sRGB or RGB?

[Sulis]

I'm confused whether the setting on my 350d should be sRGB or RGB. I post process in Photoshop, but don't print at home - I upload to an online lab To get my prints. What should the setting be in my camera and in Photoshop?

[dontblink]

If you shoot in RAW, then the setting on your camera doesn't matter. You will set the color space when you convert RAW to TIFF or PSD. The only time I use sRGB on my camera is when I am shooting jpegs and I know I will be posting those jpegs directly on the web with little or no post processing, otherwise I use RGB, but usually I would be shooting RAW and saving in RGB.

As to the format your online printer would prefer, my guess is RGB but I would ask them.

[InskiP]

I just posted this in another thread.

I've heard that you should shoot and edit in Adobe RGB and then convert to sRGB before sending to the lab for printing. Most labs like Mpix, and maybe whcc, unless they've changed, require the sRGB profile. This is what I currently do, but not sure if the extra step, shooting in ARGB, is making much of a difference in my prints when I end up converting to sRGB anyway??

[blue_max]

Adobe RGB is more of a 'behind the scenes' colour space as current monitors can't display the full gamut yet (well there is one, but it's unlikely you would be asking if you were buying it!). For best quality, edit in this colour space.

The lab I use discard profiles anyhow, so no profile or SRGB is fine. Saving without a profile will make the file size a little smaller and the assumed profile will be SRGB anyhow.

But always check with your lab as they might be able to use an AdobeRGB profile for enhanced quality.

Graham

[gpocock]

But always check with your lab as they might be able to use an AdobeRGB profile for enhanced quality.

Graham

I agree. Photobox which seems to be the preferred printer in the UK recommends sRGB for small prints and AdobeRGB for large. So you should definitely check with your printer.

Best wishes

Geoffrey Pocock

[blue_max]

I agree. Photobox which seems to be the preferred printer in the UK recommends sRGB for small prints and AdobeRGB for large. So you should definitely check with your printer.

Best wishes

Geoffrey Pocock


That surprised me as I always understood then stripped profiles (and therefore default to sRGB).

However, it seems that they may be able to very soon.

From their site:

Profile support
Are ICC profiles available for your photographic printers?
We don't publish profiles ourselves however we are working with the manufacturers of our printers in the hope that we can provide ICC profiles in the future.

Do you support profiles for Fuji Frontiers?
It is important to note that the Fuji Frontier printers currently strip out any embedded profiles in your images, so you should ensure that your images are submitted in sRGB. You can also use our calibration print to adjust your screen to match our output as closely as possible (see above).

Do you support profiles for Polielettronica Laserlab prints?
Presently we are in the process of changing paper stock to that which we use on the Fuji Frontiers. While this change is being implemented, we cannot unfortunately support profiles until we receive a new profile for this paper stock. We hope to be fully supportive of icc profiles on the Polielettronica Laserlab by mid July 2006.


Sounds promising. I do hope they take this seriously as I have had issues with them not being very accurate according to my screen (I do accept it may be my calibrated Apple monitor not being absolutely the best quality).

Graham

[René Damkot]

It is important to note that the Fuji Frontier printers currently strip out any embedded profiles in your images,

The question then is: What profile does the Frontier *assume* the file is in?
The lab I use also has a printer which ignores the profile. Took me quite a few tests to figure out I needed to convert files to the profile the printer used, before submitting them. The profile was ignored by the printer, but the 'numbers' were correct...

[blue_max]

The question then is: What profile does the Frontier *assume* the file is in?
The lab I use also has a printer which ignores the profile. Took me quite a few tests to figure out I needed to convert files to the profile the printer used, before submitting them. The profile was ignored by the printer, but the 'numbers' were correct...

Well, as it says " so you should submit your files in sRGB, we have to assume it's sRGB.

This is all a subject that the labs really need to address now. It would give them a competitive edge if they just took a little care to provide profiles and properly calibrate. It does seem that most people are perfectly happy though, so maybe I am being too fussy.

Graham

[René Damkot]

Well, my lab also said: 'use sRGB'. While this was not too far off for the usual 'daylight' type of shot, some of my images came out crappy (tungsten lighting with some *very* saturated colours, out of sRGB gamut, and even more out of the printers gamut. This resulted in a kind of 'clipping' which looked hideous)
I agree that serious labs need to get this sorted out...