Best workflow for RGB TIFFs and sRGB for web?

I have about 200 products that need to be supplied as RGB TIFFS, and then as sRGB jpegs for web.

I'm processing them in ACR and can export them to TIFFS from there, no problems. I then batch processed them in CS3 to sRGB jpegs and some, as expected, have changed colour a bit with the conversion.

Ideally it would've been good to be able to edit in sRGB from ACR so I could see what colour they'd be before outputting in sRGB. Since that's not an option (unless I've missed something?) is there another way to edit in sRGB more quickly than going into the TIFFS one by one in PS?

This all seems a bit strange.

Firstly, you say they're required as "RGB Tiffs". Well, sRGB is a form of RGB, so you're absolutely fine. Assuming, that is, that the instructions you've been given are simply to stop you from providing CMYK files.

However, I suspect you mean "Adobe RGB" - a lot of people make this mistake, and it drives me up the wall.

Ok, so where are you supplying these images to? Did they specifically say "Adobe RGB" or just "RGB"?

You can, of course, batch process your Adobe RGB files down to sRGB, but you risk colour clipping in some, as you mentioned. Personally, I'd process them all in sRGB, then batch convert to Adobe RGB. Your client will be none the wiser, I promise you.

The request for Tiff files also makes me suspect that your client doesn't know what they're talking about. For most purposes, maximum quality Jpegs are just as good, and much smaller.

Thanks for your reply Damo. Sorry for driving you up the wall. Their designer's asked that files be supplied as RGB Tiffs. I'm exporting them from ACR as Adobe RGB TIFFS.

There is some colour shift from there to sRGB, which is the next step - is there a way to check/adjust the colour for eachfile now without having to go into them one by one in PS?

Wait! Wait! That's exactly my point. If the designer has stated "RGB Tiffs" then sRGB is fine.

Designers, in the main, are ignorant of these matters. They get told once in college that such-and-such should be such-and-such, and without any genuine understanding, they cling to those instructions blindly.

Having said all that, if you've already made Adobe RGB conversions, then no, I don't know of a way to safely batch convert.

You can do both in ACR -- just open the Preferences (click the link at the bottom or the button at the top). Change the color space from Adobe RGB to sRGB (probably what the tiff people want unless they specify Adobe RGB). Then you can save as a tiff, and you can save as a jpeg, and they should come out fine.

The only thing you have to find out is whether the tiff people want 16 bit tiffs or 8 bit tiffs. If you don't know, you should probably make sure to set the tiffs to 16 bits. You can set this in the Preferences as well.

Be aware that any changes made in the Preferences are "sticky", meaning that for a "normal" workflow from ACR to PS, you might want to change the 8 bit back to 16 bit and the sRGB back to Adobe if that's what you're used to.

Tony, I think you're being incredibly charitable. I doubt Lightchaser's designer has ever heard of bit depth, and is clinging rigidly to "somebody once told me that tiffs are better than jpegs".

Thanks Tony. Am I right in saying though that you can't preview the end colour as you're working on the file - because the colour is assigned on exporting - is that right?

Damo77 wrote in post #8664160
Tony, I think you're being incredibly charitable. I doubt Lightchaser's designer has ever heard of bit depth, and is clinging rigidly to "somebody once told me that tiffs are better than jpegs".

My point about setting an 8 bit depth in ACR was that the software being used by the designer might not support 16 bits or they may not be used to working with 16 bits. But, if they specify a 16 bit tiff then that's the way to go.

Lightchaser wrote in post #8664203
Thanks Tony. Am I right in saying though that you can't preview the end colour as you're working on the file - because the colour is assigned on exporting - is that right?

Really, if you set sRGB as your ACR preference you should be fine for both Saving As a tiff or a jpeg. Like I said, you will likely need to set your bit depth at 8 bits in so the tiff unless your client specifies they are capable of working with 16 bits.

Develop again from RAW in sRgb. Or batch from ARgb to sRgb using image processor.

tonylong wrote in post #8664231
My point about setting an 8 bit depth in ACR was that the software being used by the designer might not support 16 bits or they may not be used to working with 16 bits. But, if they specify a 16 bit tiff then that's the way to go.

Oh yes, I know, and I agree with you. All I'm saying is, I suspect this designer to be as ignorant as most of his kind (that I've encountered), and wouldn't know 16-bit if you beat him over the head with it.

Lightchaser wrote in post #8664203
Thanks Tony. Am I right in saying though that you can't preview the end colour as you're working on the file - because the colour is assigned on exporting - is that right?

No.
ACR will show you what you get. If the output color space is changed, so is the preview and the histogram (unlike in Lightroom).

In PS you can softproof for sRGB.
However, in most cases, you won't see a big shift when going from AdobeRGB to sRGB: In quite a lot of images there are few colors outside sRGB, and the conversion is relative colorimetric. So only the colors out of sRGB gamut will be clipped.

Your screen likely has a gamut of about sRGB or smaller, so the colors that are outside sRGB gamut were not visible on your screen anyhow.

If you see a big change when converting AdobeRGB to sRGB you either work on very saturated images using a Wide Gamut monitor, or you are assigning instead of converting...

René Damkot wrote in post #8665090
No.
ACR will show you what you get. If the output color space is changed, so is the preview and the histogram (unlike in Lightroom).

In PS you can softproof for sRGB.
However, in most cases, you won't see a big shift when going from AdobeRGB to sRGB: In quite a lot of images there are few colors outside sRGB, and the conversion is relative colorimetric. So only the colors out of sRGB gamut will be clipped.

Your screen likely has a gamut of about sRGB or smaller, so the colors that are outside sRGB gamut were not visible on your screen anyhow.

If you see a big change when converting AdobeRGB to sRGB you either work on very saturated images using a Wide Gamut monitor, or you are assigning instead of converting...

Brilliant. Answers the question exactly. Thanks so much