Participating Frequently

P: Photoshop 27.8 & later Rendering Artifacts, Exposed Previews and Color Banding

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
June 30, 2026
167 replies
886 views

Hello,

I have encountered what appears to be a GPU-related rendering bug when converting RGB images to CMYK in Photoshop.

System

Photoshop 27.8
macOS Tahoe 26.5.2
Mac Studio M2 Ultra
Apple Silicon GPU

Problem

Whenever GPU acceleration is enabled, converting an RGB image to CMYK produces severe black rendering artifacts across the image. The artifacts appear immediately after the color conversion and make the document unusable.

The issue occurs with multiple images and is fully reproducible on my system.

Steps to Reproduce

Open an RGB image.
Make sure Use Graphics Processor is enabled under Preferences > Performance.
Convert the document to CMYK (either Image > Mode > CMYK Color or Edit > Convert to Profile).
Large black artifacts appear throughout the image.

Expected Result

The RGB image should convert normally to CMYK without any visual corruption.

Actual Result

The converted image contains large black rendering artifacts that were not present in the original RGB document.

Workaround

Disabling Use Graphics Processor completely resolves the issue.

After restarting Photoshop with GPU acceleration disabled, the exact same RGB image converts to CMYK correctly with no artifacts.

Additional Information

The problem started recently. Earlier Photoshop versions on the same hardware did not show this behavior.
The issue does not appear to be related to a specific image.
Since disabling GPU acceleration immediately fixes the problem, this seems to be related to Photoshop's Metal GPU rendering pipeline rather than the color conversion itself.
I can provide the original RGB file, the corrupted CMYK result, screenshots, the GPU Compatibility Report, and the Photoshop System Information if needed.

Has anyone else experienced this issue on Apple Silicon Macs, particularly on an M2 Ultra?

Thank you.

Adobe PS Bug Report.txt

Pinned Reply By Erin26

An update on the two bugs mentioned in this thread:

Washed-out colors: The fix is included in the latest Photoshop release, PS 27.9.1.
Banding during RGB → CMYK conversion: The fix is available in the latest Photoshop Beta build 27.11.

Show previous replies

rowly23

Participating Frequently

This sounds like a Photoshop 27.11 beta GPU/color-management regression rather than an issue with the exported file, especially since 27.10 works correctly on the same system.

The fact that disabling Photoshop GPU acceleration makes the ACR and Photoshop canvas previews match is a pretty strong clue. I would report it to Adobe with the exact 27.11 vs 27.10 comparison, ICC monitor profile, GPU/driver versions, and the fact that the exported file itself is correct.

As a temporary workaround, keeping GPU acceleration disabled seems reasonable if accurate color preview is more important than GPU performance. Hopefully Adobe can reproduce it and fix the preview pipeline in a subsequent beta.

F

fashionable_Gazelle0aee

Participant

Environment: Photoshop 2026 Beta (27.11) Windows 11, NVIDIA GPU render only

Hardware calibrated custom ICC monitor profile.

Symptom: Colors look less saturated in Camera Raw18.5 dialog.

After click "Open Image" enter Photoshop, canvas preview is More saturated.

The exported image file is correct, same as in ACR.

What I have tried:

1. Windows: HDR & ACM auto‑color‑management OFF, unchecked "Use Windows display calibration" in colorcpl.

2. NVIDIA Studio driver installed, DDU clean reinstalled. Nvida Driver Version: 595.79/610.88 (both tried)

3. Photoshop GPU setting: Draw mode = Basic, disable GPU Composition & OpenCL. Problem still reproduces.

4. ACR performance GPU set to Limited.

5. Color space workflow options are consistent(sRGB).

6. Formal Photoshop 2026 beta(27.10) does NOT have this bug on same machine.

Workaround: Fully disable Photoshop GPU acceleration, preview becomes correct.

S

selcuky18071853

Participant

I am experiencing the same GPU/color-management issue in Photoshop Beta 27.11 on Windows 11.

In my case, I am working with Canon EOS R5 CR3 RAW files. The image looks correct in Camera Raw, but after clicking Open Image, the Photoshop Beta 27.11 canvas displays noticeably different colors — warmer and darker than the Camera Raw preview.

When I completely disable Use Graphics Processor in Photoshop Preferences > Performance, the Photoshop canvas immediately matches the Camera Raw appearance.

The same RAW files display correctly in the regular/release version of Photoshop on the same system.

I am also using a calibrated ASUS ProArt PA279CRV monitor with a Calibrite Display Plus HL and Calibrite Profiler.

This issue is reproducible with multiple CR3 files and appears to be specific to Photoshop Beta 27.11 with GPU acceleration enabled.

So this appears to be the same GPU/color-management regression described in this thread.

I can provide screenshots, Photoshop System Info, NVIDIA driver information, and the ICC profile if needed.

S

selcuky18071853

Participant

ust to clarify my previous comment: the main difference I observe is that the Photoshop Beta 27.11 canvas appears more saturated than the Camera Raw preview. The colors in Camera Raw look correct, while the Photoshop canvas preview is noticeably more saturated. Disabling Use Graphics Processor makes the Photoshop canvas match Camera Raw again.

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @Victor Padilla Studio3di,

Thanks for taking the time to report this. The product team is already aware of this issue, and it's currently being tracked in the following thread:

https://community.adobe.com/bug-reports-711/p-photoshop-27-8-later-rendering-artifacts-exposed-previews-and-color-banding-1629988

I'm going to merge your report into that thread so all affected users are tracked in one place. That way, you'll automatically receive updates when a fix becomes available.

In the meantime, please also take a look at the pinned reply from Cody Cuellar (Photoshop Product Team) in that thread, which includes the current workaround while the issue is being addressed.

Thanks again for reporting it.

Best,

Anshul Saini

B

Bruce at TRG

Known Participant

I’ve currently run head-on into this problem.

CMYK is not viewing correctly in Photoshop, but those saved images do view correctly in other programs (like Bridge). So the crazy banding is not baked into the CMYK version, it’s just how Photoshop is interpreting them for your monitor. Which goes along with the Graphics Processing being the problem.

OPE I’ve also noticed this problem much more subtly in RGB as well. The RGB+GPU displays some weird green & purple blobs that are not present in the no-GPU versions.

Victor Padilla Studio3di

Participant

Converting files from RGB to CMYK is clipping the shadows and gradients and creating harsh banding. Even adjusting with curves you can see the rastered edges as you pull on the curves. It is not good at all. I rolled back to Adobe 27.8 and it fixed the problem. If you are a retoucher and you convert a file from RGB to CMYK… you will lose all those hours on a bad conversion. Best tip, save your RGB file before you convert. Adobe, TEST YOUR UPDATES BEFORE YOU RELEASE THEM!

Victor Padilla

B

Bruce at TRG

Known Participant

Victor, for what it’s worth, I’ve discovered that even though Photoshop is displaying the images incorrectly, the images themselves are fine. Preview them in Bridge or open them in another program and you’ll see that the harsh banding doesn’t remain. All this points back to how the graphics processor problems. Frustrating!

J

Jason6C14

Participant

Thank you all for the tips here. I have spent the better part of three hours messing with settings and trying to get this resolved. I just changed the color settings and noticed it helped with the image brightness issues. I had been editing in LR, then edit to PS for detail work. Upon the image opening in PS, it appeared about two stops brighter. During my escapade around PS for a few hours, I also noted that if you were to make some arbitrary edit in PS, and then save back to LR - the brightness would save back to the same level you had originally had in LR.

I have not idea, but oddly I did not have this issue until today…. so I don’t know what changed.

Rophoto4

Participant

My images views perfectly in LR and Bridge. When I open it in the new update for PS 26 it looks blown out. I have tried a variety of images and even ones I have already proofed. What is causing this? someone told me to hit command y - and then it does go back to original image. Something messed up with the latest update?? I tried opening in PS25 and the image views normal.

Ged_Traynor

Community Expert

@emmas85755064 try the suggestion in this thread

emmas85755064

Participant

I’m just using Photoshop 2026 for the first time and the image showing in the main panel is really washed out. The image in the Navigation panel on the right hand side is what it’s supposed to look like. Photoshop 2025 works fine. Any ideas?

D Fosse

Community Expert

Known bug in the Mac Photoshop version. The fix is to operate the “Precise color management for HDR display” checkbox and restart Photoshop. If unchecked, check it; if checked, uncheck it.