Is there a tool for creating a web gallery under windows, that will protect the image colorspace and not default to the sRGB space? I have yet to find anything, and as I never work in sRGB this presents a big problem as all the images have to be re-worked once they are dropped to sRGB.

Thanks
Paul C

If I understand your question, you're thinking of putting images on the web in something other than sRGB? That would work only if you knew that all viewers had browsers that could handle that level of color management. Few can even handle sRGB...

Conversion to sRGB might require other changes under controlled conditions, but the web is a much coarser environment. Generally, you have to pay that price.

And, don't forget, few viewers will have calibrated displays anyway.

--Marc

I think that the problem is that all but one browser for Windows is ignorant of color management at this time.

Safari for Windows is color managed. Windoze IE isn't. The current version of Firefox isn't although I think its slated for version 3.

FireFox is too, RC1 was released today. You have to invoke the color management settings which is odd. Type "about:config" on the address bar on Firefox without the quotes, filter for Color to find the gfx.color_management.enabled;true (by double clicking on it). Quit and restart the app. Done.

Thanks all, that is great news on Firefox. I have upgraded and will take a look at my temp gallery under the new version.

Paul C

But do you get the point that it doesn't matter what you see on your computer? It's what the visitor is using that is important. Stick to sRGB.

John

No one's suggesting not using sRGB. Even using that, without a color managed browser and profiled displays, what anyone else sees from the same RGB values can range a great deal.

Andrew, from the original poster's response ("I have upgraded and will take a look at my temp gallery under the new version."), it looks like he does want to continue using something other than sRGB because he'll be able to see it colour managed on Firefox 3.

John

Yup, that be a bad idea. Its "bad enough" in sRGB let alone something else.

Add in that 80dpi is about the maximum that you can reasonably see on a monitor, it's nearly worthless to even bother with such minor concerns. Just make a nice snapshot of the photo and forget about it. Browsers render everything like junk anyways.

Actually, I feel it's a huge concern, if you use custom color profiles. Anytime you take a image from a custom profile (J H Holmes for example) or just from Prophoto or Adobe sRGB 1998 down to sRGB you lose a ton of color, range etc. You basically have to rework the entire image and even then you won't get it to be the same.

I agree that most people viewing don't have color managed monitors etc. but if their browser will support a color profile besides sRGB, then that is a big deal for me. Most Art Directors/designers I have worked with over the past few years understand that they need to look at images I have sent them in a icc color aware software, not a default windows photo browser. But with a web gallery, I realize it's a crap shoot and you can't control what it being used on the other end.

I just didn't want to rework the images, but see the points made here and agree, that it's best for now to stay with sRGB as long as I am working the web from windows.

Paul C

Well yes, you "lose" a ton of color due to the huge disconnect between the gamut of the color spaces. But you do that with any color space conversion (going out to print).

As for the rework, never seen it. Not going working space to working space. For one, the gamut of most users is at or about sRGB. So the loss isn't visible nor for that matter were the colors that exceeded display gamut. I don't see anything alarming going Adobe RGB to sRGB on an Adobe RGB display either. There's a visual difference in some saturated colors, but nothing that would warrant the need to work anything, how could you, the colors that were out of gamut are out of gamut?

You don't get the same results because you need to tailer the RGB numbers, the color space for the device. Its true if you go sRGB or ProPhoto RGB out to a printer. Or if you go wider gamut working space to smaller gamut for the web. But a huge problem? I don't see it.

Are you currently viewing your web gallery on a wide gamut montor? Otherwise they are being converted to sRGB for display. Thus they would look the same if converted and posted as sRGB images. And how many of your clients have wide gamut monitors?

Please correct me if I am missing something.

By the way I have a wide gamut monitor and I use the color managed version of Firefox, but I still post all my photos as sRGB.