[viewfinder]

I have been learning as much as I can about my new Kx & photography in general. One thing that still isn't totally clear is the sRGB vs Adobe RGB. I understand that Adobe has a fuller gamut, but here are my questions:
1) Does this setting matter if I'm shooting RAW?
2) I don't (yet) know what my printer can do, so will it help/hurt if I have Kx set to Adobe?
3) What do all of you more experienced shooters do?

Thanks for your help!

[Nachodog]

My advice to you is that if you don't know how to process photos in AdobeRGB, stick with sRGB. The difference between the colour spaces are so subtle, you won't notice. Also, inexperience with AdobeRGB results in dingy photos.


Alex

[viewfinder]

Alex I appreciate you taking the time to respond, but if I don't try it, I'll never learn it. lol
I'm asking for someone to help me understand. Questions 1-3 are still unanswered.

[LeDave]

I use sRGB now since that's what you see on the web. When I save my photos in Adobe RGB, the colors are washed out viewing them on flickR

[iFoto]

1. no, it matters only for JPGs
2. every printer uses CMYK - take Adobe RGB and convert it to CMYK
3. for taking JPG-Photos use Adobe RGB (wider colours range)
use sRGB only to show your photos on screen



size of colour range
best - Adobe RGB
less - sRGB
lowest - CMYK

never convert the original - you will loose quality

[TOUGEFC]

I process my jpegs in Lightroom to sRGB and also process them in adobeRGB if i want the pro-lab i use to print them.

[Ira]

First worry about getting the best on-screen image, and then printing. (And there is massive evidence that sRGB is better than Adobe RGB for most purposes.)

Depending on your printer, and software, you may want to convert to CMYK, and not let the software do the conversion. For maximum quality and consistency, and if your printer supports it, you may decide to buy additional RIP--raster image processing--software.

This gets complicated and sometimes the nuances aren't worth the effort, but for example, on my Epson printers, I use iProof's Powerrip software. This turns my printer into a true postscript printer, but to get maximum quality and results, I have to buy their paper:

The software knows how their paper absorbs the ink, and it's tuned to that. There are also HP, Epson and generic settings for other brands of paper, if you choose to do that. Which is the same theory even if you're not doing anything fancy:

On an Epson printer choosing "Epson Photo Glossy Paper," you will get better results using that brand than HP's. It's not all the same.

[icywarm]

It is about work flow... if you are say working with aRGB from start to finish it is a great system... however... if the print shop only uses sRgb well there was no point as there is information lost in that final step, and results would have been better if it was sRGB the entire way. You can get some 'crazy' photos if the print shop doesn't realize you used aRGB and prints the images as sRGB. That is a risk with aRGB as sRGB is most standard... mind the pun.

[flyer]

2. every printer uses CMYK - take Adobe RGB and convert it to CMYK

Not exactly true. They print using CMYK, but receives their info in RGB, and converts the info IN THE PRINTER, in order to print CMYK.

Not all printers use CMYK exclusively, some are using up to 12 colors. And most printers using only CMYK (plus light magenta and light cyan) are calibrated to work in sRGB color space. Trying to work in aRGB with those printers when you don't have a good grasp of color space can open up a nice can of worms.

[flyer]

3. for taking JPG-Photos use Adobe RGB (wider colours range)

Most basic printers using CMYK can't print the full gamut of aRGB. They'll compress the spectrum to try to fit it in the sRGB color space and lose some space in the process.

[kristoffon]

Also, AdobeRGB jpegs look like crap on uncalibrated displays (or software that doesn't support calibration such as older browsers). sRGB jpegs look ok.

[viewfinder]

Thank you all so much for your help! I needed it broken down to the basics like that, and now I understand much more than I did.

Are there any other settings [on the Kx] that I should change or leave alone?

Thanks again!

[icywarm]

Did you know that there are two types of RAW file?

[viewfinder]

Did you know that there are two types of RAW file?

Yes...the DNG & PEF? I recently read that DNG is the more widely used/accepted format. Is that correct?

[icywarm]

yepp sounds about right...