Reference Glossary
Colour space
A defined range of colours a device or file can represent — such as sRGB, Adobe RGB, or CMYK — each covering a different portion of the colours humans can perceive.
Why it matters in a DAM
DAM libraries feed both screen and print output from the same assets, and each destination expects a specific colour space: web and social media assume sRGB, while professional print often requires CMYK or a wider-gamut Adobe RGB file. Serving an asset in the wrong colour space, or without its profile recorded, makes colours look duller or shifted on delivery — an Adobe RGB photo viewed in a browser that ignores its embedded profile reads as flat and desaturated even though nothing about the pixel data is actually wrong.
A worked example
Common mistake
Exporting a single 'master' JPEG without embedding or recording its colour profile in metadata, leaving downstream teams unable to tell whether a desaturated-looking image is a real colour problem or just an untagged file being misread.
Every colour space covers a different slice of the colours the human eye can perceive. sRGB, the default for the web, covers roughly 35% of visible colours and is what most browsers and displays are calibrated to reproduce accurately. Adobe RGB was built specifically to cover more of the gamut achievable by CMYK printers — it extends noticeably further into greens and cyans, which matters for photography destined for high-quality print but is largely wasted on a screen that can’t display the extra range anyway.
For a DAM, the practical implication is that colour space needs to travel with the asset as metadata, not just live inside the file as an embedded profile that downstream systems may or may not honour. When an asset’s intended colour space isn’t recorded and surfaced in search or preview, teams end up guessing — or worse, ‘fixing’ colours that were never actually wrong, just rendered in the wrong context.
Frequently asked
What is a colour space?
A defined range of colours a device or file can represent, such as sRGB, Adobe RGB, or CMYK, each covering a different portion of the colours humans can perceive.
Which colour space should web and social assets use?
sRGB — the default most browsers and displays are calibrated to reproduce accurately, covering roughly 35% of visible colours.
Why would professional print need Adobe RGB or CMYK instead?
Adobe RGB was built to cover more of the gamut achievable by CMYK printers, extending further into greens and cyans that matter for high-quality print but are largely wasted on a screen that can't display the extra range.
What happens when an Adobe RGB photo is viewed without its embedded profile?
In a browser that ignores the profile, it reads as flat and desaturated even though nothing about the pixel data is actually wrong — the colour space just isn't being honoured.
What's the mistake of not recording colour profile in metadata?
Exporting a master JPEG without embedding or recording its colour profile leaves downstream teams unable to tell whether a desaturated look is a real colour problem or just an untagged file being misread.
Should colour space travel with an asset as metadata, or just live in the embedded profile?
It needs to travel as metadata too, not just as an embedded profile that downstream systems may or may not honour — otherwise teams end up guessing, or "fixing" colours that were never actually wrong.
Sources
- Adobe RGB covers roughly 35% more colours than sRGB and was designed to encompass more of the gamut achievable by CMYK printers. checked 2026-08-07 — Cambridge in Colour