Different sort of techie - colours

[french frank]

Anyone who does any computer graphics &c:

I use the DigitalColor Meter, but what is the difference between Adobe RGB, Generic RGB, sRGB and native values, all of which give slightly different RGB readings? And if you're only working on images on one computer, does it matter which you use anyway? (NB I am not a Photoshopper - I use GIMP :-) )

[James Wonnacott]

Pleased to hear you're using the GIMP FF :-). I'm no expert but AFAIK sRGB is recommended for the GIMP.

[french frank]

Thanks - I follow blindly.

I have a sense that if I ask a question here I will understand the answer, whereas the internet can tell you more than you have time to study carefully, or need to know.

I find GIMP a neat little program though it took me a while to discover that with the Mavericks compatible version I had to Export As to get a jpeg. There was some glitch with .xcf so I was taking a screenshot as a .png instead which somehow didn't seem a very professional method

[amateur51]

Google Translate has been only minimally useful in helping me to understand this thread

[Frances_iom]

Thanks - I follow blindly.

I have a sense that if I ask a question here I will understand the answer, whereas the internet can tell you more than you have time to study carefully, or need to know.

a similar query arose on a techie board a few days ago - couple of refs

http://www.geofflawrence.com/color_space_srgb_adobe_rgb_1998.html

http://www.scratchapixel.com/lessons/3d-basic-lessons/lesson-5-colors-and-digital-images/displaying-images-to-the-screen/

if I understand correctly stick to sRGB unless you are in print industry or have to send images on for printing - I recall that some 20 yrs ago Macs and Windoze tended to render colours quite differenly and you need to adjust the gamma but this appears to have been now standardised

[french frank]

Thanks, v. interesting - and good to get two people giving the same answer.

I tried sRGB to adjust some background colour (it needed to tone better with another picture) and got a better result than last time, which was poor even though I was using the Color Meter for the match. Not sure why that should have been, but I'm content to have a solution!

[french frank]

Google Translate has been only minimally useful in helping me to understand this thread

RGB = red, green, blue. So the RGB indices for a particular shade give the relative amounts of the three colours that make up that shade, like mixing paints on a palette.

GIMP = free 'photoshop' program.

Beyond that, I don't understand either.

[Stunsworth]

They're colour spaces. This video might help...

http://www.lynda.com/Photoshop-tutorials/Defining-gamut-color-space/103678/112473-4.html

I use the Pro Photo colour space when I'm working in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop because it has a wide gamut - i.e. it has more colours in it than say sRGB. Most web browsers are not colour space aware, so it's always best to convert to sRGB before posting to Flickr etc.

[french frank]

The video is very interesting but it's 6th form and I'm only 1st form :-) (I don't work with cameras or printing at all, but I can see the possibilities).