[Continued from Part 1]
In the previous entry in this blog, I discussed some of the theory involved in
choosing a
color space. Let's look at my current workflow as an example.

My Choices
I choose to use an AdobeRGB (camera)>sRGB (convert to sRGB in Photoshop)>sRGB
(add
an sRGB profile to send to print) workflow for what I believe are sensible
reasons based on
my long experience in digital imaging.

I capture in AdobeRGB for a few reasons:

*I have a high-bit digital image sensor that captures at least 12-bits -- or 16
times the
number of colors captured in 8-bit images. With 16 times the number of colors as
8-bit,
most or all of the 8-bit sRGB colors will be captured If a few are not, I'll
never know.
*The added range may come in handy at some point when technology becomes
enhanced
and if not, conversion to 8-bit RGB for output should not create much unusable
color.

On the other hand, I work in sRGB as a working space for several reasons:

*I like the concept of working with color in ranges that can be properly
displayed on my
monitor.
*I seldom output to CMYK, but instead use light-process (LED/color laser)
printing.
*The process and service I use all the time requests sRGB files, and tests with
AdobeRGB
have proven the service's request to be right--for this closed system.
*sRGB is a broadly-used 'default' color standard, that even in systems where
profiling fails
to make a good translation, the results are within a predictable range. AdobeRGB
images
where the profile is dropped will usually desaturate drastically. I don't want
that problem
for the small potential benefit.
*I am not sure that I can define it as a benefit when "better images" would mean
NOT
matching what I see on screen...I'd have to define it as luck.

I print to light process as it is more efficient than using ink, and the results
are closer to
what I see on my monitor, as well as more durable.

My closed process (closed, meaning I just about always do the same thing) ending
with a
need for RGB dictates most of the rest of the workflow, and my decided
preference for
seeing all the color I work on, solidifies the outline. One of the keys to any
successful
workflow is testing, which means taking an image and trying to process it both
ways, and
seeing if the result is better either way. "Better" to me can only be defined by
the ability to
match the screen...and that really eliminates AdobeRGB as a benefit, as if I
can't see the
colors that Adobe RGB can produce, any benefit of additional color – beyond what
I see on
screen -- would naturally not match.

All that said, if you are more adventurous than me and don't mind working on
color that
you will not see on your monitor, an AdobeRGB workflow may be adopted and used
with
success mostly in a closed workflow where results go to a CMYK printer. However,
should
the AdobeRGB workflow be adopted, you will need to be diligent about following
the
process and being sure the profiles are not dropped, or the result will be a
sometimes
serious desaturation and compression of dynamic range. This happens because when
a
profile is dropped (or if it is not included on save), devices will likely
assume an sRGB
profile, or something very close, and remap the colors in the image: the
'broader' range of
colors is mashed down into the 'smaller' space and the result is less impressive
than just
starting with sRGB and sticking with it. Also, images with AdobeRGB profiles
posted to the
web either using browsers that do not recognize profiles, or which drop profiles
as part of
processing will result in the same desaturation and loss of dynamic range.

Why Do I choose This?
My conclusion to this point is that I can certainly get an AdobeRGB workflow to
produce
results, but I am not convinced that these are 'better' – and I am not convinced
that the
added risk of color trouble is worth the potential gain. AdobeRGB images may be
brighter
in print, and in some cases may show a difference, but that surprise may not be
accurate
in the sense that what you see on your monitor is NOT what you get in print.
Things may
change in the future, but now, with the broad popularity of the RGB workflow
(having
shifted with the advent of digital cameras and inkjet printing conversions),
sRGB seems a
more stable and reliable flow. That may change at some time in the future.

Your Choices
If you have read all the way through this entry and the last, hopefully the
sense of this
comes through. You can get results with either color space –- or other color
spaces not
mentioned. But what you choose to use needs to make sense to you, to where your
images
originate, the processes you choose, and those choices need to blend with your
workflow
rather than being considered as independent. My considered opinion is that my
workflow
is best –- for ME. Yours may be different, but hopefully you have made your
choices for
good reason. If you have not calibrated your monitor, have no real concept of
how to make
the best corrections to your images, and don't make other sensible choices in
your digital
imaging, don't be quick to blame your color space. There is more to making good
images
than choosing a color space.

Those are all considerations for a latter blog entry.

Postscript
If you have enjoyed this entry or found it useful, you might like my new book:
The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book [http://aps8.com/taplb.html]. It will be out
in July of 2007!