Noob question, sRGB or Adobe...??

[downtrodden]

Ok, so i got this nice new camera and i just have one question.. how do i adjust aperture? JK.

Seriously though, I remember reading somewhere about the difference between sRGB colorspace and Adobe RGB... what's the difference and which should i use?

I seem to get much better colors out of sRGB- at the same exposure, same ligthing and picture style, the Adobe RGB colors seem muddled and kinda... sickly...

Also, if it helps, i'm not shooting RAW yet... only JPG- and because my hunch is A-RGB has something to do with photoshop- i will tell you now, i do not own photoshop.. my post processing is done in the GIMP.

Thank you all for your time.

[coldrain]

sRGB is a better choice since it gives you the natural colours, Adobe's RGB is for people who have a workflow that uses that and makes use of the different colour space, in printing.
So... for "normal" photographers, use sRGB.

[fractalgfx]

Have you tried the Canon DPP software which came with your camera. Basic post processing (brightness, contrast, white-balance, etc.), should be a lot simpler and faster than with Gimp or Photoshop.

[JTL]

Cory:

The answer is: shoot RAW, where color space has no effect at time of exposure and defer your choice of color space based on specific output purpose, e.g. the same RAW image may be output as sRGB for posting on the web or as aRGB for sending to a high-end printer.

The is no need at all to agonize over it...but there seems to be a lot of confused people out there. ;)

Why is each better suited based on purpose? Some info here:

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/srgb-versus-adobe-rgb-debate.html

[DonSchap]

Just so it is out there ...

sRGB is commonly used because it can be represented easily with a limited color palette. Because most monitors are not aligned (finely calibrated), a limited range is usually better ... and AdobeRGB only adds more range in blue, green and cyan to the colorspace.

sRGB Gamut
31366

AdobeRGB Gamut
31367


If a sRGB imager gets an AdobeRGB image (they both JPG, so it doesn't know) ... it tends to lop off the colors of the expanded AdobeRGB gamut that it cannot display ... making the image look flat and rather unappealing.

The printer makes the best use of this, because it interprets the image sent by the software ... and the imaging software usually picks up on the colorspace difference. But, if all you are doing is posting 72dpi web-shots ... then shooting in sRGB will do just fine.

If you have been shooting in AdobeRGB ... with software, you can convert the images you want to post into sRGB colorspace and touch them up for final video display. It's kind of similar to shooting "RAW+JPEG", you are going to take up more space keeping both images.

Remember this ... it's possible to shrink the colorspace (AdobeRGB -> sRGB) ... and not very practical to take a shrunken colorspace and expand it (sRGB -> AdobeRGB). Something is going to get interpretted wrong or lost.

And yes, if you are not using Imaging Software (Photoshop ... etc.) to process your images ... go sRGB ... because the computer simply has no way of knowing its an AdobeRGB JPEG ... and will treat it like a sRGB one.

[JTL]

And yes, if you are not using Imaging Software (Photoshop ... etc.) to process your images ... go sRGB ... because the computer simply has no way of knowing its an AdobeRGB JPEG ... and will treat it like a sRGB one.Not entirely true...most image programs allow you to choose the color space you're working in and both Windows and Mac OS allow you to set the default color space to aRGB as well if you so wish. So, your computer does have a way of "knowing". The real question is: Can your video card and monitor accurately represent the gamut available in the aRGB color space? Probably not.

[D Thompson]

Just my .02 and how I do mine and I won't go into all the why/why nots.

I shoot 100% RAW. When I convert the RAW file I use AdobeRGB. After the color corrections if needed and I'm done with the file, as the last step I convert to sRGB & save as jpeg or tiff for printing.

I still keep my original RAW file as well as the Photoshop file with layers intact.

[downtrodden]

I plan on eventually shooting raw, shortly after the holidays- but the whole printing thing, is that applicable of printing at home AND at a third party? Because i don't print at home, i upload everything i wish to print to walmart and get it printed there- so will aRGB still be a worthy venture when i start shooting raw?

[coldrain]

Just keep yourself with sRGB. Everyone that can actually benefit from AbodeRGB knows they can... everyone else should just use sRGB.
You are not in the magazine production line or anything, so AdobeRGB is not something you will have to deal with.

[JTL]

so AdobeRGB is not something you will have to deal with.I would agree in general, except that an Epson 3800 or Canon 9500 can take great advantage of AdobeRGB and produce prints with subtlety not possible with sRGB. Even my old Canon i9900 uses it to great effect. So, once again, I wouldn't be making absolute statements. Like so many other things...it all depends....

Shoot RAW, decide on the output's color space later based purely on need. It's not a big deal at all. It's almost trivial. A mere click of a check box or a pick from a drop-down...

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