Adobe Color Space

[DocDetroit]

I got my 10D about a week ago. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to photoshop and post processing but I'm working hard to learn what I can.

If I shoot in the Adobe color space, and then convert to sRGB after applying the LinearSharpen action, will the colors be correct for displaying on a monitor? I've read a few things that implied the colors would not be correct.

One last question. Can anyone recommend a good book for learning post-processing techniques in photoshop. I don't even know the basics (what's a channel?)

Thanks!

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Doc,

Nothing at all wrong with converting from Adobe RGB to sRGB. It's definitely correct to convert to sRGB for web use as the colours are most likely to look correct on other people's monitor's.

As to books, I started with Deke McClelland's Photoshop Bible, but there's lots of stuff freely available on the web.

I've got some links on my site.

Regards,

[slejhamer]

Roger (or anyone with a reply):

My question is the reverse of the above. If my camera reportedly uses sRGB as it's "native" color space (a G1), does it make any sense to convert to Adobe RGB for editing? This is what I have been doing, but I wonder if there is really any benefit to this.

My logic in using it thus far is that hue/saturation/color curve changes should have a wider and more subtle range of hues to work with. However, if sRGB has already clipped some of the colors in the original image, am I wasting my time by using Adobe RGB?

If I print an image at home I keep it in Adobe RGB, but if I send it off to Ofoto or post it on the web I must convert to sRGB. (Actually I created a modified sRGB using Trinitron primaries, but that's a separate issue...)

Thanks in advance,

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Mitch,

I don't think there's any point in converting from sRGB to Adobe RGB, as you say the colour info's already lost.

I see the logic in your argument, but my feeling is that you're probably not going to see any practical benefit. There is one definite disadvantage: any colour space conversion in PS always involves an intermediate conversion to lab space. This definitely destructive to colour data.

Regards,

[slejhamer]

Excellent, thank you Roger.

Cheers,

[MrEWorm]

Roger,

I am converting RAW images in Breeze Browser, to 16 Bit TIFF. When Photoshop Elements goes to open the file it displays the message "This document is in an unsupported color depth. Convert to a default color depth?" .
I have tried both sRGB and Adobe RGB and gotten the same message. Any ideas? Could it be in the nature of using a Windows 98 SE machine?

Thanks,

JCSS

[dtrayers]

PSE2.0 doesn't support 16-bit.

[Amazer]

mreworm wrote

Any ideas? Could it be in the nature of using a Windows 98 SE machine?

Dave's right. The message you are getting has nothing to do with color space. It's just that 16-bit is a luxury only available to owners of PS7.

While on the subject. I use PE2 also and was thinking of upgrading to PS7. Can someone (Roger?) please list the main (important) advantages. Judging from the price difference there must be quite a few!

Ian

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Amazer wrote:
While on the subject. I use PE2 also and was thinking of upgrading to PS7. Can someone (Roger?) please list the main (important) advantages. Judging from the price difference there must be quite a few!

Can't really help you in detail on this one, Ian. I've never used PE. I've got a vague idea that I might install the free version that came with the 10D - one day, when there's nothing better to do. :)

There are some obvious things I know about: 16-bit is one, actions is another.

If you have a broadband llink you can download a full version tryout of PS7: http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jhtml#product=39.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/pdfs/nfh.pdf is a full list of features, so maybe you can check what PE doesn't have from here.

Regards,

[Amazer]

Roger,

Thanks for the prompt and helpful (as always) reply to my query. One other good reason I can think of, other than the 16-bit capability, is that most third party plug-ins are written for PS7 but not for Elements.

It's only been a couple of months since I migrated to digital, and it is probably still too early to take the plunge for PS7. I just can't help wondering what I'm losing out on. Instant gratification is soooo hard to put off :)

I wish PS7 wasn't so expensive! But I'll think about downloading the trial version, thank you for the link.

Cheers

[dtrayers]

Ian,

I use PSE 2.0

I just entered into the world of digital photography last October, so I still consider myself a relative newbie when it comes to photo editing and retouching.

From what I've learned, there many features of PS7 that can be emulated in PSE2. Many plugins for PS7 will work in PSE2, some won't. On the other hand, PSE2 will not handle 16-bit, and there isn't a direct way to use actions. Out of the box, PSE2 doesn't have curves and color separations.

Notwithstanding, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the book by Richard Lynch entitled "The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2". With the book comes a CD which adds some of the PS7 functionality to PSE2, like curves, advanced masking and color channel separations. But moreover, the book explains step by step how to make things like an RGB color separation, so you get a much better understanding of how it works and why you would want to work on separate color channels.

I've learned a lot about the blending modes and why they do what they do, as well as a lot about the theory and method of working with Photoshop.

My wife is a full time student, so I probably will purchase the educational version of PS8 when it comes out, but only if I can get it for the student discount. At full price, PSE2 with Lynch's add-on's really is everything I need at this point.

FWIW...