can't read or write png web images. and maintain color fidelity unless they have no profile. Even if they have an sRGB profile, I usually get washed out looking pics if I don't strip it but let adobe convert it.
In googling for my own problem, I found references to this problem in Adobe Photoshop going back to 2002.
Why does adobe refuse to fix this? It's horrible.
They could fix it with a file plugin for existing CS5-6 users, but it really needs to get fixed and Adobe needs to stop ignoring this problem.
:-( I find this extra depressing because I prefer to distribute my pictures losslessly in png, but with photoshop, I'm left with lossy jpegs to get accurate color reproduction.

How did the SFW thing even come up?? When I embed profiles in jpg and tiff, I do it as part of the File Save or File Save As dialog. I can choose what profile to save it with -- and I usually save it with my currently calibrated monitor profile -- as that color profile is what was used to create the picture. Why would I want to convert them to some other profile?? Only thing I have needed to convert have been PNG's because it doesn't embed my monitor profile in the PNG the same way jpg and tiff do.
If it did, png's would look the same as jpgs and tiffs... but the jpgs and tiffs have the full depth of color and look the same as they do in PS. png's look washed out because -- it's been my belief that PS is not storing my profile in the png, but setting a bit in the file to use the sRGB profile.
AFAIK, PNG provided for a sRGB profile-compat bit -- so images that were compat w/that profile could just set a bit rather than including a profile. I see no evidence that PS is saving my monitor profile with the PNG.
My 'settings' for RGB are to convert to working RGB profile which is my monitor profile.
I do have it set to ask me abou profile mismatches on opening or pasting.
Since I don't get a 'this document has a different color profile than the working space'
message when I edit most png's, I assume it has none. Thus from my settings
it should autoconvert it to my monitor profile and save that on save -- which seems to be what happens when I save as jpg or tiff (or I can check off the box to save profile...but I usually don't).

Which color profile to use, if any, for web?

Hi,
For years, I've been accustomed to saving JPGs for web use by including the sRGB color profile.
However, I now realize that IE either discards color profiles, or forces a new one on them (took me this long to notice because while I always proof-check my code through IE, I never paid close attention to image colors 'til now). Meanwhile, Firefox actually uses the ones the JPGs were saved with, so I see the exact same thing in Photoshop as I do in Firefox.
Anyway, as I was saying, I just noticed the colors are very different in IE. In fact, trying to match a hexadecimal color value with a JPG is pretty much impossible as long as both IE and FF interpret JPG colors differently.
As a test, I tried saving a JPG with no color profile included. Interestingly, it showed up near identically in both FF and IE.
Which begs the following question :
Why the hell have I been using color profiles all this time? :-(
Another observation I made is that the Adobe RGB color profile more closely resembles the No Color Profile state than sRGB does (sRGB is a lot less saturated color-wise).
So what is it I need to do now?
1. Go over the entire website and re-save all images with no color profiles.
2. Go over the entire website and re-save all images with Adobe RGB color profile.
The goal here is that I want my hexadecimal color values to match what's on the JPG (for example, when a gradient ends and goes to a flat color state, I'd like to be able to fill that region with a hexadecimal color value instead of using more images needlessly... but for this to be a seemless transition, everyone needs to agree and match).
Thanks.

I've been doing something completely different.
To the extent that a color needs to match or be like a color that is a background on my website (which is the usual issue I run into with color differences), I make a .PNG or .GIF file and use transparency. That way I don't get the problems associated with color profiles and web safe colors.

Color Profile Question

I recently purchased a new PC and have been working from it for about a month or so without any issues. My client sent me an email saying that her images were appearing muted on her computer screen prior to printing them off of a few common photo labs. I looked into it and tried it myself and it was indeed correct. All of the images edited on my new PC were muted...my first instinct was that it was the color profile. I converted the image to sRGB and it fixed the problem. Now comes the problem....my photos are saving under the wrong color profile. How do I prevent this from happening so that all my images are automatically saved the my preference of color profile. I hope this makes sense because my mind is spinning from trying to figure this out! Thanks in advance!

audi454 wrote:
1. AdobeRGB
2. Im not sure what you mean, preferences in PSE?
3. My client has a print release, I use WHCC to print my pictures and I believe they require sRGB as well.
4. Yes I always shoot in RAW.
Thanks for taking the time to help, I looked at my Lightroom color settings since that's how I import my pics and it was set on Adobe Pro I believe... I changed it to sRGB.
Sent from my iPhone
Thanks for the info : I'll start with the 4th question because it's the less known factor with Elements
If you shoot raw, the settings of your camera (Adobe RGB) will be ignored. This setting works only with the out of camera jpegs. A 'raw' file has no color profile, so PSE needs to know which profile you want for the conversion. You won't find any menu or dialog entries in ACR for that purpose. So, to convert the file when you 'Open' in the editor, PSE looks at the settings in your editor (my question #2, Menu Edit/Color settings...
If you have chosen option 1, 'Always optimize for computer screens', PSE will convert the raw file to sRGB profile.
If you have chosen 'Always optimize for printing', PSE will convert to aRGB...
If you want to take advantage of the slightly wider color space of Adobe RGB because your home printer can use it, select the second option, but if you have to send the picture in sRGB, do not forget to convert before sending. Menu /image/convert color profile.
If you don't want to bother, use sRGB with the option 1. You won't risk forgetting to convert the client version.
Never use 'No color management' in the menu /edit/color settings
If you first convert to sRGB with option 1, you won't get any advantage to convert to aRGB afterwards

Odd color shift and OS color profile question

I've run into something that leads me to believe that the OS X color profile management has caused me a problem. I'd like to figure out how to tell the OS to not manage color profiles in order to avoid future problems. So far this is only an issue when dealing with CMYK images.
A little background...
I received a JPEG image from a photographer. Converted it to CMYK and made minor edits in Photoshop, not touching the color profiles or trying to color correct. I saved a JPEG of the edited image, and imported it into Freehand 10. When imported, the entire image shifted slightly pink. When viewed in Preview or Photoshop it looked fine. It was only when I imported it that it shifted.
A friend suggested this might have something to with color profiles, so I fiddled around with both PS and FH to make sure they were using the same ones. Even when they were the image shifted pink. This was on my desktop machine, recently upgraded to Tiger.
I noticed my PowerBook was still running Panther. I took the same image, same data file, same programs and when I imported the image again, it was fine. Looked just like it did in PhotoShop and Preview. I immediately saved out a PDF for posterity and press use.
Given the above, the only real variable is the version of the OS. This leads me to believe that there's something about how Tiger handles color profiles on the OS level that's causing this shift. What I don't know is how to remove the OS' meddling to remove it from the workflow.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance...
G4 Dual 867 Mac OS X (10.4.3) 768MB RAM, 120GBHD

audi454 wrote:
1. AdobeRGB
2. Im not sure what you mean, preferences in PSE?
3. My client has a print release, I use WHCC to print my pictures and I believe they require sRGB as well.
4. Yes I always shoot in RAW.
Thanks for taking the time to help, I looked at my Lightroom color settings since that's how I import my pics and it was set on Adobe Pro I believe... I changed it to sRGB.
Sent from my iPhone
Thanks for the info : I'll start with the 4th question because it's the less known factor with Elements
If you shoot raw, the settings of your camera (Adobe RGB) will be ignored. This setting works only with the out of camera jpegs. A 'raw' file has no color profile, so PSE needs to know which profile you want for the conversion. You won't find any menu or dialog entries in ACR for that purpose. So, to convert the file when you 'Open' in the editor, PSE looks at the settings in your editor (my question #2, Menu Edit/Color settings...
If you have chosen option 1, 'Always optimize for computer screens', PSE will convert the raw file to sRGB profile.
If you have chosen 'Always optimize for printing', PSE will convert to aRGB...
If you want to take advantage of the slightly wider color space of Adobe RGB because your home printer can use it, select the second option, but if you have to send the picture in sRGB, do not forget to convert before sending. Menu /image/convert color profile.
If you don't want to bother, use sRGB with the option 1. You won't risk forgetting to convert the client version.
Never use 'No color management' in the menu /edit/color settings
If you first convert to sRGB with option 1, you won't get any advantage to convert to aRGB afterwards

Display iMac Late 2009 color profile questions:

My friend dropped his mid 2010 iMac 21.5 inch desktop computer over for me update to Yosemite because I have a very fast connection.
I have a late 2009 iMac 21.5 inch.
When side by side, I noticed that my display is quite dim compared to his. Also, the "white" seems dull and grey/yellow. ( I shot this photo with my iPod Touch of the displays side by side.)
Both displays are set at the highest brightness.
I took note of the color profiles of each.
My question is this: Can I make my display look somewhat brighter? Or is it different because of something else? His iMac is so much brighter. I'd like to brighten things up on mine if possible.
Below, please click the image- on the left is the 2010 iMac, on the right, the 2009.
the 2010 iMac says 21.5 inch (1920x1080) ATI Radeon HD 4670
the 2009 iMac says 21.5 inch (1920x1080) NVIDIA GeForce 9400
Something tells me that I can't calibrate it to look like that, but, I figured I'd toss the question out there. I had no idea how yellow/grey my display looked until today.

A notable peculiarity of Thunderbolt is that it uses exactly the same connector as Mini Display Port, and that's not all. The Thunderbolt connector also carries Mini Display Port video signals. That means you can plug a Mini Display Port video cable/adapter in to a Thunderbolt connector and your monitor will work.
If you plan to do other things with your Thunderbolt connector and don't want it wasted on a monitor, you can also choose an HDMI --> DVI adapter, which for your purposes will be functionally equivalent.
You can even use both at the same time.
- Anonymous
http://x704.net/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6134&p=75115&hilit=thunderbolt#p75115

Illustrator vs Photoshop RGBs / What color profile to use for an online publication that is also to be printed?

Hi, I have been correcting the colors of a franchise company logo that is to be used for print, as well as online media.
I created EPS files in Illustrator using Pantone colors, and I will be providing these for professional printing (signs, brochures, business cards, etc.)
I have also converted these files to TIFF files through Illustrator, using CMYK, and will be providing these for in-house/desktop printing by business owners.
I have also converted these files to RGB for online usage.
When opening up the RGB files into Photoshop in order to work them into a publication template, I noticed the colors (which seem pretty true to the Pantone values I remember in Illustrator) were picking up as different RGB values from the ones provided to me from the marketing team. (The PMS color I was given was 280C, my file picks up as RGB 0-72-144 in Photoshop, and the RGB they gave me is 0.43.127) I understand that assigned Pantone colors can appear different than the RGB conversions when viewed on screen together (seeing that Pantones are printed, RGBs are on screen...I'm assuming the Pantone colors, when printed, should appear close to the RGB on screen versions...right?) Anyway, I changed my original RGB values (0-72-144) that were created from the original Illustrator values to the ones provided by the marketing team (0.43.127) just to play it safe.
Firstly, please let me know that all of this is correct, and that I am provided the owners with the correct types of files and color profiles dependent on the jobs.
Secondly, I am also to produce a publication using the logo that will be distributed online (RGB), but needs to also be able to be printed, in the case that the business owners would like to distribute it via hard copy as well (CMYK/Pantone)... need I provide them two variations of the same document (one for online, one for print), or is there a color profile that can be appropriate for both uses?
Forgive me, as I only know the basics of these color profiles, and don't quite yet understand the way they work together.
Thanks!

Hi, I have been correcting the colors of a franchise company logo that is to be used for print, as well as online media.
I created EPS files in Illustrator using Pantone colors, and I will be providing these for professional printing (signs, brochures, business cards, etc.)
I have also converted these files to TIFF files through Illustrator, using CMYK, and will be providing these for in-house/desktop printing by business owners.
I have also converted these files to RGB for online usage.
When opening up the RGB files into Photoshop in order to work them into a publication template, I noticed the colors (which seem pretty true to the Pantone values I remember in Illustrator) were picking up as different RGB values from the ones provided to me from the marketing team. (The PMS color I was given was 280C, my file picks up as RGB 0-72-144 in Photoshop, and the RGB they gave me is 0.43.127) I understand that assigned Pantone colors can appear different than the RGB conversions when viewed on screen together (seeing that Pantones are printed, RGBs are on screen...I'm assuming the Pantone colors, when printed, should appear close to the RGB on screen versions...right?) Anyway, I changed my original RGB values (0-72-144) that were created from the original Illustrator values to the ones provided by the marketing team (0.43.127) just to play it safe.
Firstly, please let me know that all of this is correct, and that I am provided the owners with the correct types of files and color profiles dependent on the jobs.
Secondly, I am also to produce a publication using the logo that will be distributed online (RGB), but needs to also be able to be printed, in the case that the business owners would like to distribute it via hard copy as well (CMYK/Pantone)... need I provide them two variations of the same document (one for online, one for print), or is there a color profile that can be appropriate for both uses?
Forgive me, as I only know the basics of these color profiles, and don't quite yet understand the way they work together.
Thanks!

Mountain Lion change color profile when use discrete video card

MacBookPro mid 2010. Update Samsung SSD 830.
Mountain Lion 10.8.2 just installed (new installation).
Reset PRAM and SMC. Done. No result.
Try with GfxCardStatus. No result.
When the system uses the discrete video card changes the color profile.
I'm not the only one with this problem.
Someone managed to solve the problem (really)?
I DO NOT ACCEPT COMMENTS OR ANSWERS USELESS.
Sorry, but slightly altering after losing three hours in forums where no one ever answered ...
Thanks.
Stefano.

Let's see...
Sounds like you're running into an expected issue if you make an alias to removeable media. The same thing would happen if you made the alias to a folder on a DVD-R disc or CD-R. If you eject the original, you disable the alias.
If you copy the entire SD card volume to your drive, the PRIVATE package should copy across. Then, as a folder on your hard drive rather than a volume on removeable media, you could make an alias to the STREAM package for quicker access later.
I'm pretty sure that Handbrake, like Prmeiere Pro, can see the MTS files directly. That is, it's not dependant on the other folders in the PRIVATE directory sturcture. As such, you could copy the contents of the STREAM package to another folder on your drive. Just be mindful of the default MTS file names if you're using more than one SD card (you don't want to accidentally copy 00001.MTS from one card over 00001.MTS from another card).
As long as Handbrake sees MTS directly, you could even rename the MTS files after you've copied them.
On a side note, I almost always archive my SD cards with the data structure intact. More often than not, that file structure is important to corretly access the video stored within that structure. If something unexpected happens while working with the MTS files, it is good to have the original file structure to go back to. Although, SD cards are getting to be so low cost that sometimes I just label the SD card and store it for archiving.
-Warren

Macbook Color Profile Question

I just bought a Macbook from my cousin yesterday. It's in great shape and not very old, which is why I bought it. It's amazing how addictive it is, I've been PC person forever.
I immediately brought it home and installed all my programs, set a desktop photo, and opened photoshop. The coloring on my photos is off. I've tried using Supercal, and calibrating using the tool in the profiles, but I can't figure this out for anything. Being new to MAC, I'm just confused---
I use Firefox for my browser. The colors are perfect in it. When I change my profile and get it to somewhat make my photos look right (or like they did in my PC. All the photos seem to have like an orangey-yellowish look to them, not majorly, but editing photos isn't going to work with it like that.), then I open Firefox and my coloring is completely off on websites.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance!

in short, photos can contain their own ICC (color profile). And this effects how color look on a per photo basis. instead of modifying your display color profile you need to a just or change just color profile of the photo(s) to have them render properly.
One way to tell what color profile need to be altered is to get info on that photo. you can do this in the finder, preview, photoshop. you can also use these applications to change witch ICC is used on a photo.
these apps use ICC color profiles : safari, quick time, preview, finder, quick look, photoshop
firefox dose not use the ICC color profiles attached to photos, but you can tell it to in firefox preferences. when ICC color profiles is off in firefox it's going to use the default color calibration in system preferences display
this website dose a great, but confusing job of comparing different ICC profiles. http://www.gballard.net/psd/golive_pageprofile/embeddedJPEGprofiles.html
if you want to become an expert in color management you may want to check out: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3712 . it also talks about how you can use preview to change what ICC is used with a photo.
Message was edited by: Sherman Campbell

Basic color management questions

Having difficult understanding some concepts in color management - would appreciate any guidance to further understand it.
What is the difference in backgrounds between additive and subtractive process color systems?
How is white formed differently in additive and subtractive process systems?
How are the non-process colors like orange formed differently in the additive and subtractive process systems? What colors from each system forms an orange?
Why is the difference in the process of color formation of major concern with the use of computers in the preparation of materials for 4-color process color printing?
Why is the difference in the process of color formation of major concern with the use of computers in the preparation of materials for 4-color process color printing?

Sarah,
Deep subject, so this will only touch the surface.
What is the difference in backgrounds between additive and subtractive process color systems?
How is white formed differently in additive and subtractive process systems?
RGB blends "light" to generate colors. CMYK blends "inks". Starting with RGB and light.....pure white blends high levels of red, green and blue wavelengths in approximate equal amounts, which we perceive as white. In Photoshop parlance, using 8-bit, this translates to 255R, 255G, 255B. When we see an object, we are actually seeing the light that reflects from that object, not the object itself. So, a bright white object reflects most of the visible light spectrum and reaches our eye, which the brain interprets to be white. A black object "absorbs" light so nothing is reflected to the eye.
To print, you need inks on paper, not light. If you were to use red, green and blue inks, you'd have a big problem printing colors like yellow. So, they devised the subtractive color process (RGB is additive, ie, adding all three lights together gives you white). They took the opposite colors of Red, green and blue, which are Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. In theory, you should be able to create the same spectrum of colors with the CMY subtractive colors that you can with the RGB additive colors, but in practice, that is not the case, for at least two reasons. The CMY inks are not pure and as intense as the RGB primaries, and second, you have to apply these inks to paper, which drastically limits dynamic range. To deal with the ink purity problem, (and to give better type), they add Black to the CMY mix, for four inks....Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. To get white, you rely on the paper alone, without any ink. In theory, pure black would be either 100C, 100M, 100Y, or it could be 100K (black), or it could be 100% each of CMYK. But, these three do not give the same results, due to ink purity, ink limits, paper, process, etc.
How are the non-process colors like orange formed differently in the additive and subtractive process systems? What colors from each system forms an orange?
Why is the difference in the process of color formation of major concern with the use of computers in the preparation of materials for 4-color process color printing?
In the CMYK world, orange is a mixture of Yellow and Magenta inks, with more yellow than magenta. For example, 52M, 94Y gives a fairly vibrant orange. Again, hue, saturation and brightness are dictated by the mix percentages, paper, ink limits, ink purity, etc. In the RGB world, this same color is defined as 255R, 143G, 33B (depending on the "flavor" (color spaces) of RGB and CMYK you are using. There is a relationship between RGB and CMYK, and this example is no exception. When red is maxed out at 255, cyan is the opposite, in this case zero. In this orange color, Green is 143, near the middle of the range, and so is its opposite, Magenta, which is near the middle of its range, at 52. Blue is 33, at the very low end of its range, and its opposite, Yellow, is near the top of its range at 94. Since this is a bright color, there is no black ink used at all. If it were a darker orange, there would probably be some black in as well.
Some colors can be created in RGB that cannot be duplicated in CMYK. The opposite is also usually true, that there are colors in CMYK that cannot be duplicated in RGB (depending on the color space you use). If your intended output is a monitor, the internet, email, or a printer that needs "light" you would generally use RGB. If the intent is to "print" the job, on a press, inkjet, laser, etc, then CMYK is generally used. Even if you send an RGB file to your inkjet, the printer driver translates the RGB colors to CMYK in the background before output. Most, if not all, printers use CMYK subtractive inks for printing, These can generate a large portion of the printable spectrum. Some printers add light cyan and light magenta inks, or even red, green, blue, orange, and other colors to help extend the color gamut of the printer so it can achieve colors that would be "out of gamut" using CMYK alone.
Another difference is that CMYK is a four color process, unlike RGB, which is three color. A given color has only ONE definition when defined in RGB, HSB, L*a*b*, or other 3 component color schemes. With CMYK, many colors can be created using different mixes of CMYK, which adds complexity, but also offers opportunities and flexibility, especially on press.
Like I said at the beginning, this is a very deep and complex subject, and this only touches on the basics.
Lou

How to verify display color profile being used by LR?

How can I check what is the color profile LR is currently assuming for display? E.g. with Photoshop CS I go to "Color Settings", and in Working Spaces, RGB, I look for "Monitor RGB". Any idea how to do it with LR?

Not a good choice for working space in PSCS, though. Okay if all you are doing is checking the lis for what the profile is. On a Mac you go to Display in System Prefs and it says.
Don
Don Ricklin, MacBook 1.83Ghz Duo 2 Core running 10.4.9 & Win XP, Pentax *ist D
http://donricklin.blogspot.com/

Color profile questions

1. When do you need to embed a color profile for a file that you intend to sent to a printer vs. just soft proofing?
2. How do you get more profiles if needed?
Thanks.

Select the correct document profile when creating a new file. This creates an RGB resp a CMYK file.
You can also change it later via File > Document color mode > RGB / CMYK
You can assing a profile via Edit > Attach color profile.
In most cases you wouldn't want ICC colormanagement to convert your vector file, because that way you'll never get your RGB 000 to become a clean 100 K for your thin lines or small type.

Color Profile Options using Photoshop as External Editor

Dear Folks:
When I open an image in Photoshop as external editor, I get these choices:
- use the imbedded profile (instead of the working space)
- convert documents colors to the working space
- discard the embedded profile (don't color manage)
I'm using Photoshop 7 and iPhoto 5. My Camera is a Canon Powershot S410. iPhoto seems to retain the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 working space from my camera.
What choice do I want and why?
Is there something odd about my camera?
Thanks!
Raoul
Power Mac G5 2.0 Dual Mac OS X (10.4.4) 2 Gig RAM, Superdrive

Which version of Windows are you using Walterono?
Also, have you tried resetting Lightroom's preferences and trying again?
Do you get the same behavior?
blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2013/06/lightroom-basic-troubleshooting-to-fix-most-issue s.html#Preferences
Let me know how it goes,
regards
PG

Is there a way to embed a color profile when using Generate Assets?

I'm searching everywhere for a command to embed the profile to my images output with Generator and i'm not having any luck. Does someone know if this is possible? So far, my only work around is to script Assign Profile, but doing that with thousands of png's is taking way too long. Please tell me there's a simple bit of syntax i can add to my folder names.
thanks!

Thanks so much for the response, Chris.
Hopefully a future update will include this additional bit of code.

Bad ramifications of color profile used in previews

It seems that Aperture's choice of color profile for its previews has some rather wide implications. In a RAW workflow, previews are assigned an Adobe RGB profile. In a JPG workflow, previews aren't generated at all at first (which makes sense - no need to create a JPG from a JPG), but they are created once you edit a photo. Then once again, the preview is assigned an Adobe RGB profile, irrespective of the color profile of the original photo. This all kind of makes sense. Presumably, Adobe RGB is the same as, or close to, the color profile Aperure uses internally.
The problem comes when photos are "shared". With the Aperture preference set to "Share previews with iLife and iWork", Aperture generates an XML file that can be used by external programs. This XML file points the external program at the previews (or the original in the case of an unedited JPG). Then photos can be picked up in various places:
* In mail.app via the Photo Browser.
* In any app via the Media section in Finder.
* On an Apple TV via the "Choose photos to share" option in iTunes.
BUT - all these photos (with the exception of an unedited JPG) will ALWAYS have an Adobe RGB profile. This is generally not good, since the photos will display badly in any app that isn't color managed. Unfortunately, this seems to apply to Apple TV. Photos there have the typically subdued look of Adobe RGB when not color managed. The situation actually gets worse with JPGs. An unedited JPG which originally had an sRGB profile will display fine, but as soon as you edit that photo in Aperture, it willl display badly because now iTunes/Apple TV is working with an Adobe RGB profile. I've done tests and it's painfully obvious.
Anyone else come across this? I'm not sure what can be done. Maybe having an option to generate proviews using sRGB would be good, but that might involve too much processing in Aperture when it's continually generating previews as you edit.
Thoughts appreciated!

The export settings don't have any effect on the problem, unfortunately. What preference are you referring to? Do you mean the Import "tab" in Aperture prefs? That just governs what Aperture uses for its initial preview. it will now, by default, use the preview that is embedded in every RAW file to speed up processing. As soon as you look at the photo, even without editing it, it will then generate its own JPG preview (with Adobe RGB profile).
I haven't received any other feedback about this problem anywhere, which is surprising to me. I think I can only post the problem through Apple feedback, and hope for the best. It seems that, in the meantime, the only course of action is to export everything you need to display properly on an AppleTV, and re-import those JPGs into Aperture (or iPhoto) so they can be displayed via iTunes. A royal pain!

Basic Color Profiles Question (using PNG's)

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