I've run into a bit of a pickle here. Basically I use ProPhoto RGB for my processing workflow and then convert and export the web version as an sRGB image. While opening up a file via Adobe Camera RAW, I inadvertently opened it up in the Adobe RGB color space. After processing the image, I first sharpened the image and converted it to sRGB. This is where I noticed the problem.
The original RAW file contains lush greens and yellows ( A shot of rain fed moss and ferns) and the sRGB output looks awful, lacking so much of what the processed RAW file has in terms of richness of color. The yellows are especially lacking.
Do you guys use any kind of special conversion workflow to preserve greens and yellows (in particular) for the web?
I hope I don't need to reprocess the image from scratch, I've spent a few hours on it! Plus a long term remedy would greatly help me. I've just come back from the Columbia River Gorge, and all of my images have lush greens and yellows.
I have few (if any) color problems converting from ARGB to sRGB myself, and I don't do anything special. Did you save a copy of the master file in the original color space? . Did you do most of your 'development' in ACR? If so, then the original file with all of your workflow steps should be available to you and you can simply choose the PPRGB color space before you export it to PS.
Sairam, it could be the colors themselves. Check to see if the are out of gamut for sRGB, if there are, you might be able to make some minor adjustments in your raw converter by soft-proofing for your output device and adjusting the saturation and luminance to bring the colors back into gamut.
When you went from Adobe RGB to sRGB, did you use Assign Profile, or Convert to Profile. Convert knows the existing profile and asks for the destination profile. Assign does not. If you already know the source profile, you should be using Convert. If it was done through Save for the Web, then it uses Convert in the background if you checked the box.
John, I do have the Master file in the original color space, and it looks fine. The problem is when I convert it to sRGB. The colors go way out of whack.
Gene, it does look like that the colors are out of Gamut. Do you have any ways of checking to see if they are? Perhaps I could remap them accordingly.
Keith, I used Convert to Profile. I've never used Assign to Profile before.
...it does look like that the colors are out of Gamut. Do you have any ways of checking to see if they are? Perhaps I could remap them accordingly.
One way would be to go into soft-proofing and set the target output to sRGB, and turn on gamut warnings. This should show you which areas are out of gamut. If they are, the way to bring them back would be to turn down the saturation, or lightness, or otherwise shift them into gamut. I don't have any magic tricks to offer there - I've rarely done it with my own images.
The issue you may STILL run into, is that sRGB is simply a smaller gamut, and may not be capable of displaying all the colors you want. At least if you make manual changes, you can control how the colors are changed, as opposed to letting a default profile conversion do it.
Thanks for the input David. It definitely seems like I need to think of how best to bring out the contrast in yellows and greens, especially when they are subtle! I'll look into softproofing the image.
Discussion
6 repliesI've run into a bit of a pickle here. Basically I use ProPhoto RGB for my processing workflow and then convert and export the web version as an sRGB image. While opening up a file via Adobe Camera RAW, I inadvertently opened it up in the Adobe RGB color space. After processing the image, I first sharpened the image and converted it to sRGB. This is where I noticed the problem.
The original RAW file contains lush greens and yellows ( A shot of rain fed moss and ferns) and the sRGB output looks awful, lacking so much of what the processed RAW file has in terms of richness of color. The yellows are especially lacking.
Do you guys use any kind of special conversion workflow to preserve greens and yellows (in particular) for the web?
I hope I don't need to reprocess the image from scratch, I've spent a few hours on it! Plus a long term remedy would greatly help me. I've just come back from the Columbia River Gorge, and all of my images have lush greens and yellows.
Please help me guys!
Gene, it does look like that the colors are out of Gamut. Do you have any ways of checking to see if they are? Perhaps I could remap them accordingly.
Keith, I used Convert to Profile. I've never used Assign to Profile before.
One way would be to go into soft-proofing and set the target output to sRGB, and turn on gamut warnings. This should show you which areas are out of gamut. If they are, the way to bring them back would be to turn down the saturation, or lightness, or otherwise shift them into gamut. I don't have any magic tricks to offer there - I've rarely done it with my own images.
The issue you may STILL run into, is that sRGB is simply a smaller gamut, and may not be capable of displaying all the colors you want. At least if you make manual changes, you can control how the colors are changed, as opposed to letting a default profile conversion do it.