Adobe RGB vs sRGB

Over the course of the next few months I will be writing about color, offering some insight into what BIG Images likes to see in computer files, and why. This month I am discussing the difference between two color spaces: Adobe RGB and sRGB.

One of the most oft-debated topics I hear (and take part in) regarding color is which color space to use for images. Before I continue, let me just say that I do not intend to answer this question for all time, but I will offer you the opinion of a professional printer, and tell you why I believe as I do.

BIG Images prefers files in the Adobe RGB color space.

Keep in mind that BIG Images is all about getting the best possible print that technology can offer. To do this we need the best possible input into our workflow. Simply put — the more color you give us, the more we can print. This is why BIG Images prefers files in the Adobe RGB color space (there are a few exceptions, but those are beyond the scope of this article). Adobe RGB is simply larger than sRGB, allowing more color information to be stored in an image. To illustrate this I have included a visual comparison of Adobe RGB and sRGB. The white, outer shape, is Adobe RGB and the smaller shape inside it is sRGB. This demonstrates that Adobe RGB is physically larger and can capture more color information than sRGB.

Adobe RGB is the outer, white shape, and sRGB is the inner, colored shape. You can clearly see the areas where Adobe RGB captures more color than sRGB.

This image demonstrates the difference between Adobe RGB and sRGB. Click on the image to toggle between the Adobe RGB and sRGB version.

So, lets apply this to a photograph. Here as an example photo saved from Photoshop. This image was saved out as two versions, one with the Adobe RGB color space applied, the other with sRGB applied. By clicking it you can toggle the image between Adobe RGB and sRGB to see the difference between the two color spaces. You should notice a distinct difference in the saturation — the Adobe RGB version has more intense colors. This is exactly what you would notice when printing this image at BIG Images — your Adobe RGB images will be more saturated.

Don’t get to excited though. You cannot simply convert an under-saturated image to Adobe RGB and expect it to look more saturated. This is like trying to take a very small web graphic and enlarging it to print on a 4’ x 8’ banner. The end result will be of a lower quality.

And this leads me to the topic of next month’s article. Now you know why I like Adobe RGB for large format printing. Next month I will offer a few workflow tips to help you take advantage of this larger color space to produce better quality prints.

Article written by Jon Beebe.