I tried doing a search on the forum but could not quite find this answered. And this is something that has bothered me for a while.
I just upgraded to a Canon 5D Mark II from a classic 5D. Always shoot in RAW (well, mostly) and hence, have been using the Adobe space on the camera since it captures a wider range of colors in the raw format. In Aperture, my export preset is set to use sRGB with the Black Point Compensation option turned off. My primary objective to export images is to upload them on my website (http://rohangupte.com). From that standpoint, I read somewhere that sRGB is a reasonably good profile that shows well even on displays that are not correctly calibrated. My MBP is calibrated using SpyderExpress.
Long story short, I wanted to confirm if I am doing the right thing both in terms of using the right profile to capture colors when I shoot and then while exporting the photos from Aperture to be upload to my website.
Thanks a bunch for weighing in.
I think this has been well responded to ;-) Not sure what article you were looking for DBmoore but it may have been one of the ebooks or even a Live Training video. Yeah that’s probably it, I did a big RAW thing in one of the Live Trainings, but not about color space. That’s a topic I shy away from as I’m no expert and as we’ve seen on this forum, it can turn heated!
@PhotoJoseph
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Well a Raw file does not have a color profile attached to it. The jpeg that gets assigned by the camera only applies to the jpeg for viewing on the back of the camera and short time in aperture as a thumbnail. In Aperture the Thumbnail is replaced by the raw file and a Larger color space like pro-Photo is used to make adjustments to it via aperture. That is all controlled by AP, you have no control. However when you export the file you are assigning Adobe98 or srgb. Your thinking is right, use Srgb for web viewing for the masses on a variety of machines and Calibrations. What? TMI?
davidbmoore@mac.com
Twitter= @davidbmoore
Scottsdale AZ
@DBmoore - thanks for taking the time to respond. Regarding your comment about raw files not having any color profile attached to them: agreed but does it not make a difference on how the data is being captured in the RAW file based on whether the setting in the camera is on Adobe or sRGB?
I did some non-scientific testing on taking raw images using sRGB and Adobe profiles and then bringing them into Aperture. It appeared to me that the Adobe profile images were richer in color than the sRGB ones.
Sorrry Raw is Raw. Joseph has an excellent article either in the FAQ or user tips on Raw and camera settings. Sorry I can’t find it yet. I Hope Joseph will step in and save this week ass answer.
davidbmoore@mac.com
Twitter= @davidbmoore
Scottsdale AZ
mechie8682 - color profiles are only important at the point of capture if you are shooting jpegs … where the color information is baked in at the time of capture … for jpegs, there will indeed be a perceivable difference in the colors rendered between sRGB and the much wider Adobe RGB color spaces. Even in the embedded jpeg previews of RAW files. Though not in the RAW data itself.
That said, when you shoot RAW, the camera setting you choose for color space has absolutely nothing to do with the color data captured. The same data is recorded by the camera regardless if you choose sRGB or Adobe RGB … but … the embedded jpeg will show the difference or any proprietary software used to view the RAW file will render the image based upon this setting … though third party software will likely disregard this setting when rendering the RAW file and use the software developer’s default or the the profile you may have selected in a any preference option for the RAW rendering to be processed by ….
So, in short, your in-camera colorspace choice does NOT have any impact upon the color data your camera records at the time of capture for RAW files …
You are also correct in using sRGB for jpeg files to be viewed on the web. Though more web browsers are becoming profile aware, and more monitors can handle the wider range of colors … until those factors become the vast majority, exporting jpegs with sRGB will give you the best overall option for most viewers of your images on the web.
@Butch - thanks for your detailed response. Makes a lot of sense. What a fantastic forum this is!