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Bahadork
Participant
October 14, 2020
Question

Eyedropper tool has inaccurate reading.

  • October 14, 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 3639 views

My eyedropper tool in photoshop CC has incorrect reading of sampled colors.

 

1. Yes I've set it ino point sampling

2. Yes I have set it do all layers.

 

If I want the real color data I need to load the image in Adobe XD to get real hex-color code readings other wise photoshop will give me only something close to the the sampleded color but not the accurately correct Hex code.

 

Seems like photoshop's eyes has lost sight and it's not seeing things accurately!

 

The true hex code is #3D4951 but photoshop eyedropper tool reads it as #404950!

 

If it's a color management issue,  how should I fix it so photoshop sees the real digital colors from the file not anywhere else?

This topic has been closed for replies.

6 replies

B
BahadorkAuthor
Participant
October 15, 2020

Thanks for your help folks. I think we have difficulty communicating.

We live in a digital world, which means 0 and 1 (accuracy) it's not analoge days where it can be something between 0 and 1. Each RGB color is a fixed value which should be read the same on all digital platfomrs, photoshop included. #333333 should be read #333333 when user takes a "digital reading".

I'm not talkign about how my monitor is representing #333-333 I'm talking about the origianl value.

btw, photoshop has a feature to disable it's sutpid color management. you go to edit, color setting and disable color management for all three RGB channels. then in that scenario photoshop will stop being stupid and will give you the original value of THE DIGITAL FILE, not my monitor not the color-mess that photoshop does to those channels.

Thanks for your help though, issue is resolved now by simply disable color management profile for those three channels.

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 16, 2020

»btw, photoshop has a feature to disable it's sutpid color management.«

If you set the Color Management Policies to »Off« (and »Preserve Embedded Profiles« would make more sense) Photoshop uses the Working Spaces. 

If you had set them to »Convert to Working …« previously that’s on you. 

B
BahadorkAuthor
Participant
October 15, 2020

Thanks a ton for your help. Let me put it into context.

 

1. I''m Building a website.

2. I took a screenshot from my iphone and needed to match a color in that screenshot so I can add it to my CSS file #....

3. I opened the iphone screenshot in photoshop to take a reading of the needed color and photoshot gave me this #404950

4. I went to dreamweaver and entered #404950 as my hexcode and uploaded the html file and refreshed the page.

5. The color eyedropper in photoshop gave me was not the exact match for that color.

I then opened up the same iphone screenshot in Adobe XD and used the eyedropper in XD.

6. Adobe XD (from the same iphone screenshot) gave me #3D4951 which was the exact color match.

So here's the question, why photoshop read the values wether RGB or sRGB, differantely to what the real original color is? and how I can fix photoshop eyedropper, so it takes the same reading just like what adobe XD gave me.

Layman speaking, I don't want photoshop to involve any color managemernt when takinng a reading from a color sample.
I want photoshop to read exactly the accurate value of the ORIGINAL image, from the image, and not my monitor or the color profile that I'm working in, without any color management. Just like adobe XD!

please let me know how I can achieve that un-managed accuracy in photoshop?

and it's binary, a color code which is #3D4951, might be presented differantely on differant color profiles and differant monitors and devices, but I'm hoping photoshop is not that dense, to take the reading from my monitor!

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 15, 2020

    If the screenshot is actually from the phone, there's no way you can match it except visually. Then you'd have to know the native color space of your phone screen.

     

    There is no such thing as the "original color". This is an important point to understand!  There's just numbers. Those numbers will produce different colors according to what color space they refer to - sRGB, Adobe RGB, your monitor/screen's native color space which is individual for each screen.

     

    This is why color management and icc profiles were invented. This is exactly the problem it solves. But for color management to work, you need to follow a very basic protocol. Use standard color spaces/profiles, always know the profile of your document, and always make sure it's embedded in the file.

     

    You can't "not want Photoshop to involve any color management". The whole application is built around it. You need to deal with it.

     

    And even if you could, you'd be worse off. Without color management, everything is just thrown to the wind. There is no reference for anything. All your colors will live their own lives and do exactly as they want, and you will have absolutely no control over it.

     

    Again, color management solves this problem. It's the only way to solve it.

     

     

      NB, colourmanagement
      Community Expert
      NB, colourmanagementCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 15, 2020

      As D Fosse suggests, it would help you if you knew more about colour profiles

      you could get started here:

      here is some reading on ICC profiles and how they work for you to provide accurate colour through the digital workflow: https://www.colourmanagement.net/advice/about-icc-colour-profiles/

       

      I hope this helps

      thanks
      neil barstow, colourmanagement.net :: adobe forum volunteer
      [please do not use the reply button on a message within the thread, only use the blue reply button at the top of the page, this maintains the original thread title and chronological order of posts]

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 14, 2020

      Looking at those two colors, it looks very much like a typical case of sRGB vs untagged/no color management (and therefore seen in monitor color space).

       

      In short, keep track of your profiles and always embed the profile. Never work with untagged images. Photoshop's whole architecture revolves around color management and icc profiles. You need to deal with it.

       

      And discard the idea that hex is "accurate". That's a widespread myth. It's just base 16 notation instead of base 10, but the underlying numbers are RGB in whatever color space the file is in. Without an assigned color space, hex numbers don't have any meaning.

       

      Just for completeness I should also mention screenshots. A screenshot is a special case, because it has already been converted into your monitor profile. The original color space no longer applies. So to read from a screenshot, you first need to assign your monitor profile, then convert into the original document profile.

        B
        BahadorkAuthor
        Participant
        October 15, 2020

        Thanks a ton for your help. Let me put it into context.

         

        1. I''m Building a website.

        2. I took a screenshot from my iphone and needed to match the a color in that screenshot with a hex code on my CSS #....

        3. I opened the iphone screenshot in adobe to take a reading of the needed color and photoshot gave me this #404950

        4. I went to my dreamweaver and enter #404950 as my hex code and uploaded the html file and refreshed the page.

        5. The color eyedropper in photoshop gave me was not the exact match for that color.

        I then opened up the same iphone screenshot in Adobe XD and used the eyedropper in XD.

        6. Adobe XD (from the same iphone screenshot) gave me #3D4951 which was the exact color match.

        So here, the question is why adobe read the values wether RGB or sRGB, differantely to what the real accurate color is? and how I can fix photoshop eyedropper, so it takes the same reading as to what adobe XD gave me.

        Layman speaking, I don't want photoshop to involve any color managemernt when takinng a reading from a color sample.
        I want photoshop to read exactly the accurate value of the ORIGINAL image without any color management. Just like adobe XD!

        please let me know how I can achieve that un-managed accuracy in photoshop?

        jane-e
        Community Expert
        jane-eCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        February 22, 2022

         

        @Bahadork wrote:

        I want photoshop to read exactly the accurate value of the ORIGINAL image without any color management. Just like adobe XD!

        please let me know how I can achieve that un-managed accuracy in photoshop?

         

         

        • Adobe XD is not color managed and does not display accurate color.
        • Photoshop is color managed and displays accurate color.

        https://community.adobe.com/t5/adobe-xd-discussions/feature-request-color-management-in-adobe-xd/td-p/10985993

         

         

        Jane

         

          D Fosse
          Community Expert
          D FosseCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 14, 2020

          Hex code is not "correct". It's just a different notation for RGB numbers.

           

          Numbers are color space specific. If the target document is in a different color space, it won't match.

            c.pfaffenbichler
            Community Expert
            c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            October 14, 2020

            Please set the Status Bar to »Document Profile« and post screenshots with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Channels, Options Bar, …) visible. 

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