Adobe RGB and Spyder

[melonheadphoto]

Alright, I have Adobe RGB set in camera and in photoshop. How should I use a Spyder2Pro to calibrate to Adobe RGB, because it does not give me that option?

[petert]

I think calibrating your monitor and the color-space of your images are mutually exclusive. I have the same calibration device and simply correct the color cast of the monitor. And, for the record, your computer monitor (sRGB) will not be able to display all the colors of your AdobeRGB captured image... at least that's my understanding. sRGB is a subset of AdobeRGB.

[billbunton]

Originally Posted by melonheadphoto

Alright, I have Adobe RGB set in camera and in photoshop. How should I use a Spyder2Pro to calibrate to Adobe RGB, because it does not give me that option?

You don't. You use the Spyder2Pro software to calibrate your monitor as neutral and linear as possible. It then proceeds to build a profile describing the monitor. This gets set as your monitor profile, and color managed programs like PS use that information to know how to display your images, whether they're in sRGB, Adobe RGB, or whatever.

[melonheadphoto]

Thanks for the info guys. So, tell me if what I did was correct. I went to Adobe's site and downloaded the Adobe RGB ICC profile and installed it in the Spyder software. Then I chose to use that profile (Adobe RGB) to calibrate to. Prior to this I used sRGB in camera, PS, and Spyder. However, now that I have everything on Adobe RGB the image looks different in XP's filmstrip viewer than it does in PS. What is causing this effect? And do I need to change anything?

[billbunton]

I still don't understand what you're trying to do. You don't calibrate a monitor to a profile or a color space. You calibrate a monitor to a given luminance, gamma and color temperature (and possibly contrast ratio). You then create a profile which describes the calibration results.

Your images _should_ look different in PS vs. XP's filmstrip viewer, since PS is color managed and XP's filmstrip viewer isn't.

[billbunton]

Is the SpyderPro software actually asking you for a color space to calibrate to? In thinking about it, I suppose it could be asking in order to get the color temp and gamma from the color space. If so, you should go ahead and use sRGB (which will give you gamma 2.2 and 6500K color temp). It should still be asking for a luminance value. If you're using a CRT use 80-90 cd/m2. For LCDs most of the software suggests 140 cd/m2, but I prefer to use 120.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by billbunton

Is the SpyderPro software actually asking you for a color space to calibrate to? In thinking about it, I suppose it could be asking in order to get the color temp and gamma from the color space. If so, you should go ahead and use sRGB (which will give you gamma 2.2 and 6500K color temp). It should still be asking for a luminance value. If you're using a CRT use 80-90 cd/m2. For LCDs most of the software suggests 140 cd/m2, but I prefer to use 120.

I've a SpyderPro and it dosen't ask for a color space.

[melonheadphoto]

I can either manually put in a target or select one off of a given list. See screen shot below:

[billbunton]

Okay, then it's trying to use the profile, if that's what you select, to determine the gamma, white point, luminance and contrast. I'd just use 2.2-6500, and white luminance of about 85 for a CRT, 120 for LCD.

If you set Adobe RGB as your color space in camera, and as your working space in PS, then the images are going to look washed-out when you view them with a non-color managed program. That's normal; for anything you're going to save out of PS for display on the web you need to convert (not assign) to sRGB.

Ian Lyons has some good tutorials and essays covering color management on his website http://www.computer-darkroom.com/

[melonheadphoto]

Thanks for all the great info Bill!

[billbunton]

You're welcome! I hope that gets you going; feel free to PM me (or post, of course) if you get stuck.

BTW, I tried to look at your website. Using firefox on a Mac all I get a black background, and down near the bottom some text about "best viewed at 1024x768" followed by some copyright and contact info.