This is my work environment where I occasionally play around with RAW processing, blogging, and printing the photos I take.
＜Hardware>
・Camera: LUMIX S5/G9proII, PENTAX K-3III, etc.
・PC: ASUS TAF A14, etc.
・External monitor: BENQ SW240
・Printer: EPSON 873T
＜Software＞
・RAW processing tool: PhotoLab8
・Blog creation: WordPress
・Web browser: Chrome
When handling photo data with these tools, I have long used the sRGB color profile setting, which is compatible with a wide range of viewing environments, with the intention of posting the photos on the web (blog).
However, I recently decided to reconsider this approach. I wondered if there might be a better option, such as using the AdobeRGB color space, which can handle a wider range of colors. As usual, this is just a personal note for my own reference.
One day, it suddenly occurred to me.
Since the external monitor and printer I’m currently using are (almost) compatible with AdobeRGB, not using it for enjoying photos by viewing or printing them is
“a waste of talent” I thought.
※The color gamut that can be reproduced by a printer varies significantly depending on the paper used.From what I’ve quickly learned, using high-quality photo paper like Epson’s “CHRISPIA” can achieve a much wider color gamut.
Most of the RAW development process, which creates photos based on RAW data containing all the information about the light captured, remains the same whether the final output is sRGB or AdobeRGB. The only difference is at the end of the process, when you specify the color profile when outputting as JPG.
So, what should I do specifically?
For uploading to blogs or social media, or sharing data with acquaintances, it is undoubtedly better to use sRGB, which is compatible with any viewing environment. Therefore, it is reasonable to keep the default JPEG output setting as sRGB.
That said, for photos that you really want to showcase, it would be good to output them in AdobeRGB. To distinguish between the two settings, it would be helpful to establish a file naming convention that makes it easy to identify which setting was used.
Oh, that’s easy to do in PhotoLab.
One thing to note is that when you output photos adjusted and developed while viewing them on an AdobeRGB monitor to the narrower color gamut of sRGB, the “desaturation adjustment” cannot be controlled by the software. Well, I don’t have the kind of discerning eye that would be bothered by that anyway.
So, I’ve re-exported a few old photos in AdobeRGB settings and am enjoying viewing them on an external monitor.
All is well that ends well, or so I thought, but there are still two issues remaining.
First, even if I post a photo in a blog article saying, “This is AdobeRGB,” it will be converted to sRGB on the viewer’s browser, so it’s meaningless (lol)
Second, when I tried viewing it in an AdobeRGB environment myself, it looked almost exactly the same (lol)
So, the path for eternal beginner photography enthusiasts is endless.
