Choosing a color space for Photoshop

Choosing a color space for Photoshop


Continuing with our recommended steps for color management, you’ll use the Color Settings dialog to set the color space for Photoshop. If you want to get up and running quickly by establishing Adobe RGB as the color space without wading through all the options in the Color Settings dialog, you can make one simple preset choice by following the fi rst set of instructions below — that is, if you use the program primarily to produce images for print output on a commercial or color inkjet printer and you’ve followed our instructions for color management thus far.

To choose a color settings preset:

1. Choose Edit > Color Settings (Ctrl-Shift-K/Cmd-Shift-K). Th e Color Settings dialog opens(A, next page).

2. Choose Settings: North America Prepress 2readers residing outside North America,
choose an equivalent for your output device and geographic location). Th is preset changes the RGB working space to Adobe RGB (1998),and sets all the color management policies to the safe choice of Preserve Embedded Profi les so each fi le you open in Photoshop will keep its own profi le.

3. Click OK.
If you want to explore the Color Settings dialog in more depth, follow these instructions instead. Pick and choose among the options, depending on your
output requirements.
To choose color settings options:
1. Choose Edit > Color Settings (Ctrl-Shift-K/Cmd-Shift-K). Th e Color Settings dialog opens(A, next page).

2. From the Settings menu, choose one of these presets, depending on your output needs:
Monitor Color sets the RGB working space to your display profi le. Th is is a good choice for video output, but not for print output.
North America General Purpose 2 meets the requirements for screen and print output in North America. All profi le warnings are off .North America Newspaper manages color for output on newsprint paper stock.North America Prepress 2 manages color to
conform with common press conditions in North America. Th e default RGB color space
that is assigned to this setting is Adobe RGB.
When CMYK documents are opened, their values are preserved.

North America Web/Internet is designed for online output. All RGB images are converted to the sRGB color space.
3. Th e Working Spaces settings control how RGB and CMYK colors are treated in a document that lacks an embedded profi le. You can either leave these settings as they are or choose other options (the RGB options are discussed below).
For the CMYK setting, ask your output service provider which working space to choose.
We recommend choosing one of these RGB color spaces, depending on your output needs:
Monitor RGB [current display profi le] sets the RGB working space to your display profi le, and is useful if you know that other applications you’ll be using for your project don’t support color management. Keep in mind, however,that if you share fi les that use your monitor profi le (as the color space) with another user,
their monitor profi le will be substituted for the RGB working space, and this may undermine the color consistency that you’re aiming for.ColorSync RGB (Mac OS only) matches the Photoshop RGB space to the space that’s specifi ed in the Apple ColorSync Utility. If you share this confi guration with another user, it will use the ColorSync space that’s specifi ed in their system.
Adobe RGB 1998 contains a wide range of colors and is useful when converting RGB
images to CMYK. You may have gotten our drift by now that this option is recommended for print output but not for online output.
ProPhoto RGB contains a very wide range of colors and is useful for output to high-end inkjet and dye sublimation printers.sRGB IEC619662.1 is a good choice for Web
output, as it refl ects the settings on the average computer display. Many hardware and software manufacturers use this as the default space forscanners, low-end printers, and software.

4. Click OK.
➤ Th e Adobe RGB (1998) color space, which is recommended for print output, includes more colors in the printable CMYK gamut than the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color space, which is designed for online output. Although sRGB IEC61966-2.1 is the default listing on the Working Spaces: RGB menu in the Color Settings dialog, it can spell disaster for print output.