RAW file (NEF) color management in Photoshop

I am new to shooting in RAW files with my digital camera. I would like to get ideas on how to color manage these files in Photoshop. I have noticed that the Nikon driver automatically tags RAW files with Nikon sRGB 4.0.0.3000. Here are some of the questions that I'm looking for answers to.

1. Do RAW files have their own color gamut that is different from the one that Nikon has assigned and if so what is it?

2. If I tell Photoshop to ignore the tagged profile what would be a good profile to assign to a RAW file that would allow me to have a wide latitude for editing my image. Please keep in mind that my output is usually ink-jet and sometimes traditional chemical processes.

I am new to shooting in RAW files with my digital camera. I would like to get ideas on how to color manage these files in Photoshop. I have noticed that the Nikon driver automatically tags RAW files with Nikon sRGB 4.0.0.3000. Here are some of the questions that I'm looking for answers to.

1. Do RAW files have their own color gamut that is different from the one that Nikon has assigned and if so what is it?

2. If I tell Photoshop to ignore the tagged profile what would be a good profile to assign to a RAW file that would allow me to have a wide latitude for editing my image. Please keep in mind that my output is usually ink-jet and sometimes traditional chemical processes.

-----

http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/tips/phs7rbrawbasics/movie_ qt1.html

I am also struggling to understand the color management
issues in PS.
1. The RAW format records image data as captured by the
camera's CCD without further processing. This must be
camera specific. Compression is reversible. Choose any
color management format and save it as different files
if you want for comparison.
2. What profile you choose depends entirely on what you
are going to do with a file. I think I would just choose PS default unless you have other specific purposes in
mind.
Quinn

"E. Hand" wrote in message

I am new to shooting in RAW files with my digital

camera. I would

like to get ideas on how to color manage these files

in Photoshop. I

have noticed that the Nikon driver automatically tags

RAW files with

Nikon sRGB 4.0.0.3000. Here are some of the questions

that I'm looking

for answers to.

1. Do RAW files have their own color gamut that is

different from the

one that Nikon has assigned and if so what is it?

2. If I tell Photoshop to ignore the tagged profile

what would be a

good profile to assign to a RAW file that would allow

me to have a

wide latitude for editing my image. Please keep in

mind that my

output is usually ink-jet and sometimes traditional

chemical

processes.

On 16 Oct 2003 12:42:49 -0700, (E. Hand)
wrote:

2. If I tell Photoshop to ignore the tagged profile what would be a good profile to assign to a RAW file that would allow me to have a wide latitude for editing my image. Please keep in mind that my output is usually ink-jet and sometimes traditional chemical processes.

For printing, Adobe1998 converts to CMYK better than sRGB. (And your printer will convert internally - you don't have to do that).

For web sites/monitor viewing then sRGB is a better colour space as it reflects the monitor colour space. However, because Adobe1998 copes with both viewing *and* printing, it's better to use that as your working colour space. Just remember that it has a wider gamut than sRGB.

--

Hecate

veni, vidi, relinqui

"Hecate" wrote in message
[snip]

For printing, Adobe1998 converts to CMYK better than sRGB. [snip]

Just out of curiosity, why is that? Is the gamut a better match, or does it have something to do with a "grey-balanced" RGB colorspace?

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i

For printing, Adobe1998 converts to CMYK better than sRGB. [snip]

Just out of curiosity, why is that? Is the gamut a better match, or does it have something to do with a "grey-balanced" RGB colorspace?

-----
Not wishing to speak for Hecate
(she certainly does that well enough for herself)
--
There are profiles for input and output
these are basically "storage spaces" defining a device. --
Then there are working spaces
they are written to facilitate the "moving" / converting of files from one profile to another.
--
There is a science there - where each part does its particular task. Not unlike applications used for printing where you have vector design apps - bitmap manipulation apps - layout apps.

The idea is to use the correct tool for the job.
(Grey balance would be part of that equation)

MSD

MSD ...

I am new to shooting in RAW files with my digital camera. I would like to get ideas on how to color manage these files in Photoshop. I have noticed that the Nikon driver automatically tags RAW files with Nikon sRGB 4.0.0.3000. Here are some of the questions that I'm looking for answers to.

1. Do RAW files have their own color gamut that is different from the one that Nikon has assigned and if so what is it?

2. If I tell Photoshop to ignore the tagged profile what would be a good profile to assign to a RAW file that would allow me to have a wide latitude for editing my image. Please keep in mind that my output is usually ink-jet and sometimes traditional chemical processes.

-----

http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/tips/phs7rbrawbasics/movie_ qt1.html

Thank you, very helpfull.

"MSD" wrote in message

i

For printing, Adobe1998 converts to CMYK better than sRGB. [snip]

Just out of curiosity, why is that? Is the gamut a better match, or

does it

have something to do with a "grey-balanced" RGB colorspace?

-----
Not wishing to speak for Hecate
(she certainly does that well enough for herself)
--
There are profiles for input and output
these are basically "storage spaces" defining a device. --
Then there are working spaces
they are written to facilitate the "moving" / converting of files from one profile to another.
--
There is a science there - where each part does its particular task. Not unlike applications used for printing where you have vector design apps - bitmap manipulation apps - layout apps.
The idea is to use the correct tool for the job.
(Grey balance would be part of that equation)

Boy, Mike, I normally follow you pretty well but you kinda lost me on this one. I'll re-read it in the morning!

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This is what I just read about Photoshop CS - the new ps for mac:
a.. Integrated digital camera raw file support - Get truer, higher quality
output by working with the complete raw data files from most major digital camera models.

"E. Hand" wrote in message

I am new to shooting in RAW files with my digital camera. I would like to get ideas on how to color manage these files in Photoshop. I have noticed that the Nikon driver automatically tags RAW files with Nikon sRGB 4.0.0.3000. Here are some of the questions that I'm looking for answers to.

1. Do RAW files have their own color gamut that is different from the one that Nikon has assigned and if so what is it?

2. If I tell Photoshop to ignore the tagged profile what would be a good profile to assign to a RAW file that would allow me to have a wide latitude for editing my image. Please keep in mind that my output is usually ink-jet and sometimes traditional chemical processes.

"Flycaster" wrote in message

"MSD" wrote in message

i

For printing, Adobe1998 converts to CMYK better than sRGB. [snip]

Just out of curiosity, why is that? Is the gamut a better match, or

does it

have something to do with a "grey-balanced" RGB colorspace?

-----
Not wishing to speak for Hecate
(she certainly does that well enough for herself)
--
There are profiles for input and output
these are basically "storage spaces" defining a device. --
Then there are working spaces
they are written to facilitate the "moving" / converting of files from one profile to another.
--
There is a science there - where each part does its particular task. Not unlike applications used for printing where you have vector design apps - bitmap manipulation apps - layout apps.
The idea is to use the correct tool for the job.
(Grey balance would be part of that equation)

Never mind, I looked it up this morning over a cup of coffee. You threw me with the "storage space-working space" part - as I already knew, neither is a device profile, they are both working spaces, and they are both grey-balanced (this last part, however, I was unsure of.)

Rather, as I suspected, the issue is *gamut.* Per Blatner/Fraser, from "RW PS 6", pg. 153:

"sRGB has a serious mismatch with the gamut of offset printing. It clips the cyans, and those blues and greens adjacent to cyan, quite drastically. With a typical sheetfed printing setup, you'll never get more than 75% cyan ink when you convert an RGB image in sRGB to CMYK."

Anyway, thanks. I now know something I have already read 100 times, and am very likely to forget again. ;)

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On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 09:11:41 -0700, "Flycaster" wrote:

Never mind, I looked it up this morning over a cup of coffee. You threw me with the "storage space-working space" part - as I already knew, neither is a device profile, they are both working spaces, and they are both grey-balanced (this last part, however, I was unsure of.)
Rather, as I suspected, the issue is *gamut.* Per Blatner/Fraser, from "RW PS 6", pg. 153:

"sRGB has a serious mismatch with the gamut of offset printing. It clips the cyans, and those blues and greens adjacent to cyan, quite drastically. With a typical sheetfed printing setup, you'll never get more than 75% cyan ink when you convert an RGB image in sRGB to CMYK."
Anyway, thanks. I now know something I have already read 100 times, and am very likely to forget again. ;)

As I was about to say...oh, never mind. Yes, that's the answer. If you use the Adobe 1998 you get less clipping as the colour space is a better match for CMYK. Which is what MSD said...I think ;-)

--

Hecate

veni, vidi, relinqui

[re Adobe RGB and CMYK gamuts]

Flycaster wrote:

Never mind, I looked it up this morning over a cup of coffee. You threw me with the "storage space-working space" part - as I already knew, neither is a device profile, they are both working spaces, and they are both grey-balanced (this last part, however, I was unsure of.)

Rather, as I suspected, the issue is *gamut.* Per Blatner/Fraser, from "RW PS 6", pg. 153:

"sRGB has a serious mismatch with the gamut of offset printing. It clips the cyans, and those blues and greens adjacent to cyan, quite drastically. With a typical sheetfed printing setup, you'll never get more than 75% cyan ink when you convert an RGB image in sRGB to CMYK."
Anyway, thanks. I now know something I have already read 100 times, and am very likely to forget again. ;)

It's interesting to note that Bruce RGB, takes the opposite tack, and occupies a smaller gamut to better match the overall footprint of inkjet-based CMYK better. The object of this strategy
is reducing the number of unprintable RGB color values, which makes sense for an inkjet that can accept only RGB data.

BTW, there is an entirely different tactic to using more of the CMYK gamut: do your color corrections in that space, rather than correcting in RGB and using a profile that is based on a compromise. This is how the very best printed images are done.

If you want a quick comparison of the gamuts of the various color spaces installed on your system, you may be interested in this downloadable "gamut viewer" Lab image from curvemeister. Using it, you can easily compare the relative footprints of profiles such as Adobe RGB, sRGB, and SWOP Coated CMYK:
http://home.pacbell.net/geigy/tutorials/gamutviewer/index.ht m

Mike Russell
http://www.curvemeister.com
http://www.zocalo.net/~mgr
http://geigy.2y.net