--- title: "What is sRGB? The standard colour space for the web | Herofab" description: "sRGB is the standard colour space for screens and the web. Images in other spaces, such as CMYK or Adobe RGB, can show the wrong colours on a marketplace." url: https://herofab.app/glossary/srgb language: en updated: 2026-11-13 --- # sRGB colour space sRGB is the standard colour space for screens and the web. Images in other spaces, such as CMYK or Adobe RGB, can show the wrong colours on a marketplace. Also called **standard RGB** With Herofab [Colour variants](https://herofab.app/tools/color-variants) ![Model in a black strapless top wearing the gold chain necklace with a crescent pendant](https://herofab.app/img/ex/necklace-amara-1100.webp) Made with Herofab · Virtual try-on Camera and print workflows often use wider or print-oriented colour spaces. Browsers assume sRGB when no profile is embedded, so a CMYK or untagged wide-gamut file can look dull or shifted. Exporting in sRGB keeps the colour shoppers see close to the product's real colour. RGB stands for red, green and blue: each pixel mixes the three, and in an ordinary 8-bit image each channel runs from 0 to 255. Pure white is 255, 255, 255, the value a pure white background requires; sRGB defines which real colours these numbers stand for on a screen. ## What sRGB does for a product photo A colour space is the agreement that turns the numbers in an image file into colours on a screen. sRGB is the agreement that browsers, phones and marketplace apps assume, so a file saved in sRGB shows the same colours almost everywhere. For a seller this is about returns as much as about looks. When the red on the listing is not the red in the parcel, the product comes back. Keeping every image in sRGB from export to upload removes one of the common causes. ## Where the colour goes wrong Most colour shifts happen at export. A photo edited in a wider colour space and saved without conversion looks flat and pale in a browser, because the browser reads its numbers as if they were sRGB. A file prepared for print in CMYK can turn dull, and some systems refuse it. The second cause is a missing colour profile. The profile is a small tag inside the file that names its colour space. Without it each program guesses, and two screens can show two different colours from the same file. ## sRGB, RGB and wide-gamut screens RGB is the general method of mixing red, green and blue light; sRGB is one precise definition of it. Adobe RGB and the wide-gamut spaces of newer phones are other definitions that can describe more saturated colours, which is why cameras and phones offer them. A wider space does not make a product image more accurate online. Shoppers see it through software that expects sRGB, and many marketplaces convert or re-save uploads. Converting to sRGB yourself, with the profile embedded, keeps the result under your control. ## sRGB and related colour terms - **[CMYK](https://herofab.app/glossary/cmyk):** CMYK is the colour model of printing, built on four inks. A file meant for a printed catalogue has to be converted to sRGB before it goes on a product page. - **[White balance](https://herofab.app/glossary/white-balance):** White balance is set when the photo is taken or edited and decides whether white looks neutral, warm or cool. sRGB cannot repair a colour cast; it only makes sure the corrected colours are shown as intended. - **![The terracotta bomber jacket as a ghost mannequin, cut out on pure white](https://herofab.app/img/ex/ghost-white-1100.webp) Pure white background:** A pure white background is a colour value: the highest value in all three channels. That value is white in every RGB colour space, so a clean white background does not show that a file is in sRGB; the colours of the product do. - **Image file format:** The file format is the container, such as JPEG, PNG or WebP. Each of them can hold an sRGB image; the colour space is a separate setting from the format. ## A colour checklist before upload - The export is set to sRGB, and the colour profile is embedded in the file. - The file is in RGB, not CMYK, even when the same picture was also prepared for print. - The colour was compared with the product itself in daylight, not only judged on one screen. - White, black and skin tones look neutral, which shows that the white balance was corrected before export. - The image was viewed once in a browser and once on a phone, since those are the screens shoppers use. ## sRGB colour space, answered. **Why do my product photo colours look different after upload?** The usual cause is a file in a colour space other than sRGB, or one whose colour profile was removed on upload. Without the profile, the numbers of a wider space are read as sRGB and the colours turn duller or shift. Converting to sRGB when exporting takes that cause away; what remains is the difference between one shopper's screen and the next. **Should I export product photos in sRGB or Adobe RGB?** In sRGB, for anything that will be seen on a screen. Adobe RGB can hold more saturated colours, but browsers and shopping apps are built around sRGB, and a wider-gamut file that loses its profile looks flat. If you also print, keep the wide-gamut original as a master and export a separate sRGB copy for listings. **What is the difference between RGB and sRGB?** RGB is the method: every pixel is a mix of red, green and blue. sRGB is one exact definition of that method, stating which real colour each mix stands for. A file can be RGB without being sRGB, for example when it is in Adobe RGB or in a phone's wide-gamut space, and then its colours are shown correctly only by software that reads its profile. **Do marketplaces convert images to sRGB for me?** Some do and some do not, and those that do rarely say how. An automatic conversion can shift colours or drop the profile, and a file in a print colour model may be refused outright. Uploading sRGB with an embedded profile is the dependable route, because the file then needs no conversion at all. **Is sRGB accurate enough for product colours?** Yes, for almost every product. sRGB cannot show a few very saturated colours, such as some neon and deep cyan tones, but neither can many of the screens shoppers use. What decides accuracy in practice is correct white balance, even light and a consistent workflow, not a wider colour space. ## What marketplaces say about it. Updated 25 September 2026 - **Zalando:** sRGB colour mode [Official page](https://partner.zalando.com/university/article/zalando-image-guidelines) - **OTTO:** RGB colour space; CMYK is not accepted [Official page](https://www.otto.market/_Resources/Persistent/4/0/f/9/40f93e8e8315a91f7c8dab0e2bf4cf14057d1279/18012024_Onboarding-Guide.pdf) - **Amazon:** RGB colour mode preferred [Official page](https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/external/G1881) Related [Colour variants](https://herofab.app/tools/color-variants) · [See every rule in one table](https://herofab.app/guides/marketplace-image-rules) · [Colour variant images](https://herofab.app/glossary/colour-variant-images) · [HEIC](https://herofab.app/glossary/heic) · [Image zoom](https://herofab.app/glossary/image-zoom) · [Colourway](https://herofab.app/glossary/colourway) · [White balance](https://herofab.app/glossary/white-balance) · [CMYK](https://herofab.app/glossary/cmyk) · [WebP](https://herofab.app/glossary/webp) · [All terms](https://herofab.app/glossary/) Free tools [Product photo checker](https://herofab.app/tools/product-photo-checker) [Marketplace image resizer](https://herofab.app/tools/marketplace-image-resizer) [Image compressor](https://herofab.app/tools/image-compressor) [AI image label checker](https://herofab.app/tools/ai-image-checker)