When to use ProPhoto RGB color space?

I've read articles recommending to use ProPhoto RGB color space because the color gamut is greater. At the same time, I've had to convert some images I created using ProPhoto RGB templates to sRGB so they will display with the right colors in applications that don't support it. I'm wondering (just curious) when it is appropriate to use this color space. Is it only for professional graphic image designers and photographers who send their images to a professional printer?

in addition to what ssprengel said and some of it may be in other words:
There are several standard profiles listed in a separate section in the menus displaying color profiles when you use Assign Profile, Convert to Profile, and when you choose Working Spaces in the Color Settings. These profiles are so called 'well behaved' or 'editing' color spaces. They are device independent and created synthetically for editing purposes - in these color spaces R=G=B is perfectly neutral gray which makes the numbers of color values make sense when editing images referring to the numbers, histograms, curves, etc. ProPhoto RGB is one of these spaces and have the widest gamut, parts of which exceed the visible spectrum. This allows you to have an image with colors that are not limited to the color gamut of eventual destination color spaces like printers and monitors. That's why some people prefer to use Prophoto RGB for images with destination unknown. When you know the destination, in your case an online printing service, get the color profile used by the printing service, install it on your computer, and use convert (Edit menu > Convert to Profile) from ProPhotoRGB to the color profile of the printer. The color management trys to make the conversion to the best possible color match when the destination color space is with a narrower color gamut and you may see color shift of the colors outside the color gamut of the destination. You can also use soft proof (View > Proof Colors with View > Proof Setup set to the destination profile) to edit (optimize) the colors of your document to the destination before the conversion if you can do better than the color management conversion. It is a good idea to make this on a copy of the original image or different layers dedicated to editing colors for a particular destination (color space).
Also have in mind that the conversion can be done on any other computer with Photoshop provided that along with your image they have the source and destination profile. So it can be done by your printer too but without the printers profile on your computer you wont' be able to proof and edit the final appearance.
If you create or edit your artwork or photos with destination unknown in a color space with a comparatively narrower gamut then when in the future you have the opportunity to use a destination with a wider color space you won't be able to take advantage from all possible colors.

Similar Messages

Color problem with ProPhoto RGB color space

Hi, everyone,
I have wery special problem I think. I use MacBook pro 15" with retina display, adobe Photoshop CC and when I export RAW (from Nikon D7000) from Lightroom 5 to Photoshop with settings: 16 bit TIF, color space: ProPhoto RGB I have a problem with displaying the correct colors. As you can see in this picture:
My problem are some "green" artefacts in absolutely black and white picture. I tried myself to solve this problem and found the following facts: when I convert picture into Adobe RGB or sRGB color space is everything OK - without green artefacts.
But here is one important fact: I have calibrated monitor by datacolor spyder4elite and problem with ProPhoto RGB incorrect color displaying is only when the color calibration configuration is loaded. When I change my display calibration to standard apple color LCD profile than is everything OK.
But using uncalibrated monitor and also Adobe RGB color space are no right solutions for me.
My question is why I have problem with displaying ProPhoto RGB color space in photoshop under calibrated monitor profile and can anybody help me please?
Thanks for answers.

That's a classic example of the basic problem with 16 bit color. There is no solution that I know of.

RGB color space in LR3 - does it convert back to sRGB on export?

First off, I've only had LR3 for two days so I am a complete novice. I've been reading my book and just came across the part about RGB color space. I shoot with and use sRGB, which apparently LR will recognize. However, it states that the develop module uses Lightroom RGB. My question is, when I export my edited photos to PSE8 (or to a folder on my desktop to save and email for my daughter's business), does it export them back as sRGB? I know there is a lot of controversy over the whole RGB thing, but after my research on the matter, I have decided that sRGB is the best for my particular situation. I'm just making sure I don't have to check something or convert them back if they don't automatically change out of LightroomRGB.

ColeeLou2,
Some additional thoughts to what has been said already:
I shoot with and use sRGB, which apparently LR will recognize.
The color space you chose on your camera (sRGB, AdobeRGB) only affects the JPEG rendering in your camera. It does not affect the RAW file, as a RAW file is not in any color space. Upon import of a RAW into LR, it will be rendered in a ProPhoto RGB color space with an sRGB tone curve (Jao will correct me if I'm wrong ) for use within LR.
My question is, when I export my edited photos to PSE8 (or to a folder on my desktop to save and email for my daughter's business),
I would suggest using an sRGB color space upon export for external uses (like emailing to your daughter), but use ProPhotoRGB when going into PSE in external edit. This way you will have all the color information possible available in PSE, and PSE will recognize the ProPhotoRGB color space.
Beat Gossweiler
Switzerland

What Rendering intent is used when exporting with a different color space?

Hi,
I would be ever so grateful if any one can tell me what rendering intent is used by LR4 when exporting using a custom colour space as there is not an option as there is with the print module.
Thanks.
Message title was edited by: Brett N

Jeff Schewe wrote:
Bob_Peters wrote:
The rendering intent in the Export dialog is Perceptual.
Actually, an RGB color space to RGB colorspace is always only Relative Colorimetric...and adding Perceptual would only work with certain V4 ICC color spaces (you can find perceptual V4 color spaces for sRGB and ProPhoto I think but I'm not sure they would work in Lightroom anyway).
When using an RGB print output profile you can select either Perceptual or Relative and have the intents actually applied.
True.
The case of interest to me is when I have to print a lot of files using a third-party profile and maintain the original filename so it appears on the back. That is why I made the request more than a year ago.
The problem with the Print module is that it clobbers the filename but does allow 2 choices for the rendering intent. Having to deal with weird filenames creates a mess when matching, say, 50 prints with custom notecards.

Embedded RGB color space

My Sony DSC R1 embeds RGB color space and when I open the image it opens as an RGB image in PSE3.
However, when I check the EXIF data it shows uncalibrated color space.
If I shoot in sRGB embedded color space, the EXIF data shows sRGB and it opens in PSE3 as an sRGB image.
Any thought as to why EXIF data shows uncalibrated?
Thanks
Richard

As an addendum to the "older " information from Ian Lyons' site ( this was a Photoshop 7 reference ), the newer EXIF spec ( I think 2.2 ) supports AdobeRGB as a third choice . Obviously, both the camera and software have to support this third choice, or the user reverts to "sRGB or untagged " , per Juergen's note in the EXIF colorspace field.
Brent
[edit] This is apparently how the issue is handled
"Exif 2.21 Metadata and Adobe Color Space
There is no need to worry about color space any longer. The EOS 20D complies with DCF 2.0, revised to support Adobe RGB, and Exif 2.21. Images taken in Adobe RGB will have the Adobe RGB color space information, not the ICC profile, appended to the Exif information. (If Adobe RGB is selected from the 20D digital camera's Color Space menu, all processing parameters are available.) Therefore, applications and devices compatible with DCF 2.0 and Exif 2.21 will be able to handle Adobe RGB in the same way as sRGB. When software compatible with Exif 2.21 is used, images captured with the EOS 20D will open automatically in the Adobe RGB color space. When a printer that complies with Exif 2.21 is used, the printer will adjust the color saturation of the print suitably."

Can you show slideshow within Lightroom 4.4 in Adobe RGB color space?

Can you show slideshow within Lightroom 4.4 (not export out from LR) in Adobe RGB color space provided that you are using a wide gamut monitor which is capable and hardware calibrated & profiled to show such color space?
If this is possible, what is required to do so in Windows 8 and i7-4770 & HD Graphics 4600 platform or does LR take care of it automatically?
This is very basic question, however, I could not find a clear answer/info from LR documentation, so wish that someone can advice.

Those settings are probably stored in a plist somewhere in ~/Library/Preferences. If you can locate the appropriate file, you should be able to copy it to all the network user folders.

For P.O.D. Printing: How to Set Adobe RGB Color Space

Hello and thanks in advance,
(I'm using InDesign CS 5.5 on a Mac.)
I need to set the proper PDF export settings
For printing a book on demand, with color drawings inside on the text pages.
The onnly instructions that I have been able to find, say this:
"Submit your graphics in the Adobe RGB color space, withprofile embedded."
The Big Question: How do I do that ?
I know enough to start with
File --> Adobe PDF Presets --> Press Quality
Then I click on the "Output Menu"
and here's where I start to get lost.
for
Color Conversion ...
I think I should select "Convert to Destination"
for
Destination
I think it should be "Adobe RGB (1998)"
Now in order to embed this profile,
What should I select under:
Profile Inclusion Policy ?
And is there anything else I should be doing to get these inside color images printing nicely ?
Thanks again,
IthacaAuthor (aka ZorbaTheGeek, but the forum would not let me log in with my old screen name)

Virtually all digital printing is done via either PostScript or PDF. In the former case, the PDF is converted to PostScript viat use of Acrobat and in the latter case, the PDF is sent directly to the digital printer.
In either case, CMYK is in fact the actual destination color space. There are no real RGB printers!!! What is true is that non-PostScript / non-PDF printers (typically low end laser and inkjet printers as well as specialized inkjet and dye sublimation photo printers) do take in RGB via drivers and convert that to CMYK, but I don't believe that is what you are dealing with.
Our recommendation at Adobe for best printing results, whether for offset or digital printing, is to export PDF as PDF/X-4 with no color conversion using the default CMYK color space (SWOP CMYK) or if instructed otherwise by your print service provider, one of the other CMYK color spaces provided by Adobe or by the print service provider themselves. FWIW, most on-demand digital print devices do have settings to fully emulate SWOP CMYK printing conditions. Using PDF/X-4 in this manner allows the existing color content in your InDesign document to be properly tagged in the output PDF file and converted to CMYK at the digital printing device's RIP.
(It might also assist us if you can provide a pointer to the explicit instructions provided by your print service provider.)
- Dov

In the toolbar I click on color face and see the RGB color space view. How do I put them into CMYK?

In the toolbar left I click on color face and see the RGB color space view. How do I put them into CMYK?
German:
In der Werkzeugleiste klicke ich auf Farbfläche und sehe den RGB-Farbraumansicht. Wie stelle ich diese in CMYK um?

I design print material. I hope Adobe will change it.
The ID Color Picker works the same as Photoshop's classic color picker except that it doesn't have an H,S,B presentation (which is the more intuitive interface). So both programs let you choose an R, G, B and L, a, b presentation of color via the 6 radio buttons, and you can pick RGB, Lab or CMYK versions of the chosen color—the mode you get depends on where your cursor is. If you pick an out-of-gamut CMYK color it is brought into gamut in the Swatches or Color panels after you click OK.
So here I'm picking RGB, Lab and CMYK Swatches or Colors of the color selection because my cursor is in a respective RGB, Lab or CMYK field, note that the Add Swatch button changes accordingly:
When I click inside the color field, the CMYK values are a color managed conversion of the chosen color, but I also have the option of entering any value. So it would be unlikely I would get a blue gray color like 50|0|0|50 with a color managed conversion, but I have the option to enter those specific numbers.
The 3 versions of the color added as swatches
An InDesign document can have a mix of RGB, Lab, and CMYK colors. Colors and swatches can be converted to any CMYK destination space when you export or print.

MPB 17" and what Adobe RGB color space coverage I might expect from it

Hello,
I am photographer and currently PC user. However, I plan to dive to the Mac’s world.
Before I become a Mac user, I have few questions.
Now I think about MacBook Pro 17”, i7 2.66MHz, 8GB RAM, 500 GB 7200rpm HDD and antiglare screen.
I plan to use additional monitor for photo editing.
I did search on google about *NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M* and *Adobe RGB color space* it covers, however, it gave me no results related to Mac. The only information about this card and Adobe colors I found is that Sony Vaio use this graphic card and in some forums, one say it covers 98% and in other 100% of Adobe color space which made me wonder what type of screen Vaio have.
- is MacBook Pro 17” good for photo editing?
- what % of AdobeRGB color space I might expect from it on my external screen or what % of sRGB colors space it delivers?
- Is it possible to calibrate Mac’s native screen and external one, use both at the time and have different profiles on each?
- Tell me anything that would stop me thinking about MBP for photo editing?
Thank you for your time reading this and hope to find the answers here.

You should consider posting your questions in the Pro Application section for Aperture. You will bump into more photographers there than you will here. But I will make an attempt at answers:
whats about Adobe color space?
No, the MBP screen will not encompass the Adobe Color Space. In fact, few desktop monitors are capable of this.
does the native MBP screen display full color range the video card is able to produce...
There really is no limit to the color extremes, which define a color space, as established by a graphics card. So your question is not a well formed question. An old ATI Rage card with 8-bit output would reveal the same color gamut as would the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M connected to the same display. The gamut is determined by the attached display, not the graphics card.
...or connecting external monitor to it’s mini display port would bring much wider color range to my eyes?
Yes, certainly the potential for that exists. Notebook screens are usually a compromise and can't be expected to compete with a high-end desktop display in many categories, including color gamut. But whether it would bring a "much wider color range to" your eyes is hard to say. It depends on what type of external display is in use.

My photos are not printing right with adobe manages color but works when i use printer manages color. never had any issues untill a week ago.

my photos are not printing right with adobe manages color but works when i use printer manages color. never had any issues untill a week ago.

We use CS6, yes we calibrate using x-rite. I have always had adobe manage colors when printing. This problem just occurred, all my settings are the same as they have been for years. The only thing we did lately is do an update to CS6. We thought it might be our printer but when we use the printer manages color it works fine, The problem with adobe manages color is it is not blending the light highlights like on top of the cheeks with the colors around the cheeks and its putting a faint red between the two it just does not have a smooth transition. I printed a photo that I had printed 4 months ago with no issue, and this time it had the issue that I am dealing with now. Somehow the photo shop manages color is not getting the right info to my printer.
I set paper type
set quality
no color adjustment
set my profile
Teri

Force RGB Color Space over HDMI?

Does anyone know how to force RGB over HDMI on a Macbook Pro with Retina Display. This is driving me nuts, as I have two U2410's. One is connected via DVI (using the DVI thunerbolt adapter), whilst the other is connected via HDMI. The monitor connected via HDMI negotiates the YpBPr color space, whilst the DVI monitor uses RGB. This makes it impossible to get the two monitors to produce the same colour. I can set the monitor to RGB within the OSD, but that just produces a mismatch of green and purple colours - in other words, the signal coming from the mac is still YpBPr so obviously setting the monitor to RGB ruins the colours completely.
There must be some driver setting or something to force HDMI to output RGB instead of YpBPr. Through Googling, it seems this applies to pretty much any Mac with a HDMI port, hence it's got to be a software issue, that's why I chose this forum. I'm about to duck home (I'm at work) and grab one of my HDMI -> DVI cables to see if that provides a work-around.
What happened to Mac's being a professional device. Surely they can't claim superior colour management if something as fundamental as the monitor's color space can't be controlled.

I have given up trying to use a Mac with a Dell or Samsung or Viewsonic monitor. Just ordered and received a StarTech.com DP to miniDP cable and was disappointed to see only YpbPR being output to my 22" Dell monitor. This is on top of the general fuziness and inaccurate colors. I've tried all sorts of other cables and adapters, both Apple and 3rd party, and the plain sad fact is that none of them work properly.
I plug in an old Cinema Display or a new Apple LED display and it works perfectly, colors look great, type isn't fuzzy.
I boot into Windows 7 on the same Mac using Bootcamp and my Dell monitor works perfectly.
It's OSX's display drivers that just don't play nice with Dell or Samsung or Viewsonic monitors. There's no other explanation because every other combination has problems with OSX and non-Apple monitors.
I can get into the long description of every possible adapter and cable I've tried (as well as the terminal command to adjust font smoothing). If I want the type to look right and the colors to look right, I just have to use an Apple monitor, which is aggravating as I have plenty of larger monitors here at work that I'd rather use.
Brief summary:
Three different MBPs, one a Retina display. Four different monitors from 3 different manufacturers, each with various connection options (HDMI, VGA, DVI, DP). DP to miniDP cable, DVI cable with Apple DVI to mDP adapter, HDMI to DVI with mDP adapter, couple of other similiar combinations of cables and adapters.
Bottom line is that all the screwing around produces a low quality, poor color accurate picture when the MBPs connect to 3rd party monitors. Plugging in the MBP to an Apple monitor (as old as a 2006 era Cinema Display) using any combination of adapter or cable looks great. Plugging in Windows 7 machines, either a dedicated Dell laptop or the MBPs in Bootcamp mode, all monitors look great. Also note that in OSX, the signal recevied by the monitors is YpbPr, but the same laptop in Bootcamp Windows 7 outputs RGB.
Hence, my guess that OSX display drivers are wonky except when plugged into an Apple branded monitor.

IPhoto - is it using two different color spaces?

I know I should have a better handle on this whole question by now, but am still confused by the 1.8 vs. 2.2 Gamma issue.
On the recent advice of an Apple PhotoServices tech, I've just changed my main display's Gamma from the default 1.8 to the darker 2.2 -- hoping to maximize consistency between what I see onscreen and what I'll receive in my printed Calendar order. (Everything else is still based on the default "Cinema HD" profile.)
Using one particular JPEG image as a test, I'm seeing something curious:
In Aperture, the image's thumb and its full-screen version look basically the same. But in iPhoto, that same image looks quite different depending on whether I'm viewing it as a thumb (or as an image placed in a Calendar theme), vs. when I double-click that image and see it in iPhoto's Editor window.
When I see it in iPhoto's editing mode, it suddenly looks noticeably lighter -- as if I'd switched my display back to the old 1.8 Gamma.
Can anyone enlighten me here (pardon the pun)? Why does iPhoto's editor window seem to display an image differently than other programs, or even than elsewhere in iPhoto itself? And why am I only seeing this discrepancy after setting my display to the 2.2 Gamma?
John Bertram
Toronto

Okay --
The plot thickens. I followed your suggestion, Terence, and did some tests. Here are the interesting (if confusing) results:
When I open anything from within the iPhotoLibrary folder using Preview, Preview gives the Color Profile info as follows:
Color Model: RGB
ColorSync Profile: Generic RGB Profile
This seems to apply to anything from within the iPhotoLibrary package, whether we’re talking images from the Originals folder, from the Modified folder, or thumbs from the Data folder. And they all (when viewed in Preview) look the same, and they all look “correct” in terms of general contrast.
BUT...
When I do a Finder “Get Info” on those same files, suddenly there are differences.
1) from the Modified folder:
Most images from the Modified folder now say (in Get Info’s “More Info” pane):
Color space: RGB
Profile name: Adobe RGB (1998)*
* (A few give the Profile name as “sRGB IEC61966-2.1”, and the one that got saved as a .psd file says “Camera Sync Profile”. The strange thing is I can’t seem to find any pattern between the images which were modified using my “external editor” -- Photoshop Elements -- vs. the ones which were edited using only iPhoto’s adjustment tools. The bulk of them all say “Adobe RGB (1998)” as the Profile Name.)
Note that these are the same images which, when opened in Preview, ALL claim the “Generic RGB Profile” -- and all look correct under those circumstances.
2) from the Data folder:
Meantime, ALL the thumbnail images which iPhoto has created for its Data folder, when “Get Info’d” in the Finder, all state their Profile name as “sRGB IEC61966-2.1”.
Open the same thumb image in Preview, and it’s back to “Generic RGB Profile” (as well as back to looking correct and not too dark).
3) from the Originals folder:
Finally, images from iPhoto’s Originals folder give no color profile data whatsoever in the “More info” pane of the Finder’s Get Info window. So is this the same as having the “Generic RGB Profile”?
In any case, here are three different folders (Originals, Modified, and Data), and iPhoto appears to be using a different color profile for the images contained in each one -- and in the case of the Modified folder, several different profiles.
Yet all of these images, when opened in Preview, appear to use the “Generic RGB Profile” -- and all appear as they should in terms of Gamma/contrast on screen -- while when viewed within iPhoto the same image will look quite different depending on whether it’s being seen in iPhoto’s regular window (as a thumb or as part of a Calendar layout, for instance -- all too dark) or in iPhoto’s editing window, in which case it suddenly looks fine.
The other mystery is why this discrepancy between iPhoto’s regular viewer and its editing window wasn’t apparent when my display was set to the default 1.8 Gamma; it’s only become an issue under the new (AppleSupport-recommended) 2.2 setting.
= = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
My brain officially hurts now. (I guess this is just more evidence that Computers and the Internet will all be very nice if they can finally just get them working.)
Any help in interpreting this data will, as always, be much appreciated.
Thanks,
John Bertram
Toronto

When I use a certain color of blue, It shows as black.

I'm not sure if this is a hardware issue, But when i paint with the color #00a8ff It will come out has black It looks something like this.
If I could get some help fixing this that would be great! Thanks everyone!
Also there's wierd artifacts i see in the color's like this. Look in the really dark blue u can see black pixels.

this might be your issue...
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1154028?tstart=0

Everything is Green in RGB color space in Photoshop CS5 Mac

The image explains it all.
CMYK works fine, but RGB doesn't. The preview (in the channels pane) looks fine though.
Pixelmator had the same problem, but I fixed it by turning off color management in Pixelmator.
My question is, how can I fix this problem in a legal copy of Photoshop CS5 Extended?
My Monitor is a dell e193fp, and am running Mac OS X 10.7.2.
My video card is an ATI Radeon HD 4600, and I have a Mid-08 Mac Pro.

It could be your display profile, or a problem with the video card drivers.
I'd bet on the profile.
Also: RGB is not a colorspace. RGB is a color model, or color mode. A model or mode describes the number of channels, not the meaning of the channels.
sRGB and Adobe RGB are colorspaces. A colorspace describes the meaning of the color channels (a specific red, a specific green, a specific blue, a specific white point, a specific tone curve) for a given mode or model.
For a color mode or model, there can be many spaces.

How to solve the error message Podcast cover art must be at least 1400 X 1400 pixel JPG or PNG, in RGB color space, and hosted on a server that allows HTTP head requests."

please help!! I've been trying to solve this error message for hours
the feed url is http://feeds.feedburner.com/goodstewards
the artwork url is http://www.goodstewards.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/logo.jpg
this is a wordpress domain that i am using with feedburner

"Your Blogger feed has no 'itunes' tags and is lacking the 'iTunes declaration' in the second line, so you have no image as far as the Store is concerned. You need to set Blogger to provide an itunes-compliant feed."
So, how do I set Blogger to do that? I was Googling for the answer, but nothing. I have "Allow Blog Feed" set to full and Title Links and Enclosure Links enabled.
"Your Feedburner feed link goes to a text page containing the code of a feed - this feed does have the 'itunes:...' tags. However in both feeds you are using Google Drive as a server for the image and media files and the URLs are prefaced with https (encrypted connection) - this may work in the Store but it is inadvisable and your URLs should begin with http."
Yeah, I couldn't think of another way to get you straight to the actual XML file. I guess what you are saying is that Google Drive does not have an appropriate server, which is why it gives https instead of http as a head.

When to use ProPhoto RGB color space?

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