Some very basic Lightroom questions

[NigelC]

Although I have had LR4 for some years i haven't really used it, sticking with Bridge/CS5. Now I intend to work in Lightroom 6, I'm working through Martin Evening's book (Well LR4 version actually but I'm sure it's OK to get me started). However, I have a few basic questions. If, 95% of the time, I'm staying within Lightroom and printing directly from same is there any need to save as TIFFs when they are developed - why not keep in the original format? Clearly this only applies to raw files, not TIFFs exported from Sigma Photo Pro. Secondly, since I have a calibrated monitor but one that doesn't show full Adobe RGB and printing with an Epson SC800, at what stage would you convert the file to Adobe in the printing process? Would it be better to soft proof in adobe?

[Mark D Segal]

I think you should keep on reading and watch the excellent Camera to Print video tutorials free on this website if you have subscribed to access articles. Everything you are asking is discussed in those resources. And you should get the latest version of Martin's book, because important new features have been added to LR since the version of the book you have.

Anyhow, to answer quickky what you are asking:

No - you do not need to convert files to TIFF for printing from LR. That is one of the beauties of this application.

The colour space of your monitor has nothing to do with the need to convert a file to "Adobe" whatever you mean by that. You can softproof perfectly well in Lightroom by pushing the "S" key on your keyboard and selecting the profile you will be using with your paper/printer combination. It does a very good job. No need for any other application for either soft-proofing or printing.

Of course, there is likely to be some mismatch between the colour space of your monitor and that of the printer/paper, but the extent and shape of it depends on the specifics of the display, the display profile and the printer/paper profile. The surest way of capturing all the colours your printer can reproduce is to use a monitor that has a wide colour gamut - one approaching ARGB(98), but these tend to be a bit more expensive than narrower gamut monitors. Printing software cannot compensate for narrow display gamut - totally separate matters.