Photoshop colour probs

[Six]

Hey all, I'm having a problem with colours not matching in a photo when it is viewed in photoshop and any other app (eg web browser, windows picture viewer). Basicly I import my RAW into PS and make a few minor adjustments (levels, contrast, channel mixer) then save out as jpeg, but when I open the jpeg file, the colours are different to those displayed in PS. Have a look at the screenshot below to see what I mean. On the left is the image open in PS, on the right is the same image as a jpeg open in acdsee (its the same with every image viewer). See how the colour is quite different between them? What could be causing this?





Even more interestingly, if I open the jpeg back in photoshop, its colours are displayed correctly. My entire workflow is kept in SRGB, so it shouldn't be a colour space issue. Any ideas?

[NikonUser]

I know very little about colour and computers....

but could it be that the other programs aren't 'colourspace aware' and display images in their own individual way?

What if you import the pic into another program that is colour aware?

Paul

[sirhc55]

Six - It does appear to be a colour profile mismatch.

[Six]

hmm colour profile mismatch? I'm not sure what this means or what I can do about it?

I did a bit of fiddling in PS, and found that if I go view menu > proof setup > monitor RGB, and view menu > proof colours that the colours of the image in PS change to match that of the jpeg. How can I get it to do it the other way around? i.e. get the colours of the jpeg to match that of the PS one? Or do I need to redo all my colour changes in PS with the proof colours option on?

[Marvin]

I have a similar problem and have had for quite some time and nobody could tell me how to solve it. I just work around it and hope for the best!
Good luck!

[sheepie]

You'll be wanting to do something like this:



Many windows programs (IE for example) don't take any notice of colour profiles and therefore will not display an image correctly if it is anything other than the standard default profile.

While I'm not entirely certain I have the correct one, the above conversion works fine for me.

[Six]

sheepie: Thanks, but I'm already in sRGB, so converting to the same profile won't help. Nevertheless, I tried it anyway and it made no difference.

Marvin: Thats no good By working around it, do you mean doing your colour adjustments with the "proof colours" option enabled?

I still think I'm doing something wrong somewhere

[Michael]

Go to Edit < colour settings < and open advanced settings and make sure the desaturate monitor colours box isn't ticked.

[kenny12]

yeah i'm getting this problem as well, even if the image is unedited

[Six]

Michael: nup, the box wasn't ticked :/

[MATT]

I had a very similar problem awhilte ago, although mine was more dramatic. All images were servely washed out in Photoshop, but looked normal on all other programs.

In the end i Just reinstalled Photoshop, I think it was something to do with screen profile that Photoshop was using but could not find the right setting to change..

I know this didnt help.. but good luck

I think its getting time fo me to to invest in a screen calibrator.

MATT

[mitedo]

Somewhere along the way you are working in RGB you will need to convert back to sRGB to get you colour's to match before you save to web or save as, i have just tried it in PS

what is your in camera setting RGB or sRGB

[Six]

mitendo: Camera is in sRGB, I use sRGB throughout my entire workflow, and the image that I am saving to jpeg is in sRGB.

[mitedo]

Well it can only be one more thing when you open a pic up in PS camera raw look down on the bottom left to ---- show workflow options Space is it RGB or sRGB hope this helps

[Six]

Yeah I'm definatly in sRGB throughout the entire workflow, even in ACR when importing the raw. I think it is something to do with photoshop applying some sort of colour compensation to the image so it is shown in the same colours that it will be if printed, rather than displayed on a monitor or something?

[DaveB]

Photoshop is displaying the image using the colour profile you have set for the monitor. The other software is just displaying the pixel values directly.
The standard procedure for dealing with graphics for the web/etc is to convert them to the sRGB space on the assumption that most monitors are approximately sRGB. Obviously in this case your monitor is not a good match for sRGB!

How was your monitor profile set up? As part of the profiling with a colorimeter/spectrophotometer (e.g. Spyder) did you perform the calibration steps that optimise the brightness, contrast, R/G/B levels so that the underlying behaviour of the monitor is reasonable? If you do that you will probably find that the behaviour of your monitor is closer to sRGB, but we all have to live with the fact that sRGB is only an approximation to the behaviour of most monitors!

The only place I see this issue on my machines is in web pages. All the software I use to manage my images (Photoshop, Lightroom, MediaPro, FotoMagico, etc) understands profiles.

[Six]

DaveB: ah-ha! I read that and thought "monitor profile? I have never calibrated my monitor or set up a mointor proflile!" Then I went and checked in the display control panel, and what did I find? A profile for my monitor. This is what I have:


I believe this proflile came from hitachi themselves, I found it on the internet ages ago and forgot I even had it. Whats you're advice? Should I remove it? I'm not even 100% sure it's the correct one for my monitor.

[Six]

Ah I figured it out, the monitor profile I was using was the wrong one. I was using one for 9300K colour temp, where I was using a 6500K temp. I loaded the 6500K one and the colours are now a close match. Do you think I should continue to use this profile (provided by Hitachi) or just use no profile?

Thanks to all who helped, especially DaveB

[DaveB]

Do you think I should continue to use this profile (provided by Hitachi) or just use no profile?

Neither of those is optimal, but "no profile" is asking for trouble.
A profile provided by the manufacturer is not necessarily correct for your monitor:

• The unit ages (the phosphors age, the efficiency of the electron gun changes).
• The electrical resistance of the video cable may be different from that used for the profile generation.
• The electrical behaviour of the analog components of the video card may be different from the card used for the profile generation.
• The contrast and brightness settings, and the R/G/B gain levels set through the monitor's menu system may not be the same as used for the profile generation.
• You've already covered the colour temperature issue, which I suppose is one definition of the R/G/B gain levels.

The "correct" answer is you should invest in the hardware and software to calibrate/profile your monitor so you can generate your own. An EyeOne Display or a Spyder are common choices. If you know someone with the appropriate device you may in fact be able to borrow it from them instead for forking out the dollars. Because some of the above variables change over time (and there may be some more that I've forgotten) you need to recalibrate your monitor from time to time.

Of course, this is just the start of getting your colours right. For consistent and accurate colour in your prints you need to use accurate profiles for each of the output devices you use...
But calibrating your monitor accurately is the major step: once you know that you can see the right colours on your screen, if you use a good print lab they should take care of it from there for you...

[Six]

Ok for now I think I'll stick to the Hitachi profile until I can do a propper calibration.

Thanks for all your help DaveB, much appreciated

[Jamie]

I was having the same issue as "Six" but after reading this thread i think ive pretty much got it sorted. I was using no monitor profile!

Thanks to all for offering advice.