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XNykiX
XNykiXCommunity Member
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Manage Lightroom in Adobe RGD rather than ProPhoto?

Aug 21, 2010 1:46 AM

Hi there,

 

I've recently been using Lightroom 3 and have been altering photos in the RAW adjustments in the Develop module and have realised that Lightroom shows all histograms and values in the ProPhoto colour space. When I export to Photoshop CS5 and view the images in an Adobe RGB colour space and profile, they look slightly washed out/dull. I realise this is because ProPhoto is a massive colour space and Adobe RGB is smaller there for there will be less tonal value, but is there any better way to manage this or am I able to use Lightroom in an Adobe RGB space?

 

Any help appreciated

  • Dorin Nicolaescu-Musteață
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    Dorin Nicolaescu-Musteață,
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    Aug 21, 2010 2:07 AM
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    You should not look at them in Photoshop in the adobe RGB space. Use whatever space is the picture in.

     

    Normally you should not change with the color space settings... Photoshop just uses the space that has been set in Lightroom for external editing. Why mess with the settings?

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  • Pete Marshall
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    Pete Marshall,
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    Aug 21, 2010 2:25 AM
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    LR uses its own internal space. This is a version of ProPhoto RGB, but is not ProPhoto RGB as it has an sRGB curve applied, (internally its called Mellisa after one of the developers ). When opening an image from LR into PS it would usually be best to set ProPhoto as your working colour space to get the best out of the image, using LR to convert to either sRGB or Adobe RGB or printer profiles on export from LR or prior to using save as in PS if creating a seperate file.

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  • Marek Mularczyk
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    Marek Mularczyk,
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    Aug 21, 2010 2:25 AM
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    To make sure you use the same colour space in Photoshop go to your Colour Settings in Photoshop and set your default RGB to ProPhotoRGB

     

    Or if you usually use Adobe RGB/sRGB set preferences to Ask when opening/pasting images in different colour spaces - that's what I use so I can have a choice - it will give you a dialog box where you can choose which colour space to use.

     

     

    colourSettings.jpg

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  • XNykiX
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    XNykiX,
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    Aug 21, 2010 2:34 AM
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    I use Adobe RGB colour space in PS because when I print, this is the profile that is required. And if I'm uploading to web, I convert to sRGB. I've never used ProPhoto before for anything so am at a bit of a loss at this point if I want to continue to use Lightroom. If I set my workspace in PS as ProPhoto and import files from LR as imbedded with ProPhoto colour profile, and then work on the files in ProPhoto, are the colours still going to be ok when I convert files to Adobe RGB in order to print?

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  • XNykiX
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    XNykiX,
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    Aug 21, 2010 2:38 AM
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    Pete, so you're saying to use ProPhoto workspace in PS in order to retain full colour that I see in LR, and import files from LR into PS as ProPhoto profiled, and then when I want to print I should export from LR in Adobe RGB rather than "saving as" from PS?

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  • Pete Marshall
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    Pete Marshall,
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    Aug 21, 2010 4:58 AM
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    For the best quality, open from LR into PS using Pro Photo colour space and 16 bit Tiff (or Psd if you prefer). When finished save (do not use save as as this will create yet another file) the file will be added automatically to your LR catalog along with the original. When you require a file from LR use export, select the size, sharpening (the output sharpen for print in LR is very good) and colour space in the export dialog. Or better still if sending files for printing use the print dialog and export as jpg.

    I would assume your printer is applying their own profile to the final file as Adobe RGB is wider than most CYMK printers can deal with, you could also ask for the correct colour profile and use this in the print module.

    Whilst in PS you can softproof your file in any colour space you wish, so you can see how the colours will reproduce.

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