# Wedding album - RGB or CMYK?



## camelina (May 28, 2007)

Just wondering should my images in Photoshop be in RGB or CMYK?

Is PPI and DPI the same? If I make the photos 300 pixels per inch, is that OK?

thanks.


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## Big Mike (May 28, 2007)

Welcome to the forum.



> Just wondering should my images in Photoshop be in RGB or CMYK?


Where will they be printed?  If the printer wants CMYK...then go with that.  I think most printers are just RGB now.



> Is PPI and DPI the same? If I make the photos 300 pixels per inch, is that OK?


PPI is pixels per inch, and is how the image will be represented on the computer screen.  DPI is a printer setting, referring to how many dots per inch the printer will lay down.  

You can use the PPI number to determine how large of a print you could make.  The usual standard is 300 PPI.  

Really, the important number to watch is the actual size of the image, in pixels.  You can then use the 300 PPI to determine your print size.  So, for example, if you want an 8x10 print...you would want a file that is 2400x3000 pixels.


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## camelina (May 29, 2007)

Thanks for that.

Just wondering also, do we use sRGB or Adobe RGB in photoshop? which is better? why?


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## EOS_JD (May 29, 2007)

camelina said:


> Thanks for that.
> 
> Just wondering also, do we use sRGB or Adobe RGB in photoshop? which is better? why?


 
Do a google search.....  Here's one link.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/sRGB-AdobeRGB1998.htm


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## smyth (May 29, 2007)

Big Mike said:


> Welcome to the forum.
> 
> 
> Where will they be printed? If the printer wants CMYK...then go with that. I think most printers are just RGB now.
> ...


 
I don't know much about photo lab printing, but are you sure? I know a lot of consumer grade printers are CMYK as are printing presses for Newspapers.


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## Garbz (May 30, 2007)

Adobe RGB and many alternatives like PhotoPro are better. BUT. And there is always a but in this world of compromises. You will need to keep the profile the same from start to end. That is load it off the camera into a colour profile, everytime you save it as a JPEG for instance you will need to make sure to embed the colour profile. Every time you open it you will need support for that profile, and when you print it the printer needs to be able to translate that profile into it's own.

If you for instance save something in PhotoPro and post it on the web or print it on a printer or lab which don't support it, which I have done a few times by accident, the colours will look bland and at worst wrong. It's also interesting to note that many printers can't display the full PhotoPro gammut even with support. Some can't even do sRGB. And a computer monitor definitely can't do PhotoPro. 

So there it is if you are prepaired to deal with the complexity, and can find a use for it, then by all means go for it. I personally convert all JPEGs to sRGB when I am done processing, for me it is not worth the extra hassle.


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## Christie Photo (Jun 5, 2007)

IF you're printing on an inkjet printer or sending out to a photo lab, or printing at your local drug store, RGB is what you want.

IF the image is to be included in a brochure or magazine, or anything printed on an offset press, you'll need CYMK.  I recommend you do all editing and resizing before converting to CYMK and then save as a new file.

Pete


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## NJMAN (Jun 5, 2007)

> IF you're printing on an inkjet printer or sending out to a photo lab, or printing at your local drug store, RGB is what you want.
> 
> IF the image is to be included in a brochure or magazine, or anything printed on an offset press, you'll need CYMK. I recommend you do all editing and resizing before converting to CYMK and then save as a new file.


 
Agree. Commercial print shops and print houses only accept art rendered in CMYK, for professionally printed pieces in magazines, glossy marketing slicks, and such.  They use printing presses with 4 color plates for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.  

Any other consumer printer (inkjet or laser) will interpret color in RGB and print in RGB, even if its a more professional consumer printer such as an Epson, HP, or Canon with 8 ink cartridges (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow, matte black, and photo black).


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