Colour - frustrating

[Oz_Beachside]

Colours are all over the shop, and I dont understand why...

I have a basic LCD monitor, I have a gretag macbeth "huey" and calibrate my monitor regularly, and love the job it does.

Now, I open a RAW/NEF file, then in CS2, I adjust WB to suit. Then open into CS2 "main" work area, its different again (skin tones go orange).

So I adjust to reduce the red/orange, complete my PP, save as large TIF, then open in windows explorer, and its gone grey (by heaps). Then, reopen, and save as JPEG, and another bloody colour, its ridiculous!!!

I must be working incorrectly!~

Any suggestions on where I could be going wrong?

I'm trying to work on this image (but this problem is common across all of my learning PP, especially when working with RAW).

[Antsl]

Hi Bruce

This is not my area of expertise however I would be looking in PhotoShop preferences to see what colour space you are working in. Check that you are working in Adobe 1998 from the time you open a file in Bridge through to saving it. Someone might be able to confirm this for you but I would at least be looking in that direction.

Cheers, Ants

[PiroStitch]

Check your colour profile. Are you capturing in aRGB and working in aRGB throughout your workflow.

Also really really long shot, but make sure you are working in RGB mode and not CMYK...

[Oz_Beachside]

here's an example of how bad it is...



Checked that I am in the same RGB all the way through, as far as I can see...

looks like it happens when I "save for web".

[Alpha_7]

Something isn't right....

[wendellt]

its a simple profile mismatch havn't got time to go through detail

but when you save for the web
first go to edit
'convert to profile'

in destination space select sRGB 2.1

converison options
Adobe ACE
intent: perceptual

this should allow save for the web results to mimic exactly whats seen in photoshop

as im assuming here your using monitor srgb gamma 2.1 as your profile

of course when it comes to print CMYK this becomes much more complicated

[Oz_Beachside]

its a simple profile mismatch havn't got time to go through detail

but when you save for the web
first go to edit
'convert to profile'

in destination space select sRGB 2.1

converison options
Adobe ACE
intent: perceptual

this should allow save for the web results to mimic exactly whats seen in photoshop

as im assuming here your using monitor srgb gamma 2.1 as your profile

of course when it comes to print CMYK this becomes much more complicated

thanks for the pointers, I found each of the items you refer to, but still no luck. I'll try again with a fresh head over the weekend, maybe crack open scott kelby's book off the shelf and look into it...

[Oz_Beachside]

this is driving my banannas, still getting similar results. save to JPG, and colors go flat...

maybe the next color workshop will help, think its late April...

[Oz_Beachside]

that's an extra "n" for Nuts!!!

[shakey]

Also make sure you are not loading up adobe gamma on startup.
Also i'm not sure whether windows picture and fax viewer is color managed or not. If it isn't then you will likely get different coloured images to PS

[Oz_Beachside]

Also make sure you are not loading up adobe gamma on startup.
Also i'm not sure whether windows picture and fax viewer is color managed or not. If it isn't then you will likely get different coloured images to PS

THanks for your help. I understand your second point, but could you dumb down the first one for me...

Is Adobe Gamma an application, or a version of CS2?

How do I check that "adobe gamma is not loading up on start up?"

[jethro]

Hi Bruce
Open pic in Nikon capture that is if its a RAW file do your stuff, contrast colour etc. Save as tiff file. Open in PS CS this should be the same file as far as settings go. As far as web stuff goes I have found this fool proof. no data loss and if saved for web well this is up to your own opinion. What you are calling aceptablle, that is yours to decide.
Be your own judge be be critical
Jethro

[shakey]

Adobe gamma is a monitor profiling app which is loaded with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

To see if you have adobe gamma enabled do this

Start>Run>msconfig....Click startup tab and see if adobe gamma is checked. If it is uncheck it.

A more detailed note about Adobe gamma and third party calibrartion software is here.

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgeb ... ?id=321608

[Oz_Beachside]

Adobe gamma is a monitor profiling app which is loaded with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

To see if you have adobe gamma enabled do this

Start>Run>msconfig....Check setup tab and see if adobe gamma is checked. If it is uncheck it.

A more detailed note about Adobe gamma and third party calibrartion software is here.

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgeb ... ?id=321608

thanks, it was checked. I've unchecked, and I'll give that a go, fingers crossed.

[shakey]

thanks, it was checked. I've unchecked, and I'll give that a go, fingers crossed.

Hope that helps..Adobe gamma kicks in before the third party apps so it might be the cause of the problem. You do need to reboot the system as well (I'm only adding that because forgotten to do that previously)

[rooboy]

In that example you've posted, this is what I think has happened: The file is sRGB and doesn't have an embedded ICC profile. Windows treats it (and everything) as being sGRB, even though it doesn't have an embedded profile, and hence displays the colour correctly. Photoshop realises that it doesn't have a profile, but here it is using your working space of aRGB, which has the effect of 'stretching' the colours to fill the larger gamut and oversaturating (opposite of when an aRGB file is posted on the web). To test this theory, open the file in PS and go to Edit > Assign Profile, and select aRGB. If the colours jump back to normal then you've figured out where the problem lies.

To fix this all, I'd start from a clean slate. Are you using Adobe Camera Raw? Make sure the colour settings at the bottom are Adobe RGB (presuming you want an aRGB workflow). In PS, set your working space to aRGB, select Preserve Colour Profiles for all 3 options, and tick all of the boxes re: profile mismatches. This way, as soon as a document opens which has a missing or non -aRGB profile, you will know straight away and have the option of converting to or assigning a particular profile. When it comes to web version, use Save for Web & Devices, which automatically converts to sRGB. It also gives you the option of embedding an ICC profile, which adds a few kilobytes to the file size but means that if you ever open the web file again in PS, the colour space will be interpreted correctly. AFAIK Adobe Gamma is a global brightness/contrast/colour temp utility, so it won't affect individual programs differently. Once you've switched it off you'll definitely need to recalibrate with your Huey.

Colour is fun