Inkscape RGB Display vs Illustrator and QImage

[TheRobsterUK]

I was using Inkscape to trace around some stickers that I scanned and as a comparison thought I'd give it a go in Adobe Illustrator as well. I noticed that the colours don't quite match in the two applications. Also note:

1) Illustrator was in RGB mode not CMYK so it wasn't because of that

2) I'm comparing on the same monitor, not dual monitors

3) The file is a jpg. but I've also tried with .png images and got the same result

I also opened QImage and imported the scanned file into that - same thing, the colours are different in Inkscape vs. QImage (with the latter being similar to Illustrator). I tried the image in Paint.Net and this was the same as Inkscape.

So I don't understand how the same image can have different colours. And they are definitely different as I read the RGB from them and although Inkscape and Paint.Net report the same RGB, I get a different one for Illustrator and QImage. In the latter case the colours are more muted. It's fairly subtle but most noticeable with greens and to some extent blues.

Does anyone know why this is? I did think it might have something to do with RGB vs. sRGB, as in is Inkscape showing the colours as sRGB and so a wider gamut? The colours are less bright / more muddy in Illustrator and QImage.

TIA 🙂

[Ton Frederiks]

What is the profile of the images you scanned?

How is your Illustrator color management setup (Edit > Color Settings)?

[TheRobsterUK]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Bear with me as I'm new to the whole "colour space, ICC profiles etc" thing and trying to learn as much as I can as fast as I can.

I checked the colour settings in Illustrator and the RGB working space was set to "sRGB IEC6-1966-2.1" which I assume is the standard for sRGB?

I changed the option to "Adobe RGB (1998") and the colours were much better...in fact the green is now more vibrant and deep than that of Inkscape and Paint.Net!

Another question: is there a better colour space to operate in? Or does it depend on what you're doing? I am creating sticker designs that will be printed out on my Canon Pro100s printer so am not sure if there is a colour space that would be a better option for that?

TIA again! 🙂

[TheRobsterUK]

Also another question: does the setting in Edit > Colour Settings make any difference to print quality? For instance if I have the sRGB selected will this result in a different colour quality vs. Adobe RGB, or is it just an effect on the monitor and the printed quality depends more on the ICC profiles?

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

The printer you use has 8 inks, it is probably better to set your color settings to Adobe RGB.

Adobe RGB has a much wider gamut and it will allow it to print more colors than sRGB can contain.

It is usefull to learn about color management.

Here is a start with links:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/user-guide.html/illustrator/using/color.ug.html

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

And here is another one:

https://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/pdfs/phscs2ip_colspace.pdf