The Lightroom RGB

space
The internal Lightroom RGB space explained

Lightroom uses its own special internal RGB space when calculat-
ing image adjustments and another special type of RGB viewing
space when it renders the images in the Develop module. This
article goes into detail about why these RGB spaces have been
designed the way they are and how they provide better editing
and viewing when working in the Develop module.
 This PDF is given away free to readers of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom book and is not intended for resale or distribution.

The Lightroom RGB space NOTE

As you have probably gathered by now, there are no RGB workspace color Although it isn’t officially named
settings options in Lightroom as there are in Photoshop. You have to bear in mind as such, I tend to call the Lightroom
here that Photoshop’s ICC-based color management system was introduced at a edit space Lightroom RGB. Mark

time when color management was not so well understood and it was thought Hamburg had suggested it might be
more appropriate to call it “bastard-
necessary to incorporate the new, ICC color management system in a way that
ized RGB” since the space is using
would satisfactorily allow Photoshop users to accommodate their existing non-ICC
ProPhoto RGB chromaticities, but
color managed workflows. At the same time, the RGB workspaces that were with a gamma of 1.0 instead of 1.8.
recommended at the time for use in Photoshop were mostly quite conservative. Meanwhile, the Lightroom viewing
space uses the same ProPhoto RGB
Lightroom has largely been freed from these constraints and it is therefore
chromaticities but with an sRGB tone
safer these days to assume that most photographers are now working with response curve. Melissa Gaul, who
RGB files that have embedded profiles. Since Lightroom is mainly intended as was the QE manager for Lightroom,
a tool for editing digital capture images, these photos will mostly be imported suggested this space should be
into Lightroom either as profiled JPEGs or as raw files (in which case the Adobe called Melissa RGB since all RGB
Camera Raw color engine knows how to interpret the colors, based on the spaces to date have been named
after men!
embedded white balance information). If an imported RGB image happens to be
missing a profile, Lightroom assumes the profile to be sRGB and assigns it when
performing the image processing calculations.

All Develop module image processing in Lightroom is carried out using the
Lightroom RGB space. This means that if you work with single-channel, grayscale
images in Lightroom, these are in fact edited in RGB. With Lab mode images, here
too the Lab mode data is converted to RGB when it is processed in Lightroom
(although the master file remains in Lab mode). The same goes for CMYK
files—the master files remain in CMYK, but any Develop module editing is carried
out in RGB.

Lightroom carries out the image processing calculations in its own RGB space,
which uses the ProPhoto RGB coordinates but has a gamma of 1.0 instead of 1.8.
The 1.0 gamma has been chosen with raw image processing in mind, because
raw files all have a gamma of 1.0 and Lightroom can therefore process the raw
images in their native gamma without needing to convert them to a gamma of
say, 1.8 or 2.2. Keeping Lightroom’s image processing in the native gamma of
the raw capture files is a better way to work because Lightroom processes the
raw data directly without applying any gamma conversions to the decompressed/
demosaiced raw data. Also, Lightroom can achieve smoother blending when you
perform certain types of image processing adjustments using 1.0 gamma.

For all non-raw images, as long as the image you are editing has a profile
attached, Lightroom recognizes this, preserves the master file in its original RGB
space and uses this space to calculate the histogram and generate the catalog
image previews that are used throughout Lightroom. For the Develop module
processing and previews however, Lightroom carries out these calculations in the
Lightroom RGB space. If an image is missing a profile, Lightroom assumes the

THE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM BOOK 1

 This PDF is given away free to readers of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom book and is not intended for resale or distribution.

image should be in sRGB whenever it carries out an on-the-fly conversion to the

Lightroom RGB space for the Develop module image processing. Note: Lightroom NOTE
does not actually assign a profile to an unprofiled master. RGB images can be exported as
rendered pixel images using the
The ProPhoto RGB coordinates describe a color space that’s so massive it includes standard ProPhoto RGB, Adobe RGB,
colors that are invisible to the human eye. So the gamut of ProPhoto RGB is or sRGB color spaces. A ProPhoto
certainly large enough to include every possible color that a digital camera can RGB export is capable of preserving
capture, which means that the RGB space used by Lightroom never clips impor- all the color information that was
captured in the original raw file after
tant colors when carrying out its calculations. Also, bear in mind that the image
it has been processed in Lightroom.
processing is carried out mostly in 16-bits per channel (some specific processing is
This can prove useful when making
even done in 32-bits) and because Lightroom uses a 16-bit RGB edit space, is able
high-end print outputs where you
to preserve all of the levels that a digital camera can capture. For example, a typi- need to preserve rich color detail.
cal digital SLR can capture up to 12-bits of levels data per channel. When a raw
Adobe RGB is a more commonly used
file from one of these cameras is edited in Lightroom, the 16-bit edit space is able RGB space among photographers
to process the raw image data without losing any of the levels information. The and perhaps a safer choice if you are
deep-bit editing space should also allay any concerns about the risks of banding sending RGB images for others to
that might be caused by gaps in a color value representation between one level’s work with.

data point and the next. I have to say that even with an 8-bit edit space, these sRGB is a standardized RGB space
initial concerns have been overstated and it is safe to work with ProPhoto RGB, that is suitable for Web work and

even if the final destination space will be an 8-bits per channel image. But obvi- sending photos via email. It is also
a suitable “best guess“ choice if you
ously, if you are able to make all the principal image edits using all the captured
are unsure whether the recipient
levels data in a wide gamut RGB space (as you are when you work in Lightroom),
is using proper color management
then so much the better. or not.

But let’s now take a look at why raw images are in a linear gamma space to start Note that in Lightroom you can
with. All digital images, whether they are scans or captures from a digital camera, choose Other… in the Export dialog.
This takes you to the system profiles
contain data that is a linear representation of the light hitting the sensor. As
folder and allows you to convert
the light intensity doubles, a sensor records a brightness value that is two times
exported photos to any profile that is
higher. This all sounds logical enough, but when you actually view an image that stored in your computer ICC profiles
has been recorded in this way, you begin to realize that human vision perceives folder.
things quite differently to the way a sensor sees and records light. This is because,
unlike a scanner or camera sensor, our eyes compensate for increasing levels of
brightness in a nonlinear fashion, which is why we are able to distinguish shades
of tone over a wide dynamic range from the darkest shadows to the brightest
highlights. When the light levels double, our eyeballs do not literally record the
light levels hitting our retinas as being twice the brightness. Our human vision
system is able to adapt to widely changing light levels by constantly compensating
for such extremes in the light levels. So if we compare the way a sensor records
light and represents the captured image data, we see an image that looks very
dark, even though it may in fact be perfectly exposed and contain a full range of
usable tones from the shadows to the highlights. To get a normal digital capture
to look right to our eyes, the linear data must at some point be gamma corrected
(effectively lightened at the midpoint). Once a gamma curve has been applied
to the linear capture data, the captured image looks more representative of the
scene we perceived at the time the photograph was taken.

THE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM BOOK 2

 This PDF is given away free to readers of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom book and is not intended for resale or distribution.

RGB previews TIP

The previews you see in the Library module are saved as Adobe RGB JPEGs For a more detailed explanation
and these are stored in the preview cache that’s used to generate the catalog of working in linear gamma,
previews. However, the Develop module previews are based on image calculations download the “Raw Capture, Linear
carried out in the wide-gamut Lightroom RGB space which are filtered via an Gamma, and Exposure” white paper
sRGB tone response curve. Therefore, it is only the Develop module previews that written by Bruce Fraser (http://tiny.

will show you the most reliable color view of the image you are editing. This is cc/7QJLM).

also the reason why you may sometimes see slight color shifts or banding when
you switch between the Develop and Library modules. If you export photos from
Lightroom using a smaller gamut sRGB space you may again see some clipping
or shifting of colors. This is because the sRGB color gamut is significantly smaller
than the Adobe RGB, ProPhoto RGB or Lightroom RGB space (plus Lightroom
Tone Response curve), as seen in the Develop module.

With the Slideshow module, the raw file slideshow images use the Adobe RGB
space and non-raw files use the native RGB space for the image. With the Web
module, all images are automatically converted to sRGB when generating the
Web gallery previews. This is because sRGB is the most suitable space to use for
Web published images.

Tone curve response

There are clear advantages to working on raw data in a native, linear gamma
edit space, but a linear gamma space is not so good when it comes to making
direct image edit adjustments. When you edit an RGB image in Lightroom, there
are two things going on. First, the Develop controls used to carry out the image
processing do so filtered through the Lightroom RGB space plus an sRGB response
curve. As a result, the data points in the underlying Lightroom RGB edit space are
distributed more evenly so that the Basic and Tone Curve adjustments applied in
Lightroom correspond to a more balanced tone scale (the sRGB response curve
is also used to generate the histogram display and color readout values seen in
the Develop module). What you see in the histogram is effectively the Lightroom
ProPhoto RGB space in linear 1.0 gamma with an sRGB response curve applied
to it. Figure 1 shows a plot of the sRGB curve (in black), which matches closely
to the 2.2 gamma curve (shown in pink). I had to show this graph quite big so
you could see the subtle difference between these two curves. But note that the
sRGB curve rises steeply from 0,0 and away from clipping the blacks just a little
sooner than a pure 2.2 gamma curve—although the 2.2 curve hugs the y axis
high enough that several potential values very close to black (in the linear space)
are crushed to black. The sRGB curve then leans away from the y axis much
sooner and you maintain at least a tiny bit of differentiation between those very
dark values. So in the transformation from the linear space to the sRGB space, the
sRGB curve is just a bit less draconian in where it leaves values in the very dark
shadows.

THE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM BOOK 3

 This PDF is given away free to readers of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom book and is not intended for resale or distribution.

Figure 1 This graph shows a plot for the sRGB response curve (black) for the Lightroom
preview RGB space (also known as Melissa RGB), plotted against a standard 2.2 gamma
curve (pink) and a 1.8 gamma curve (blue). Note the description in the main body text,
which explains the subtle difference between the sRGB and 2.2 gamma curve shapes. The
inset box shows a close-up view of the bottom end of the gamma curves.

THE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM BOOK 4

 This PDF is given away free to readers of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom book and is not intended for resale or distribution.

Balancing the tone curve

NOTE
Figure 2 and Figure 3 explain why it is necessary for the Lightroom preview
When using Process 2003 or Process
RGB space to use an sRGB response curve before the linear RGB data reaches the
2010 to edit photo in the Develop
Develop controls. Remember, you are in fact always editing 1.0 gamma data, and
module, there was always an
the sRGB response curve is only applied to make the Develop adjustments easier element of asymmetric response
and more logical to control. This asymmetric balance was always noticeable when when adjusting the Blacks slider.
editing Process 2003/2010 images (see sidebar). With Process 2012 a lot of effort For example, you probably noticed
has been put in to balance the slider response so that adjustments made either how small incremental adjustments
side of the midtone point appear to be more even when adjusting the sliders. to the Blacks slider had a far more
pronounced effect compared to
adjustments made with the Exposure
or Recovery sliders.

Figure 2 The problem with trying to edit the linear 1.0 gamma directly is that the
midtones are all condensed in the left portion of the tone curve (shown here as a continuous
gradient). If you were forced to directly edit an image with a 1.0 gamma, any attempt to
make small adjustments in the shadow to midtone region would be very much amplified
in the midtone to highlight regions. As shown here, it would be a bit like trying to balance a
seesaw with an offset fulcrum point.

Figure 3 When an sRGB tone response curve is applied to the underlying linear gamma
data, the tones on the tone curve are more evenly distributed. This provides an image
editing environment in which you are able to edit linear 1.0 gamma image data in a more
balanced (and more natural) nonlinear fashion.

THE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM BOOK 5