Color
space is a vey useful and widely applied tool in image editing programs and
file formats while the majority of people may not be aware of its use. Generally
speaking, a color space is a tool which is of great help for people to
understand the color capabilities of a particular device or digital file for it
shows people the specific organization of colors. It combines with physical
device profiling, which enables it to reproduce representations of color, no
matter it is analog or digital representation. When reproducing color on
another device, color spaces will clearly show whether the shadow/highlight
detail and color saturation can be retained and whether they have been damaged
or to what degree they have been damaged in such process.
There
are many different types of color space which also have different applications
accordingly. The common types and applications are as follows:
Device-dependent
spaces can show color relative to some other reference space. With this
representation, you are able to get some very useful information about the
subset of colors. These can be shown when you use a specific monitor or printer
or can be captured when you use a specific digital camera or scanner.
Device-independent
spaces can show color in absolute terms. Generally speaking, these will be used
as universal reference colors. As a result, when comparing other devices, they
can be used as a backdrop. Otherwise, these color spaces will not be seen by
users for few of them are aware that these color spaces are interacted with the
photo editing process.
The range
of colors is restricted to a standard color palette in image editing programs
and file formats by the working space. Adobe RGB 1998 and sRGB IEC61966-2.1 are
the two most widely utilized working spaces in digital photography.
