Participant

P: Photoshop Update 27.9.0 Washes Out Image Exports

Forum|Forum|3 days ago
July 30, 2026
48 replies
270 views

I just updated my Photoshop this morning to version 27.9.0 and now, no matter what file format or options I use to export an image, the export appears washed out or sun-bleached.

On a Reddit, I found the solution (posted 11 hours ago, very much in the same timeframe as I began experiencing it), which is to go into Preferences, under Performance, and uncheck Use Graphics Processor:

https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshop/comments/1vak5kj/photoshop_update_and_now_my_images_look_washed/

This should definitely be fixed. Thanks so much.

Pinned Reply By cody_cuellar

Hi all, patch is on the way - in the meantime, the most correct fix in the current build is:

Click ‘Photoshop 2026’ from the top menu.
Settings… > Technology Previews...
ENABLE `Precise color management for HDR display`
Restart Photoshop

The name of the setting sounds counterintuitive, but it should be ON at this time even when HDR display or images are not involved. This will allow you to keep GPU acceleration and get the correct color management of the document to display the same as before this bug showed up.

D

Delightful_friends4666

Known Participant

My laptop is currently running Adobe Photoshop version 27.8.01.13. When will version 27.9 be released on my laptop?

BjamesA

Participant

**EDIT : Updated Wife’s computer from W10 to W11 and issue was immediately resolved, making no other changes.

I’m having this issue on my wife’s PC with Windows 10. I have only seen people reporting this on Mac. We have two PC’s side by side. One is Windows 11 (no issue).

It’s been maybe a week since opening photoshop on this PC. Opened today and this terrible issue presented. None of the fixes mentioned have fixed this problem on my wife’s PC, including:

Disabling the Graphics Processor checkbox
Changing the RGB and HDR color profiles.
“Precise color management for HDR display” - This option is not available on Windows 10, as it is greyed out and specifies on hover that it requires W11 xxxx or newer. Cannot toggle.
Rolling back and installing many different versions. All versions all of a sudden seem to have this issue. (27.8, 27.7, 27.6,27.5,27.3) Tried many, including beta 27.9,27.10. All versions have this issue. I have also fully uninstalled all iterations of photoshop and reset the settings; Then fresh install. No work.

My wife uses Photoshop heavily on her PC; Both release and beta (for the features). So we can confidently say the issue just popped up. Photoshop is very rarely used on my PC (W11). It has 27.5 installed and has no issues. I haven’t tested updating it to 27.8 to see if it breaks it as well. Currently installing W11 on wife’s PC to see if issue resolves.

**EDIT : Updated Wife’s computer from W10 to W11 and issue was immediately resolved, making no other changes.

D Fosse

Community Expert

@BjamesA

This is clearly a different and unrelated issue. Most likely a defective monitor profile, or possibly a GPU driver bug. Display color management is executed in the GPU nowadays, so it can sometimes be difficult to tell which one is the problem. A quick test is to replace the current profile with a known good generic profile like sRGB IEC61966-2.1. It’s not a fix, but it will tell you if the profile is bad.

Manufacturer monitor profiles, released through Windows Update, seem to have gotten better lately, but still some bad profiles slip through.

The fix for this is to use a calibrator to make your profiles, not rely on manufacturer profiles.

BjamesA

Participant

I don’t know why you feel the need to come in and make a definitive statement, calling it “clearly a different and unrelated issue”. Sure, there could be other factors involved, including some of what you mentioned. However, the issue she was experiencing matched almost perfectly with the symptoms described across numerous threads over the past month reporting the same thing suddenly happening at the same time. It would be pretty bizarre if it was not related; But sure, it’s possible. She is just on Windows, instead of Mac OS. As stated in my initial post, changing the color profiles did not resolve the issue.

My wife has used this same system for years. All of a sudden with the latest photoshop updates she was getting this exact washed out issue. Only in photoshop and only after the Camera Raw preview window displays the image properly. Colors correct in any other program.

I’m only posting in here to get more info out in case someone else can use it. The issue looks exactly as described by others’ and appeared suddenly within the last month. For us, after spending hours troubleshooting without being able to resolve the issue, it was immediately fixed after upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the option to click `Precise color management for HDR display` is greyed out and unavailable on Windows 10.

rafaelg63685060

Participant

t

Thank you for your help

A

ArtfulPawsPhotography

Participant

I am having the exact same issue since the update to 27.9

davescm

Community Expert

@ArtfulPawsPhotography Did the solution posted further down this thread work for you?
Dave

Per Berntsen

Community Expert

It was already actually uncheck

Sorry, it turns out that I’ve given you incomplete or wrong information. (I’m not a Mac user)
If the box is unchecked, you should check it, and then restart Photoshop.
See the highlighted reply by Adobe employee @cody_cuellar here:

A

AxelMatt

Community Expert

Moderators, @Mohit Goyal, please merge this with the following existing post:

Photoshop Update 27.9.0 Washes Out Image Exports | Adobe DME

My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI

D Fosse

Community Expert

I should think there are about 20-40 threads about this by now. Merging them all would be nice, if someone could manage to collect them all.

EDIT oops, I some have been merged in the above thread, as well as an update from engineering.

Anyway, here are some more:

https://community.adobe.com/bug-reports-711/photoshop-on-the-desktop-computer-is-not-reading-colors-correctly-1634811

https://community.adobe.com/bug-reports-711/photoshop-2026-displays-png-with-incorrect-desaturated-colors-when-use-graphics-processor-is-enabled-macos-1634754

https://community.adobe.com/bug-reports-711/after-updating-to-photoshop-27-9-all-rgb-documents-appear-washed-out-when-gpu-acceleration-is-enabled-exports-are-correct-disabling-use-graphics-processor-fixes-the-issue-photoshop-26-11-on-the-same-mac-does-not-have-this-problem-1634834

https://community.adobe.com/questions-712/i-have-a-2024-imac-after-the-lates-ps-2026-update-all-photos-raw-jpeg-psd-etc-are-low-concrast-and-washed-out-what-gives-1634644

https://community.adobe.com/bug-reports-711/photoshop-update-27-9-0-washes-out-image-exports-1634642

https://community.adobe.com/bug-reports-711/photoshop-canvas-renders-images-brighter-than-actual-pixel-data-when-gpu-acceleration-is-enabled-1634078

https://community.adobe.com/bug-reports-711/since-photoshop-camera-raw-and-photoshop-beta-updated-on-my-mac-all-of-my-nef-photos-are-cloudy-and-murky-can-adobe-fix-this-solutio-i-use-a-nikon-z9-1634511

https://community.adobe.com/questions-712/use-of-gpu-suddenly-produces-inaccurate-image-rendering-why-and-what-might-resolve-this-1634621

https://community.adobe.com/questions-712/image-is-significantly-lighter-on-photoshop-beta-then-when-exported-1633377

masonreed

Participating Frequently

This sounds like a sync or color management issue. I'd start by checking that both Lightroom and Photoshop are on the latest version, then try "Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments" instead of opening the original. If it still happens, sharing your Lightroom/Photoshop versions and whether you're using Lightroom Classic or Lightroom CC will help others pinpoint the cause.

davescm

Community Expert

It is a known issue on the Mac. In Settings go to Technology Previews and uncheck* ‘Precise color management for HDR display’. *If already unchecked then check it. Click OK then close and restart Photoshop.

Dave

razorfrog

Participant

Thanks. It was unchecked - I checked it and the issue is now resolved.

razorfrog

Participant

Summary:

After updating to Photoshop 27.9, all RGB documents appear washed out/desaturated on screen when Use Graphics Processor is enabled. The issue affects both existing files and brand-new RGB documents. The image data is not affected—exported files display correctly in other applications.

System:

MacBook Pro with Apple M3 Max
Built-in Apple XDR Display
Photoshop 27.9
Photoshop 26.11 (2025) installed on the same machine does not exhibit this issue.

Steps to reproduce:

Launch Photoshop 27.9.
Ensure Preferences → Performance → Use Graphics Processor is enabled.
Open any RGB document or create a new RGB document.
Observe that the canvas appears washed out/desaturated.
Disable Use Graphics Processor and restart Photoshop.

Expected result:
The document should display with accurate colors, matching previous Photoshop versions and the exported image.

Actual result:
The canvas appears noticeably washed out. Exported files are correct and display normally in Preview and other applications. Disabling Use Graphics Processor immediately restores the correct on-screen appearance.

Additional troubleshooting performed:

Confirmed Color Settings are default and unchanged.
Tested with brand-new RGB documents.
Toggling GPU Compositing did not resolve the issue.
Proof Colors changes the appearance but is not a workaround.
The problem occurs only in Photoshop 27.9. Photoshop 26.11 on the same Mac, using the same display and color settings, renders correctly with GPU acceleration enabled.

razorfrog

Participant

After updating to Photoshop 27.9, all RGB documents appear washed out when GPU acceleration is enabled. Exports are correct. Disabling "Use Graphics Processor" fixes the issue. Photoshop 26.11 on the same Mac does not have this problem.

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