I use images from the D60 and the 1D2N in RAW.These raws are then processed and saved as jpegs in ACR with the Adobe RGB colour space chosen.
Looking at those RAWs and JPEGS in Bridge, the metadata panel always says Color Mode: RGB. However, only half the time does it ever give a Color Profile at all. When it does it says Adobe RGB (1998), which is what I want. I'm confused as to why some have no value for Color Profile at all?
I'm seriously confused and wondering whether I've been supplying people with JPEG conversions not in Adobe RGB space. Surely it's not possible to NOT HAVE a color space at all? Perhaps I'm mixing up Color Profiles and Color Spaces?
Thanks - a little confused.
It sounds like sometimes when you are doing the Jpeg save in PS that you don't have the "Embed ICC profile" checked. That would account for the behavior you describe. If you ever use Image Processor, it also has an "Embed ICC profile" checkbox.
Even if you don't embed the ICC profile, the Jpeg is still in the AdobeRGB colorspace (assuming your settings are as you described). The problem is that if you send that file to someone, they won't be able to tell (and will likely assume sRGB).
To do some diagnosis, checkmark the "Ask when opening" for "Missing Profiles" setting in your PS Color Settings. Then in PS open one of the Jpegs that doesn't show AdobeRGB in Bridge. If PS prompts you to let you know it doesn't have a profile and asks what it should do, then you know for some reason the profile didn't get written.
For further testing, you can Assign an Adobe RGB profile to that image and then compare to the original Raw or to another Jpeg of the image that has the profile assigned.
If you ever save a Jpeg directly from ACR, it will always include the ICC profile.
ah, great. That seems to fit. So just to clear up a few loose ends.....
Do I always want to embed the Adobe RGB 1998 profile if working in Adobe 1998 colour space and giving it to someone else? (alamy say they strip profiles anyway...)
What is the difference between a Colour Space and a Colour Profile? I thought a space was the gamut size and then a profile was an ICC profile for a particular piece of hardware?
The interface in ACR doesn't have an embed profile option. Does it do it automatically?
alexhibbert wrote:
Do I always want to embed the Adobe RGB 1998 profile if working in Adobe 1998 colour space and giving it to someone else? (alamy say they strip profiles anyway...)
Embedding the profile certainly eliminates the uncertainty that may occur later from you or somebody else who may not know or remember what colorspace was used. There are two cases where you might want to consider NOT embedding it:
- when using sRGB for the web. Most browsers in use still ignore profiles and assume sRGB (Safari and the beta version of Firefox are exceptions). Since sRGB is assumed, you can save a little space by uploading without the profile. The space saving is not really that tremendous, however, unless you are uploading many images and the image sizes are small.
- when someone is asking that the profiles be stripped. In this case it is very important that you and your client/viewer understand what is the colorspace being used. In the case of Alamy, if they don't reject images with profiles, I would be tempted to go ahead and include them. If they then strip them that is fine but any copies you retain will have the profiles and will eliminate your confusion in the future. Another alternative would be to not embed but store the images in a directory called "Alamy - AdobeRGB" or something along those lines.
alexhibbert wrote:
What is the difference between a Colour Space and a Colour Profile? I thought a space was the gamut size and then a profile was an ICC profile for a particular piece of hardware?
Here is a non-technical analogy (that someone will probably tear apart ):
The image file (in this case your Jpeg) is like a coded message.
The profile is like a decoder ring that can be used to decrypt the message.
The colorspace is the encrypting algorithm that is described by the decoder ring.
If I send the message without the decoder ring (profile), the receiver can still decode my message if I used a decoder ring with a industry standard algorithm (Adobe RGB) and I somehow have an agreement or communication with the receiver as to the algorithm used.
If I don't include the decoder ring and the receiver used a decoder ring for another encrypting algorithm, he will get garbage (in this case not exactly garbage but an image with the wrong colors).
If I am using a non-standard algorithm for some reason (a unique printer colorspace, for example) then my only option is to include the decoder ring.
alexhibbert wrote:
The interface in ACR doesn't have an embed profile option. Does it do it automatically?
Yes. When ACR writes a Jpeg directly (without going into PS), it always includes the profile. There is NO option in ACR to NOT include it.
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