Hi,
I wonder about the correct workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop regarding color mangement and publishing your photos on the web.
I've been told that LR always works in ProPhotoRGB. I suppose this is correct. When editing in PS from LR (right-click, choose 'Edit in Adobe Photoshop'), LR will open with the ProPhotoRGB in PS, at least, in *my* case (it's an adjustable setting in PS). When the image is opened in PS I can see that PS is using ProPhotoRGB, because the photo looks 100% exactly the same as it did in LR. (And also because I checked it in PS). So far so good. No problem whatsoever.
Now let's say I rarely print my photos on paper and that I usually publish them on the web. So if I edit the picture, change the saturation, play with curves, selective colors, etc, etc, in the end I have to save it as a .JPG and I can choose to embed the color profile or not. Considering the fact that most users out there, are not using a browser supporting embedded color profiles (Safari users are still a minority), I always save it *without* a color profile embedded (for all those IE and Firefox users). But, here's the problem: when I look at my picture in a browser, it looks awful: desaturated and darker. Without the embedded ProPhoto profile, it looks plain ugly compared to the beautiful edit I made.
So I found the following 'solution' : I've set the Proof Setup to sRGB and before I start editing, I always (unless I forget) click the Proof Colors. Then, after editing, I can be sure it will look identical in nearly all browsers out there.
But... here's the question: is this a good workflow? I think it's a bit weird to work like this. Why? Because I can never work in that great ProPhotoRGB color space. Secondly, because I sometimes forget to click "Proof Colors" when I start processing a photo, and then, in the end, when I notice this, I have to start all over! (Isn't there a way to enable "Proof Colors" by default?). So, why doesn't everybody --who mostly publishes to the web-- just work in the sRGB color space then?
Also, let's say I'm *really* happy with a photo and I decide that I want both, a print and publish it to the web. Then what? Do I need to edit in ProPhotoRGB to get the best print with the most colors, etc, AND, after that, edit again in sRGB for the web?
I guess I'm doing something wrong. I'm missing something here.
I really hope someone can explain this to me.
Many thanks in advance,
Kris
P.S. I always shoot in RAW so the camera color setting is not important.
P.S.2: Something else I'd like to point out is the very big difference between the ProPhotoRGB version and the sRGB version on my computer: is this normal? Could color calibration of my screen make a difference? I'm not sure, because let's say I totally re-calibrate my screen, and let's say that the sRGB will look very different after this. But then the ProPhotoRGB version will look very different too, right? So re-calibrating or not... the difference between those two profiles will remain, right?
I wonder about the correct workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop regarding color mangement and publishing your photos on the web.
I've been told that LR always works in ProPhotoRGB. I suppose this is correct. When editing in PS from LR (right-click, choose 'Edit in Adobe Photoshop'), LR will open with the ProPhotoRGB in PS, at least, in *my* case (it's an adjustable setting in PS). When the image is opened in PS I can see that PS is using ProPhotoRGB, because the photo looks 100% exactly the same as it did in LR. (And also because I checked it in PS). So far so good. No problem whatsoever.
Now let's say I rarely print my photos on paper and that I usually publish them on the web. So if I edit the picture, change the saturation, play with curves, selective colors, etc, etc, in the end I have to save it as a .JPG and I can choose to embed the color profile or not. Considering the fact that most users out there, are not using a browser supporting embedded color profiles (Safari users are still a minority), I always save it *without* a color profile embedded (for all those IE and Firefox users). But, here's the problem: when I look at my picture in a browser, it looks awful: desaturated and darker. Without the embedded ProPhoto profile, it looks plain ugly compared to the beautiful edit I made.
So I found the following 'solution' : I've set the Proof Setup to sRGB and before I start editing, I always (unless I forget) click the Proof Colors. Then, after editing, I can be sure it will look identical in nearly all browsers out there.
But... here's the question: is this a good workflow? I think it's a bit weird to work like this. Why? Because I can never work in that great ProPhotoRGB color space. Secondly, because I sometimes forget to click "Proof Colors" when I start processing a photo, and then, in the end, when I notice this, I have to start all over! (Isn't there a way to enable "Proof Colors" by default?). So, why doesn't everybody --who mostly publishes to the web-- just work in the sRGB color space then?
Also, let's say I'm *really* happy with a photo and I decide that I want both, a print and publish it to the web. Then what? Do I need to edit in ProPhotoRGB to get the best print with the most colors, etc, AND, after that, edit again in sRGB for the web?
I guess I'm doing something wrong. I'm missing something here.
I really hope someone can explain this to me.
Many thanks in advance,
Kris
P.S. I always shoot in RAW so the camera color setting is not important.
P.S.2: Something else I'd like to point out is the very big difference between the ProPhotoRGB version and the sRGB version on my computer: is this normal? Could color calibration of my screen make a difference? I'm not sure, because let's say I totally re-calibrate my screen, and let's say that the sRGB will look very different after this. But then the ProPhotoRGB version will look very different too, right? So re-calibrating or not... the difference between those two profiles will remain, right?
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