photo:color
color / colour in photography
Introduction
Digital representation of color values
HSL cylinder | HSV cylinder |
| |
| image editing color pickers use a 2D HSV square section |
Tinting, shading and toning
the base hue has a saturation of 100% and a brightness of 100%
lightness or perceived luminosity is determined by BOTH saturation and brightness
adding white to a hue is known as tinting and reduces saturation without reducing brightness
adding black to a hue is known as shading and reduces brightness without reducing saturation
adding gray to a hue is known as toning and reduces saturation and brightness
a hue can also be de-saturated by mixing it with a hue from the complimentary hue on the color wheel
RGB color spaces
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when processing camera RAW files, one needs to select which color space to convert into
the gamut is a term used for the entire range of colors available within a color space
RGB model is device-dependent and this means that it is referenced to a defined color space, the common ones used are:
standard RGB or sRGB
Adobe RGB
ProPhoto RGB
most professional photographers will use the following workflow system:
camera set to sRGB for viewing jpegs in camera or distributing the jpegs (this does NOT affect RAW files)
do RAW file conversion using Adobe RGB as this will allow wider gamut and better saturated greens and reds
ensure your RAW editing system is optimised for Adobe RGB (eg. your monitor which also should be colour calibrated)
when saving files as TIFF or PSD, save in Adobe RGB
when saving files for web such as in JPEG, ensure you tick BOTH:
convert to sRGB, and,
embed color profile
Which color space to use?
if you are shooting RAW files with your camera then your camera color space setting is irrelevant as this is ONLY used to create the in-camera jpeg images and given these are largely used for viewing on the web, you may as well leave it at sRGB
RAW conversion software is a different matter though!
if you are going to do a lot of editing, use ProPhoto RGB during the editing stages and then output using the “Perceptual” option to sRGB jpeg if computer display only, or Adobe RGB TIFF if printing (no current printer or computer screen supports ProPhotoRGB but modern printers with wider gamut thanks to extended range of inks will support Adobe RGB's gamut)
if you are not doing a lot of editing and just want to print to highest print rendition, then use Adobe RGB but for best results you need to use a monitor which supports at least 99% of the Adobe RGB gamut
otherwise, if you are only creating images for web, computer screen or smartphone display then use sRGB
photo/color.txt · Last modified: 2020/08/30 13:15 by gary1