Wholesale Matting

sRGB vs Adobe RGB? Once again- confusion instead of clarity.?

There seems to be no definitive answer for what color space to shoot in. I get one answer from photographers, and another from printers. Ken Rockwell and others say always use sRGB. My instructor, as well as many Web articles, say shoot Adobe RGB and convert when necessary. So, can somebody answer this simple question: I want to produce excellent prints, 8x10 or larger, for sale as matted photos- landscapes, tourist destinations, etc, possibly submitting to magazines and postcards. I also want to produce calendars and posters. These will all be done through a printing service that I have yet to select. So, will a professional printer expect Adobe RGB files, or sRGB for this kind of work? I understand that sRGB is idiot-proof, but I will rarely be posting on the web. WHICH COLOR SPACE SHOULD I BE SHOOTING IN??

Public Comments

1. Well you should really shoot in RAW so you can expose the digital negative later and apply any color space you like, but you can also use PhotoShop to convert your colorspace at any time even after you've shot. The colorspace you choose is all dependent on where the image will end up. If you're going to upload to Flickr or view on a computer then sRGB is proper and ideal. If you're going to print then you can remove the color profile from the image file and convert it to something more appropriate for printing, which is usually some calibrated profile that you'd match up with your printer. Simply using Adobe RGB isn't going to be enough for really well done color conversion when you're printing. I'd suggest you use a larger color space like Adobe RGB or something more specific for professional photos - there are many out there. The camera often comes with its own that's ideal for what it can do. You can always convert to sRGB later, but going to a bigger color space like Adobe RGB from a smaller one (sRGB) can pose some small problems. Hope that helps. Best of luck.