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mateus_0264
Participating Frequently
February 4, 2025
Question

ANY image when imported to my Lightroom Classic gets darker while I work in it.

  • February 4, 2025
  • 5 replies
  • 4053 views

Any time I try to import an image to LrC the image gets darker. Then, when I adjust the settings and export it, the image gets brighter, as if I'm editing a different version of a picture. This makes impossible to work in my LrC and I've been struggling with this issue for some time now. Please help!!!

 

Altough my specs aren't really focused on image editing an studio stuff, I managed to work with LrC for a long time before this issue came in. I suspect it's a GPU driver thing but I've looked everwhere and couldn't find an answer.

 

Again, I'm not talking about RAW images an the JPEG or JPG conversions that happens in LrC. This issue happens with ANY image imported to my Lightroom Classic, even a JPG downloaded from Google.

I'm running Lightroom Classic with:
Intel i7-7700
Geforce Gtx 1060
16 GB RAM

    5 replies

    A
    albert_0216
    Participant
    February 4, 2026

    Tengo el mismo problema en mi celular Xiaomi redmi note 14 pro,empezó parpadeando la foto haciéndose oscura y luego se quedó oscura y cuando regreso se vuelve clara al tono original 😤😤

    johnrellis
    johnrellis
    Genius
    February 5, 2026

    ​[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.] 

     

    ​@albert_0216 I have the same problem with my Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro phone;

    It sounds like you’re having issues with LR Mobile’s display of photos?  But you’ve posted in the LR Classic forum.  If you repost your query in the Lightroom Ecosystem forum, you’re more likely to get help quickly.

     

    A
    agile_Flair7806
    Participant
    April 8, 2025

    I resolve the same problem in my laptop display settings - changing color profile

    J
    Community Expert
    Jao vdLCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 7, 2025

    This was referenced in the very first answer from @dj_paige but was not addressed later. This kind of issue if it happens not just to raw files but also jpegs is almost always due to a bad monitor profile. You should calibrate the display. If you don't own a calibrator, set the monitor profile to sRGB (it's in the monitor's properties panel in the color management area - just delete any profile associated with the monitor) to test if this is the problem. 

    The second candidate for problems such as this is an out-of-date GPU driver. Go to the Nvidia website and look for the most up to date studio driver for your GPU and install it. 

    A
    Community Manager
    AlekeCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    February 4, 2025

    Hey there @mateus_0264! 👋 Welcome to the community, and thank you for sharing the pictures!

    I just tested this on my end, and the colors look normal for me.



    Along with answering dj_paige's questions, could you let us know which version of Lightroom Classic you're using? It would be super helpful if you could share the System Info. You can find it under Help > System Info. Just copy the info to a text file and attach it to your response.

    Other info that could help narrow down the issue: When did this issue start happening? Was it after a recent OS or Lightroom Classic update? Did you make any changes to your computer around that time?

    Thanks a bunch! Alek

    *(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*
      M
      mateus_0264Author
      Participating Frequently
      February 4, 2025

      Hey! Great to see the picture working in a different computer! That narrows down a lot my problem.

      I'm using LrC's latest version, 14.1.1. 

      This issue started a couple months ago seemingly out of the blue. But I remember running Windows 11 and the application used to work perfectly, I downgraded to Win 10 because of the UI but LrC used to work normally at the time.

      Sorry about the portuguese tho. Ask me if you have any doubts about it

      A
      Community Manager
      AlekeCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      February 5, 2025

      Hello @mateus_0264! No worries about the language! 

      Thanks a ton for the info and screenshots! It looks like you captured the Help > About Lightroom Classic window and your specs from the Windows settings. Could you share the details from the Help > System Info window in Lightroom Classic instead? It will give us more info about your system specs and how they're being used by the app.

      Just a heads-up: RAW files are unprocessed, which is why they might appear darker, flatter, duller, and with less contrast. Lightroom isn't darkening your image; it's just showing the unprocessed RAW file. That explains part of it, but it's definitely odd that it's happening with JPGs too. Have you tried resetting your Lightroom preferences? Just hold Alt and Shift while opening Lightroom.

      Thanks a bunch!

      Alek

       

      *(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*
      D
      dj_paige
      Legend
      February 4, 2025

      More details would be helpful. Is this photo JPG or RAW? Where (please be specific) in LrC do you see it darker? You said "any time I try to import an image to LrC the image gets darker", this sounds like the image gets darker when you see it in the import dialog box, is that what you mean? Or does the darkness occur AFTER you have successfully imported it. Does it get even darker as you edit it, or does the darkness remain roughly the same?


      As a wild guess, please see if this helps: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-change-my-monitor-profile-to-check-whether-its-corrupted/

        M
        mateus_0264Author
        Participating Frequently
        February 4, 2025

        Hi! Sorry for the lack of info.

        This issue happens with any type or format (JPG, JPEG, RAW...), in this case I'm talking about the .JPG picture that I uploaded to the post.

        I can successfully import the pictures but they look way darker inside the application than at the windows gallery. I'm able to edit it. For example, I can change the exposure to avoid the pic getting darker. But bringing the Exposure to a "normal level" (as in to make the picture look like the way it's shown on Windows Gallery) completely over-expose the picture when I export it.

        I know I sound confusing. But I hope the screen recording helps.

        M
        mateus_0264Author
        Participating Frequently
        February 4, 2025

        Sorry. I couldn't get the screen recording to work properly

         

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