What Colour Space do you Use in ACR

[CarlRMorgan]

Hello Good Folks

I am asking these questions on here as I have read so much conflicting information from information on line, I have read in books and that has been presented on YouTube.

I would like to know which ADOBE CAMERA RAW colour space to use for editing photographs for use on the web and for editing photographs for printing.

I have been advised to, for different reasons:
1. Use Adobe RGB (1998) for both web and printing.
2. Use sRGB IEC61966-2.1 for both web and printing.
3. Use sRGB IEC61966-2.1 for web and Adobe RGB (1998) for printing.

4. Use ProPhoto for both web and printing.

Please would you like to tell me which colour space to use and why?

I would also like to ask:

You set the colour space below a photograph in Adobe Camera Raw and then edit it.
You then go to another photograph and change the colour space and edit that one.
If you then go back to the first photograph and open it in ACR the colour space label below the photograph has changed to that of the second one.

Has it actually changed the colour space of the the first photograph.
Or does it not matter, it just matters what colour space it is set to before you save the image?

This is how I save images for the web from Adobe Bridge:

From Bridge: I click on images to be saved; select Tools -> Photoshop -> Image Processor;

tick Save as JPEG, tick the checkbox "Convert Profile to sRGB", tick the checkbox "Include ICC Profile"

and set the Pixel Dimensions then click on ‘Run’.

Thanking you in advance for your anticipated help answering these questions!

[davescm · Accepted solution]

Hi

The colour space you see at the bottom of the ACR window is the colour space that will be output if you click OK and take the file outside. If you change it it will stick for all future conversions.

If exporting an image for web use always Convert to sRGB and embed the ICC profile. That gives the best chance of it being viewed correctly.

Your RAW files don't have a colour profile. If you convert them to an RGB format that is when you decide whether to use Pro Photo, Adobe RGB or sRGB. There are some who recommend using ProPhoto as it is is such a large color space. However it also brings the risks that it contains colours you cannot see or print so you can't really see what you are doing with it. Personally I save my master files as 16 bit PSD files in Adobe RGB. That contains more than enough information to see and print. If I export a copy , at that stage I convert to sRGB and embed that profile. 

As for those that say I am throwing information away by "restricting" to Adobe RGB, well if, in the future, monitors and printers ever came close to the Pro Photo space -  I've still got the raw files and can always re-convert them later.

Dave

[D Fosse]

Yes, Dave is spot on. Keep PSD master files as Adobe RGB - for web, convert to sRGB (and embed the profile). That's all there is to it.

As for ProPhoto, I just don't like it, never have and never will. The huge gamut is extremely rarely needed - and it comes at a price which I don't want to pay: it compresses the shadows, making subtle adjustments difficult.

Case in point - an image with a nasty cyan color cast in the shadows.

ProPhoto. You can see it in the histogram, but just barely and it's not easy to know what to make of it:

Adobe RGB. Here the problem is readily apparent:

And here the shadow color cast is fully corrected in Adobe RGB. If you have a good monitor, you can see how the shadows have been tightened up and now anchor the image in a much better way:

[CarlRMorgan]

Thank you Dave (& D Fosse)

May I kindly clarify something with you.

1. What you are saying is ALWAYS keep the colour space that I see at the bottom of the ACR window as Adobe RGB (1998) for all editing, web and printing, and do not change it?

You say that when I export an image for the web, convert to sRGB and embed the ICC profile.

2. May I ask is my method (below) adequate for this process?

From Adobe Bridge:
1. Click and highlight the images to be saved for the web.
2. Select: Tools -> Photoshop -> Image Processor
3. Tick the checkbox: "Save as JPEG"
4. Tick the checkbox: "Convert Profile to sRGB"
5. Tick the checkbox: "Include ICC Profile"
6. Set the pixel size and quality
7. Click on "Run"

3. If I was converting for printing, is it best to save it as a TIFF as there is less compression?

Thanking you again for your valuable help!

[davescm]

Hi

1. Yes that is what I do

2. Yes that is fine

3. To save a master copy - for use later, then PSD or TIFF will both do the job and save with the Adobe RGB profile. Both use lossless compression (unlike jpeg which is lossy).
If you are sending to an external company for printing, rather than printing yourself,  check their requirements. If they cannot tell you, find another printer. As a default sending converted to sRGB other people is safer (although may not take advantage of some of the printable colours in the wider Adobe RGB space)

Dave

[D Fosse]

You're not seeing the big picture: Use ACR > Photoshop to make one RGB master file. This is all you keep. Then as needed save out copies from that, prepared for whatever special output purpose. If that purpose is web - convert to sRGB at this point, using Edit > Convert to Profile (or Export/Save For Web).

You don't open separate instances from ACR for each output purpose. You do it from one RGB master file. This master file should be Adobe RGB or ProPhoto to contain all the data. You need a color space big enough to avoid gamut clipping.

I see you keep bringing up the Image Processor. This is fine if you do large batches and need automation, but normally you would process files individually to have better control.

For print, make a copy of the master and soft proof to the print profile. This shows you any clipping that will happen in the final conversion to the print profile, and you can compensate if necessary. It may not be necessary at all; the profile will handle the clipping anyway, but sometimes you can produce a better result yourself. It depends.

If you print from Photoshop, the final conversion to the print profile is performed by Photoshop automatically. You set this up in the Print dialog, telling Photoshop which profile to use for the conversion. This will be according to the paper you're printing on.

[CarlRMorgan]

Thank you Dave and Dag, you have both been most helpful