Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Photoshop's default color space is sRGB (some pros refer to it as “stupid RGB”),
which is fine for photos going on the web, but your printer can print a wider range
of colors than sRGB (particularly in the blues and greens). So, if you work in sRGB,
you're essentially leaving out those rich, vivid colors you could be seeing. That's why
we either change our color space to Adobe RGB (1998) if you're shooting in JPEG or
TIFF, which is better for printing those images, or ProPhoto RGB if you shoot in RAW
or work with Photohsop Lightroom. Here's how to set up both:
Setting Up
Photoshop's
Step One:
Before we do this, I just want to reiterate
that you only want to make this change
if your final print will be output to your
own color inkjet. If you're sending your
images out to an outside lab for prints,
you should probably stay in sRGB—both
in the camera and in Photoshop—as most
labs are set up to handle sRGB files. Your
best bet: ask your lab which color space
they prefer. Okay, now on to Photoshop:
go under the Edit menu and choose
Color Settings
(as shown here).
Step Two:
This brings up the Color Settings dialog.
By default, it uses a group of settings
called “North America General Purpose
2.” Now, does anything about the phrase
“General Purpose” sound like it would be
a good space for pro photographers?
Didn't think so. The tip-off is that under
Working Spaces, the RGB space is set to
sRGB IEC61966-2.1 (which is the long-
hand technical name for what we simply
call sRGB). In short, you don't want to
use this group of settings. They're for
goobers—not for you (unless of course,
you are a goober, which I doubt because
you bought this topic, and they don't sell
this topic to goobers. It's in each book-
store's contract).
