Participant

Question

Darker images in develop than library

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
October 27, 2021
5 replies
6825 views

I having difficulties with the brightness of my images when I go between LR library and LR develop. The images become significantly darker when I go to develop then return to the original quality when I go back into library. I'm not sure why this is happening. Does anyone else have this problem?

G

GermanCutter1

Participant

I am currently experiencing the same problem, which is that theres a huge difference between my JPEG preview (aka Embedded Preview) in the Library Tab and the real RAW image in my Develop Tab. To me, it looks like the RAW is usually underexposed (for some reason). And that the JPEG is usually very nice and normal looking. But I really don't get why my camera let's me expose the way it does when that means that my RAWs get so much darker.Some photos are even hard to recover because they're THAT dark in the Develop Tab.
So if anybody knows how I can work on a version of my picture that looks like the JPEG preview but is a RAW file, let me know pls

Ian Lyons

Community Expert

There should be little, if any, difference between the embedded preview and Lightroom's own previews. If you're seeing a big difference, then first check that you're not applying a Develop preset during the import process or that you haven't changed your Camera Defaults in Lightroom. I've attached screenshots below that you may find helpful.

If above isn't the reason for your drak images, then it may be due other factors. For example, some lenses produce significant vignetting (darkening of corners). If you haven't enabled a lens profile, then try this as may well help with the dark images you mention. That being said, if your camera is of the mirrorless type, the lens profiles are usually applied automtically and can't be enabled/disabled by the user.

scottkehoe

Participating Frequently

While flipping back and forth between the Library and Develop modules, I realized that the histograms on the image were differnt. I used the new masking tool while editing and I'm wondering if those edits didn't stay with the photo. I'll paste the screen shots here of the histograms.

So, not a display issue. Maybe an issue with new features?

D Fosse

Community Expert

There is heavy clipping in that red color, and if you soft proof to Adobe RGB it should be evident in the histogram (high red and/or low green). If you have a DCI-P3 display, I suspect you're seeing the difference between that and Adobe RGB (the Library previews).

Mind you, not a difference in how the color is reproduced as such - but different clipping points.

You need to bring that red down to a realistic level for any kind of output. Gamut remapping in practice.

EDIT: here's the Library screenshot. It was untagged as you posted it, but I assigned Adobe RGB in Photoshop. See the extreme clipping in both the red and green channels? There's no way you can output this in any medium.

scottkehoe

Participating Frequently

After spending some time with Google, I understand everything you said there and it makes complete sense. Thank you for the explanation.

This was the first time I've seen Lightroom do that in the seven years I've been using it. Until tonight, I'd never even used soft proofing. Since I seem to be capable of making pretty obnoxious edits with the new masking features, it's probably a good time to start using that more often.

Thanks again!

johnrellis

Legend

"I'm having the issue and I'm on an iMac with a 4k Retina Display. I'm sure it conforms."

The display profile (sometimes called an "ICC profile") assigned to the display in System Preferences > Display > Color may or may not be compatible with LR. See the help article linked above for details on how to check that in two minutes. Incompatible profiles occur more often on Windows than Mac, but it's easy to check

scottkehoe

Participating Frequently

I tried that out and it made no difference. I've realized that the histograms on the library version and the develop version are different... So, it's something unrelated.

scottkehoe

Participating Frequently

I came here because of the same issue. I edited a photo how I wanted it in develop, but the image isn't only brighter in the Library module, it also exports as the brighter version, which I don't want... This is causing problems since I can't tell what the end product is going to look like. Screen shots attached.

Alexis Starr

Participant

Yeah so I tried the suggested test above and it hasn't changed anything. I am experiencing the same thing but opposite in regard to the export; the photo exports like the darker version in the develop tab. See the attached video.

LightroomIssue_Trimmed_Video_480.zip

johnrellis

Legend

This is often caused by a display profile that is incompatile with LR or doesn't conform with industry standards (a problem that's more common on Windows than Mac). To test this quickly:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-change-my-monitor-profile-to-check-whether-its-corrupted/

scottkehoe

Participating Frequently

I'm having the issue and I'm on an iMac with a 4k Retina Display. I'm sure it conforms.

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