Adobe & Monitor Profiles

[robtlawrence]

I hope someone can help me out here. I shoot mostly in RAW and use the G3 True-Color non-linear profile when I convert to TIFF in BreezeBrowser. This was recommended. My question is why do I need to use the G3 profile when the image just converts to Adobe RGB workspace in post-process?

Also, does adjusting the monitor color profile affect the Adobe RGB workspace profile? I ask this because to get my screen images to resemble the prints, I have to turn the Gamma down on the monitor in Adobe Gamma. After I do this it prompts me to save. What is confusing is that it is asking me to save the Adobe RGB profile. I thought it would be asking me to save the monitor profile. Is the workingspace and monitor profile one in the same?

I'm really confused, because it seems like I have to keep track of 3 profiles. The BreezeBrowser G3 True-Color non-linear profile, the Adobe RGB workspace profile, and the monitor profile.

Thanks for any suggestions or tips.

Rob

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Rob,

You DO have to have separate profiles for everything: input devices (camera, scanner), output devices (monitor, printer) and working space.

That's the point of colour management: if everything is profiled correctly, then colours will (more or less) be consistent across all devices. I say "more or less" because some captured colours cannot be displayed by all out put devices.

When you use Adobe Gamma to profile your monitor, you should save the profile with a different name. I imgaine that you must have started by inadvertently loading the Adobe RGB profile into Adobe Gamma, which is why it wants to replace it.

To use the profile in Windows, you must specify it. In XP, you go to Display Properties>Settings>Advanced>Color Management - not sure about other versions.

The profile for the G3 describes how the camera "sees" colour, but it is usually not a good plan to work a device-dependent colour space, so any images should be CONVERTED to a working space such as Adobe RGB.

When you print, you should use a profile for the printer-paper combination.

Regards,

[Kevin Connery]

I'm really confused, because it seems like I have to keep track of 3 profiles.It's worse than that. (grin)

You need a profile for each display you use, in order to let Photoshop know how it is behaving, so Photoshop can display the colors "correctly".

You need a profile for the files from the camera, so Photoshop knows how to display that file "correctly". (This may be why the linear processing is converting to/assigning a profile in the sequence.)

You need a profile for each different printer, so that Photoshop knows how to print that file "correctly".

R, G, B triplets are much like a color negative: if you don't know what it's supposed to look like, you have to guess. A profile simply describes how those numbers should be interpreted--and the file generally won't be in the same color space as the monitor, so you need both.

If you're adjusting the monitor AFTER setting Adobe Gamma (or otherwise profiling/calibrating the display), all bets are off: what you see is ... what you see. There's no longer a necessary link to how it "should" look; the RBG numbers are just numbers.