TechNote (Archived)

JPEG image from digital camera has sRGB profile instead of Adobe RGB (1998) (Photoshop 7.x)

Issue

When you open a JPEG image from a digital camera in Adobe Photoshop 7.0, the image's color profile is sRGB instead of Adobe RGB (1998).

Solutions

Do one of the following:

Solution 1

Install the Ignore Exif Color Space Utilities (Windows) or the Ignore Exif Color Space plug-in (Mac OS). You can download it from Adobe's Web site at www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html.

Solution 2

Assign the Adobe RGB (1998) profile in Photoshop:

Note: When you assign the color profile in Photoshop, the color or lightness of the JPEG image may change. However, assigning the correct color profile enables Photoshop to represent the image's actual color data, ensuring that the printed image matches the on-screen image as closely as possible.

1. Open the JPEG image in Photoshop.

2. If the Embedded Profile Mismatch dialog box appears, choose Discard the Embedded Profile (Don't Color Manage).

3. Choose Image > Mode > Assign Profile.

4. Do one of the following:

-- If the second option in the Assign Profile dialog box is Working RGB: Adobe RGB (1998), select it.

-- If the second option in the Assign Profile dialog box is anything other than Working RGB: Adobe RGB (1998), choose Adobe RGB (1998) from the Profile pop-up menu.

5. Click OK.

Additional Information

Most digital cameras use the Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) format to store information in image files, including JPEG files. The EXIF format is limited to two color space tags--sRGB and Uncalibrated RGB. Most digital cameras attach the sRGB EXIF color space tag to JPEG files, but they don't embed a color profile in the JPEG file. Because the camera doesn't embed a profile in the JPEG file, Photoshop reads the EXIF data and opens the JPEG file into the sRGB color space.

Installing the Ignore Exif Color Space Utility (Windows) or the Ignore EXIF Color Space plug-in (Mac OS) instructs Photoshop 7.0 to ignore the color space specified in EXIF metadata. Instead, Photoshop 7.0 presents a dialog box when opening an image and asks which profile it should assign. Photoshop continues to ignore the EXIF color space setting in files unless you do the following:

-- Run Respect EXIF Color Space, which is included with the Exif Color Space Utilities (Windows)

-- Remove the plug-in and restart Photoshop (Mac OS)

For more information about color management in Photoshop, see chapters 3 and 4 of the Adobe Photoshop 7.0 User Guide.

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