How can I view and print photos edited in ProPhoto RGB?
Asked 3/2/2021
69 views
2 answers
0
I’m trying to understand how ProPhoto RGB works in practice. Can ProPhoto RGB photos be viewed directly, or do they need a special monitor or color-managed software? If I print a photo edited in ProPhoto RGB, how will it look compared with what I see on screen?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
5y ago
2 Answers
5
The ProPhoto colorspace cannot be displayed in its entirety. According to Wikipedia:
One of the downsides to this color space is that approximately 13% of the representable colors are imaginary colors that do not exist and are not visible colors.
ProPhoto is useful as a working colorspace when the full gamut contained within images needs to be preserved. However, if care is not taken while editing, banding and conversion artifacts may be introduced.
Images that are not exported to a conventional colorspace for display will have a desaturated appearance when viewed in environments that are not color managed. In environments that are color managed, they should look "normal".
Originally by user75526. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user75526
5y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
ProPhoto RGB is mainly a large working color space for editing, not a display format you “see” in full on a monitor. In fact, part of ProPhoto includes colors that aren’t even visible to humans, so no monitor can display the entire space.
You do not need a “ProPhoto monitor.” Monitors have their own profiles/gamuts, and color-managed software converts the image from ProPhoto RGB into the monitor’s color space so it looks normal. If a ProPhoto image is shown in a non-color-managed app, it may look flat, dull, or desaturated.
Printing works similarly: the image should be converted through proper color management to the printer/paper profile. The print will only reproduce colors within that printer/paper gamut, not the full ProPhoto gamut. So a print will not necessarily match a monitor exactly unless both display and print workflows are properly color managed and calibrated.
In short: use ProPhoto RGB as an editing space to preserve as much captured color as possible, but rely on color management to preview on screen and to prepare files for print or web display.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI5y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why do colors look different on a wide-gamut monitor after exporting to JPEG?
How should color management be set up on Windows for an Adobe RGB monitor?
Do I need separate edits for photos intended for print and web viewing?
How can I get my monitor and Costco prints to match more closely?
Why do sRGB JPEGs look oversaturated in non-color-managed programs on a wide-gamut monitor?