Comments on: Digital-Image Color Spaces, Page 1: Introduction

By: Lars Ekdahl

Lars Ekdahl — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:56:04 +0000

The problem is that Windows browsers are as color-clueless as they come. To my surprise even the new Internet Explore 8 does not recognize imbedded profiles. They simply throw the raw RGB numbers at the screen with no interpretation. Most monitors have a color range that is somewhere in the vicinity of sRGB. There have been several discussions in different forums regarding color management for web images. You can find some comment on http://www.ekdahl.org/kurs/colormanage.htm

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:23:11 +0000

wonderfull, i feel like a genius because I understand but it is because it was explained so well. Is there a reply to the question posed by NickP? i live in France.

Oops, I let his question slip by… I’ve just gone an added my thoughts. —Jeffrey

By: coloring pages

coloring pages — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:15:49 +0000

Great article. I didn’t realize it was so complicated.

By: NickP

NickP — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:41:05 +0000

Excellent material -- I think I'm finally beginning to understand this stuff. Some related questions: 1) I've noticed that Lightroom 2.0 recommends that images are edited in Photoshop with ProPhoto RGB due to its larger gamut. I have my WorkSpace set at AdobeRGB (and I convert to sRGB for saving to Flickr with your excellent plugin - thanks!), and was wondering what the relative pros/cons are about setting my WorkSpace to ProPhotoRGB? Personally, I leave my workspace set to the native workspace of the image, to avoid color-space conversions. If I want to change it for some specific reason, understanding what happens with the conversion is part of the decision. 2) When your Lightroom 2.0 plugin exports to Flickr, I am assuming that it embeds the requested sRGB profile in the file -- is that assumption correct? and finally, Images exported from Lightroom have the appropriate profile appended, unless you explicitly strip it with something like my Metadata Wrangler plugin. 3) I have an xRite i1 colorimeter for my LCD monitor. For a while I used to set my Adobe Creative Suite WorkSpace to the i1 generated profile. But I'm now thinking that this is incorrect. I should be setting my WorkSpace to AdobeRGB or ProPhotoRGB, and the colorimeter automatically only affects my monitor profile so that it can correctly interpret the files I am using with Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. Is that right? That's correct. A monitor profile is used only for a monitor. sRGB, AdobeRGB, ProPhotoRGB, etc., are device-independent profiles. —Jeffrey Thanks so much for your excellent writing and work. Nick

By: Bryant

Bryant — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:59:10 +0000

It’s people like you who make small sections of the net worthwhile and informative when visiting… welcome to my bookmarks!

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 05:12:42 +0000

Wow! Thanks for the tip… I’m now using Apples’s Safari browser.

By: NYC.andre

NYC.andre — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:48:39 +0000

Excellently written explanation, clarifies a lot of issues -thanks !

FYI you are referenced in this Flickr stream too (though I’m sure the G machine keeps track)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2049038298

Cheerios
nycandre

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:07:53 +0000

“Without the proper color profile associated with the color space used to create the image data, applications don’t know how to decode the color data.”

I never include a color profile with files I send out for printing. I’ve been advised by the printing service NOT to embed a color profile. The results I get are excellent.

Embedding a color profile is only one way to associate the proper profile with an image. Other methods include notating the color space in the Exif metadata (digital cameras do this), or by mutual agreement as you and your printing service are apparently doing. I would suspect that you’re sending them sRGB and that they’re expecting sRGB. Try converting a copy of an image to, say, ProPhoto and have them print it, and I’m sure you’ll see a huge difference due to the color-space mismatch when you get it printed. —Jeffrey

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:34:37 +0000

Thanks,
I was pointed to your article when I was venting about how I couldn’t get my pictures to look good on the web. Very helpful!

By: Arthur Emerson

Arthur Emerson — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 16:37:32 +0000

Extremely informative article, well reserched and clearly presented. I for one am thankful Jeffery took the time to share his expertise. This explains many of my color space, camera and printing questions.