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greyhoundrick
Known Participant
November 7, 2018
Answered

?: Color Space workflow question

  • November 7, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 1273 views

Hello,

Thanks in advance for your help and expertise!

I use most of my images edited in Lightroom and Photoshop for the web, however I probably print about 10% of them at home on an Epson 3880.

I was wondering if the following is the best way to approach color space:

1. I shoot in RAW format and upload my images to Lightroom/Photoshop in the ProPhoto RGB color space in TIFF format

2. After editing I save the TIFF image in the ProPhoto color space and use this file for printing.

3. I then "save as" to JPEG

4. Finally, I will "convert to profile" the JPEG from ProPhoto to sRGB for use on the web

Does this flow suffice as the best way to manage my color space for both print and web?

Thanks so much for the help. I really appreciate it!

best to you,

Rick

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer NB, colourmanagement

Hi greyhoundrick

I hope I can help

I the your workflow is OK.

If it’s prophoto make sure you are working in 16 bit per channel, not 8 bit.

Archiving image files as TIF or PSD (with layers intact preferably) in a large color space (like pro photo) is advisable, because converting to sRGB may “clip” some detail in saturated areas and you’d not want to do that too the master file. [and do note that dark saturated and light war curated may not “look “ saturated but can be outside the destination color-space.

So, by all means, save a copy and convert that to sRGB for web and resize too then sharpen and lastly convert to Jpeg, that IS the best way to put stuff online (with profile embedded).

:HOW TO DETECT “CLIPPING” IN PHOTOSHOP:

If you’re concerned about what areas may suffer from clipping I would recommend you don’t rely on Photoshop’s gamut warning, but, test this (post conversion) using the “clipping display” in the levels pallet.

Hold down the alt key and click the mouse on the upper slider (either dark or light) and any areas that show up in the preview that gives are areas where clipping has happened.)

Clipping iOS when areas contain pic gels which previously had discrete values but have been forced to the same value in the colorburst conversion. It happens a lot and goes un-noticed.

Some info in this article (see importance of workingspace selection)

https://forums.adobe.com/community/creativepipeline/blog/2018/03/08/about-icc-colour-profile-s

“Workingspace choice is more important than generally considered because its not not just about keeping colour saturation - if image colour data is compressed into a workingspace smaller than the source data, detail in highly saturated areas can be lost (clipping) - because colorimetric rendering is always used whatever option is selected. To imagine what happens, think about using Photoshop's levels pallet, if the "input" endpoints are moved inwards previously separate values can be clumped together (clipped), e.g. shadow or highlight detail - so detail in the original is now lost. Permanently. The same thing can happen if an original has values outside the range of the destination workingspace for it's conversion. This is easy to demonstrate, take a high gamut image in, say Adobe RGB. Have a look at the ends of range in Photoshop's levels pallet, generally if unclipped the data will taper off at the edges, not "wash up" against the ends of the levels data display. Now convert that image to sRGB and look at the Photoshop's levels pallet again. Now you might well see some detail "washing up" against the ends of the scale, that’s showing clipping. Google Photoshop's "clipping display" for more on how to see this.”

I hope this helps

if so, please do mark my reply as "helpful" and if you're OK now, please mark it as "correct" below, so others who have similar issues can see the solution

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement

3 replies

NB, colourmanagement
Community Expert
NB, colourmanagementCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
November 7, 2018

Hi greyhoundrick

I hope I can help

I the your workflow is OK.

If it’s prophoto make sure you are working in 16 bit per channel, not 8 bit.

Archiving image files as TIF or PSD (with layers intact preferably) in a large color space (like pro photo) is advisable, because converting to sRGB may “clip” some detail in saturated areas and you’d not want to do that too the master file. [and do note that dark saturated and light war curated may not “look “ saturated but can be outside the destination color-space.

So, by all means, save a copy and convert that to sRGB for web and resize too then sharpen and lastly convert to Jpeg, that IS the best way to put stuff online (with profile embedded).

:HOW TO DETECT “CLIPPING” IN PHOTOSHOP:

If you’re concerned about what areas may suffer from clipping I would recommend you don’t rely on Photoshop’s gamut warning, but, test this (post conversion) using the “clipping display” in the levels pallet.

Hold down the alt key and click the mouse on the upper slider (either dark or light) and any areas that show up in the preview that gives are areas where clipping has happened.)

Clipping iOS when areas contain pic gels which previously had discrete values but have been forced to the same value in the colorburst conversion. It happens a lot and goes un-noticed.

Some info in this article (see importance of workingspace selection)

https://forums.adobe.com/community/creativepipeline/blog/2018/03/08/about-icc-colour-profile-s

“Workingspace choice is more important than generally considered because its not not just about keeping colour saturation - if image colour data is compressed into a workingspace smaller than the source data, detail in highly saturated areas can be lost (clipping) - because colorimetric rendering is always used whatever option is selected. To imagine what happens, think about using Photoshop's levels pallet, if the "input" endpoints are moved inwards previously separate values can be clumped together (clipped), e.g. shadow or highlight detail - so detail in the original is now lost. Permanently. The same thing can happen if an original has values outside the range of the destination workingspace for it's conversion. This is easy to demonstrate, take a high gamut image in, say Adobe RGB. Have a look at the ends of range in Photoshop's levels pallet, generally if unclipped the data will taper off at the edges, not "wash up" against the ends of the levels data display. Now convert that image to sRGB and look at the Photoshop's levels pallet again. Now you might well see some detail "washing up" against the ends of the scale, that’s showing clipping. Google Photoshop's "clipping display" for more on how to see this.”

I hope this helps

if so, please do mark my reply as "helpful" and if you're OK now, please mark it as "correct" below, so others who have similar issues can see the solution

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement

G
greyhoundrickAuthor
Known Participant
November 8, 2018

Just wanted to make sure Ive got this right!

So, what Im going to do is as follows:

1. Work with my TIFF file in ProPhoto color space and leave all of the layers in tact.

2. Copy the TIFF after the editing is complete

3. Change the color space on the copied TIFF to sRGB

4. Save the copied TIFF as a JPEG to use for the web

*NOTE: When I converted the color profile of the "copied" TIFF I noticed that after the color space was changed that the image was flattened by Photoshop. This was before I "saved as" a JPEG. Is this a normal function in Photoshop?

Thanks again!

NB, colourmanagement
Community Expert
NB, colourmanagementCommunity Expert
Community Expert
November 9, 2018

greyhoundrick  wrote

I noticed that after the color space was changed that the image was flattened by Photoshop (...) Is this a normal function in Photoshop?

simple, answer, yes, I do recommend flattening before converting as per my earlier reply

I hope this helps

if so, please do mark my reply as "helpful"

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement

TheDigitalDog
TheDigitalDog
Inspiring
November 7, 2018

I would make the JPG last; convert a copy to sRGB, save as JPEG. Otherwise sounds good.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
kglad
Community Expert
kgladCommunity Expert
Community Expert
November 7, 2018

[moved from Adobe Creative Cloud to Color management]

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