Hi all, hope someone can help me out. I have been selecting "monitor colour" on the save for web dialog box in photoshop, yet today I noticed "use document profile". My monitor is calibrated (hopefully correctly!) and so which option am I supposed to be using? Thanks in advance.
First of all, that option is for previewing how other people might see your image on the web. It doesn't actually change the image you are saving in any way. You can have it set at monitor, windows, mac, or document profile and the image saved will be exactly the same.
Now, as far as understanding what the different preview options are showing you, here is my take:
- Monitor color will show you the image using your monitor's current gamma and with an assumption that the colorspace is sRGB. If your source image is NOT sRGB and you do not have "convert to sRGB" checked in the Save for Web dialogue, you will see an off-color image. In other words, this option shows you what the image would like viewed on your monitor in a non-color-managed application.
- Macintosh is similar to Monitor color except it uses the old mac gamma standard (1.8).
- Windows is similar to Monitor color except it uses the Windows gamma standard (2.2).
- "Use Document Profile" uses the source document's colorspace or sRGB if "convert to sRGB" has been checked in the Save for Web dialogue. In other words, this option simulates viewing the image on your monitor using a color-managed application. Note, however, that in order to be sure that this preview will hold true for the saved image, you should also make sure that "embed color profile" is checked in the Save for Web dialogue.
Bottom line: You really don't need to worry too much about the preview options. To some extent they can be used to give you a rough idea of how others may be seeing your images and they also might help you double-check your colorspace settings for the web. But since you really have no control over how others view your images on their own computers, it's not worth losing a lot of sleep over.
