Colour difference : Photoshop vs. Browsers

04/02/2007 12:26:44 PM · #1

Okay - got the monitor calibrated (I think).
Now I'm having trouble with something else.

The photo colours in PSE 4 and PSE 5 look great, but when I open the photos in a browser, or even with Windows Picture Viewer, the colours are much different. The reds are washed out especially.

HELP !

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D

04/02/2007 12:28:38 PM · #2

When saving images for the web make sure to save them in a sRGB color profile, you can convert them to sRGB like so

Image > Mode > Convert to Profile ...

Found a link to some good info
//www.creativepro.com/story/howto/24697.html

Message edited by author 2007-04-02 12:30:03.

option

Nikon D200

04/02/2007 12:29:54 PM · #3

Unless you really know what you're doing, make sure you're working in sRGB. Ken Rockwell was right on the money here, if you don't know anything about colour spaces, using anything but sRGB will cause your photos to look worse...

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

04/02/2007 12:31:08 PM · #4

Color management issue. Couple questions:
- Do you shoot in JPEG?
- If so, what color space is your camera set to?
- How is PSE set up to handle color management If your camera is set to something other than sRGB, are you converting to sRGB after editing?
- If you are editing in a space other than sRGB and are not converting, that's the issue. It's fine to edit in another space, but do convert to sRGB prior to saving for web. Save for Web doesn't convert, it just strips out the information.

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

04/02/2007 12:32:57 PM · #5

Already working in sRGB.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

04/02/2007 12:36:30 PM · #6

Originally posted by kashi:

Already working in sRGB.

OK. I'm not too familiar with PSE, but I would bet that it has a "proof colors" setting like PS does. If "Proof Colors" is checked, you may be viewing the shots in another color space, even though you are set up to capture and edit in sRGB. Look for this setting and make sure it's unchecked.

PhilipDyer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/02/2007 12:36:52 PM · #7

If you're working in sRGB, then there should be no difference between what you see in Photoshop and what you see in a browser window n the same machine. Are you sure that you're saving in sRGB and not converting to another color space? If you use Save for Web, it will automatically save in sRGB.

quiet_observation

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

04/02/2007 12:40:13 PM · #8

In this thread, you had turned the color management off. Is that still off?

04/02/2007 12:44:54 PM · #9

Originally posted by kirbic:

- shooting in RAW (well, "NEF")
- color mode 3a
- PSE is set to "optimize to computer screens" which is sRGB
- I think I'm working in sRGB

04/02/2007 12:46:14 PM · #10

Originally posted by quiet_observation:

In this thread, you had turned the color management off. Is that still off?

No - I turned it back on, set to "optimize for computer screen"

04/02/2007 12:46:25 PM · #11

Edit:
Even after reading that Save For Web should convert to sRGB automatically. I dont think it does.
For some reason with CS, when working with another color profile the save for web colors where not exactly the same as when I converted to sRGB first and then saved.

Message edited by author 2007-04-02 12:50:58.

04/02/2007 12:49:08 PM · #12

Originally posted by kashi:

Originally posted by quiet_observation:
In this thread, you had turned the color management off. Is that still off?

No - I turned it back on, set to "optimize for computer screen"

I read for PSE that "Limited Color Management" uses sRGB. So maybe try that one before using "Save For Web"

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/02/2007 12:53:32 PM · #13

Originally posted by Techo:

I read for PSE that "Limited Color Management" uses sRGB. So maybe try that one before using "Save For Web"

That's not one of my options

bood

Canon EOS-5D

04/02/2007 12:55:26 PM · #14

Sorry dummy question here..Do you convert to sRGB immediately, before you start your processing?
I'm just learning about colour spaces etc
thnaks in advance.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/02/2007 01:01:14 PM · #15

Originally posted by option:

There really isn't much of a secret - web graphic display uses sRGB.

Your workflow for creating a web graphic should always include a conversion step to sRGB. Working on originals in 'wider' color spaces will generally give better tonal quality even when converted to a 'narrower' colorspace like sRGB for web display.

Nothing wrong with working strictly in sRGB if all you ever want to do is display an image on the web, but you may regret throwing away color image data up front should you later want higher quality prints with better color tones. If you work in 'wider' color spaces to start with and just create an sRGB output when you want a web graphic from that then you can essentially can have your cake and eat it to.

splidge

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

04/02/2007 01:07:12 PM · #16

In PSE5 there's a menu option to convert to sRGB. From memory I think it's in the "Image" menu? There's an option clearly labeled "Convert to sRGB". If this is grayed out it means you are already in sRGB mode. But since the problems you describe are exactly consistent with a color space mismatch the chances are that's what's happening :).

If your RAW converter is saving non-sRGB files then you will need to do the conversion on each file just before you save for web.

splidge

04/02/2007 01:08:40 PM · #17

Originally posted by kashi:

Originally posted by Techo:
I read for PSE that "Limited Color Management" uses sRGB. So maybe try that one before using "Save For Web"

That's not one of my options

in PSE v3 it was found under Edit ->> Color Settings menu . I reckon it was replaced with "optimize for computer screen" instead.

I did a search for "srgb" on this site here -> //www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/search.php and got plenty of interesting posts to wade through.

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

04/02/2007 01:51:24 PM · #18

Okay - it's either something about the way BibbleLite saves, or how PSE 5.0 runs or something.

I just did another photo - used NEF Launcher for my RAW conversion, and worked in PSE4.0 - and the colours match just fine.

Guess I'll stick with the tried and true - at least for now.

Ann

Olympus OM-D E-M1

04/02/2007 02:16:16 PM · #19

Hey kashi, I had the same problem with PS CS2. I have a (hardware) calibrated monitor, and I would edit the image in sRGB. When I saved for web, the image would get darker and the reds would look washed out. A post in one of the forums (I think by Brad) said to proof the image using Monitor RGB. Which helped, because then I could actually see and correct the problem before I saved for the web, but it was a pain, because for every image I saved for the web, I had to bump the reds and overall saturation.

This past week, I was reading the color management chapter in "Real World Adobe Photoshop CS2," and I understand (better) what is going on. Most browsers don't use color profiles, and what you'll see on the web is what you see on your monitor with no profile. So, the suggestion in the book was to either work with no profile (this is good if you're *only* preparing stuff for the web), or do your editing in sRGB or Adobe RGB, then convert to your Monitor profile as the last thing before doing the save for web. Converting to the monitor's profile essentially tells PS that you want the image to appear how it would if there were no profile at all. Then, when save for web strips off the profile, you're still good, and the appearance of the image won't change.

I use CS2, so I have no idea what this all means for PSE, but if you can translate it to PSE5 speak, this might solve the problem.

chimericvisions

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II

04/02/2007 02:19:40 PM · #20

Originally posted by PhilipDyer:

Bzzt. Not true. Save for Web, at least in CS2, does not automatically convert to RGB, in my experience. I have had to re-upload photos from SfW because they were in the wrong color space.

chimericvisions

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II

04/02/2007 02:21:47 PM · #21

The Using Photoshop to Prepare Photos for DPC Challenges Tutorial covers sRGB conversion

quiet_observation

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

04/02/2007 02:41:33 PM · #22

Originally posted by kashi:

Adobe has a raw converter - why not use that?