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Answered

jpg files in Finder too saturated

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
September 14, 2017
6 replies
4714 views

Hello everybody,

Recently we bought a new Macbook Pro (2017). We've installed Lightroom again and started to work on some wedding photos.
Yesterday I've discoverd that when we export the photos form Lightroom as jpg, Finder shows them oversaturated. If airdropped to iPhone, colours are correct on iPhone screen (as in Lightroom).
Also, if we right click the oversaturated photo in Finder and select 'more info' the photo is shown in Preview and the colours are correct.

So what can this be?

- Photos are exported from NEF to jpg with sRGB profile.
- Colour is correct in Lightroom, Preview and on iPhone. Also if we upload the photos to Pixieset online galery, the photos are as shown in Lightroom.
- Workflow is exactly the same as on our previous Macbook Pro (2015).

So the only place the photo is way too saturated is in Finder. (skintones are very orange for example).

Thanks in advance! Kind regards,

Robin

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer johnrellis

I've sent the files via WeTransfer

As you can see in the screenshot I sent you, there's a bug in the Finder's View > As Cover Flow that's oversaturating the color. Here's another example, showing View > As Cover Flow, View > Show Preview, and View > As Icons:

The workaround is to use View > Show Preview instead of Cover Flow.

The bug isn't as simple as Cover Flow ignoring the embedded profile -- the test photo of the motorcycle shows that it is using the profile, not just completely correctly.

You could try reporting this to Apple, but that's about as effective as reporting bugs to Adobe.

johnrellis

Legend

Finder shows them oversaturated. ... the photo is shown in Preview and the colours are correct. ... why the photos on another macbook pro 2017 are shown correctly.

The Finder's display of thumbnails is normally color-managed, so you shouldn't be seeing oversaturated thumbnails. My OS X 10.12.6 Finder color-manages the display of thumbnails, as does your friend's Macbook. Troubleshooting steps to narrow down the problem:

1. Click on the Apple menu in the upper-left corner. What version of OS X?

2. Do thumbnails of JPEGs in folders other than the Desktop folder appear oversaturated? (A couple of years ago, a Finder bug caused Desktop thumbnails only to be non-color-managed. I doubt this bug has resurfaced, but let's verify.)

3. Download this test photo: Dropbox - BGR-Red-Ducati_WCS-Test-TriState.jpg . View its thumbnail in Finder. If the motorcycle looks blue, Finder is ignoring its embedded ICC profile; if it looks green, Finder is using the profile. In my Finder, the motorcycle looks green (color-managed):

4. Upload a sample JPEG that has the problem to Dropbox or similar, and post the sharing link here. Seems unlikely the issue is in the photo itself, given what you've described so far, but let's verify.

R

robinh62215717Author

Participating Frequently

Hi John,

Thanks for your help and effort. To answer your questions:

1. The version is OS X 10.12.6
2. Yeah, when we access our external HDD the images look the same.
3. The motorcycle looks green in Finder. But again, it appears less green if I right-click and press 'more info'.
4. Is it possible to send it via WeTransfer? These are photos of clients that we don't want to share in public. Maybe if you could send me your e-mail in a private message?

Thanks again!

johnrellis

Legend

I sent you my email in a private message.

R

robinh62215717Author

Participating Frequently

Okay this makes things even more weird. Everything the article says is could be happening here. It's even correct that the photos in Finder are too orange (yellow/red).

But it doesn't explain why the photos on another macbook pro 2017 are shown correctly.

R

robinh62215717Author

Participating Frequently

Quick update. Just ended a phonecall with Apple care.

Exported a NEF to jpg without editing them and finder does the exact same thing. All files are shown too saturated. Preview shows them correct so the files are okay. Also the airdropped images are okay. So there is nothing going on in the files.

They say we have to live with it cause there is no troubleshooting for Finder. But all our photos and documents are shown very saturated on screen (if looked at via Finder).

Any one else with this issue?

D Fosse

Community Expert

The oversaturation is because the file is displayed without color management, on a wide gamut display (DCI-P3). It has nothing to do with the file itself (and even less to do with Lightroom).

Everything is explained in the first link in post #7, written by Conrad Chavez. Read it if you haven't, read again if you have.

(The second link has the right idea, but the explanation is rather confusing and incoherent).

R

robinh62215717Author

Participating Frequently

Thanks for your reply. Will read it again

I've sent the same files to another photographer who uses the same macbook 2017 model. His reaction to my screenshots was: "omg what is this?". So he tried the files in Finder on his Macbook (exact same model) and there is no error in color.

P

Phil323uk

Participating Frequently

Your Macbook Pro has a wide gamut DCI-P3 display.

The following links will give you an insight into what's happening.

https://creativepro.com/how-do-p3-displays-affect-your-workflow/

https://The Wide Gamut World of Color — iMac Edition flow/