Skip to main content
J
Jarlehm
Participant
July 11, 2021
Question

Photos washed out in Photoshop after calibration

  • July 11, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 1046 views

I've been going through all posts related to the subject, but been unable to figure this one out.

I have a laptop and a desktop computer with two monitors. On my [calibrated] laptop, everything is fine. Looks great, matches prints - and the photos look more or less the same in all applications. However, my desktop, when calibrated, has much brighter shadows and more faded colours - but only in Adobe applications (At least Photoshop, Bridge and Premiere). Everywhere else (Chrome, other photo apps etc.), the photos look like they should. The two monitors are 27'' Crossover 1440p IPS. If I delete the calibration files, everything starts to match up again.

What I've tried:
Recalibrating

Deleting previous profiles and once again recalibrating.

Calibrating just one monitor

Resetting Photoshop

Messing about in Colour management settings (but I don't really know what I'm doing)

 

As a result I've been delivering photos to clients with almost no shadow detail (which is quite essential to my style), I hope someone can help me out here.

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

D Fosse
Community Expert
D FosseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 11, 2021
quote

and the photos look more or less the same in all applications.


By @Jarlehm

 

That's an indication something's wrong. It shouldn't look the same in all applications! It should look correct in color managed applications, and incorrect in non-color managed applications.

 

From your screenshot, it looks like Photoshop is fine, but Chrome color management is broken. We've seen quite a few reports of that. The clipped shadows is typical of broken color management.

 

I suspect everything is working normally here, except for Chrome.

 

Don't touch anything in Color Settings until you know what you're doing! The probability of getting into serious trouble is high. And in any case, that's not where the problem usually is. When there are color problems, it's almost always the monitor profile. But Color Settings just deals with document profiles and policies for handling them. The monitor profile is managed by the operating system, and that's where you fix it. Photoshop just uses the monitor profile it gets from the OS.

    J
    JarlehmAuthor
    Participant
    July 11, 2021

    From what I've seen searching for a solution to this problem, it seems Chrome also has become colour managed now (though, apparently it's buggy). The other applications I'm talking about, are other photo apps, like ACD See, Affinity, DXO, etc. I assume those are colour managed.

    Anyhow, just to clarify, across two machines and different applications (and in print!) the photos look as expected, exept in Adobe applications on my two-monitor desktop computer - and only when the calibration is turned on in the Spyder-app. If I turn it off, things match more or less up again (there is of course some variance, but no more than to be expected). 

     

    My best guess, after reading through tons of other posts, is that this may be happening because of the two-monitor setup. Perhaps that is confusing the Adobe-apps somehow.

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 12, 2021
    quote

    when the calibration is turned on in the Spyder-app. If I turn it off


    By @Jarlehm

     

    Let's be clear: calibration and monitor profile are two completely different things, serving completely different purposes. People just tend to mix them up because they're both performed in one go by the calibration software.

     

    Calibration is a simple linear adjustment to the monitor's behavior. Precision is low, but obviously the effect is global across all applications.

     

    The monitor profile is something else. That's a standard icc-specification profile, just like any other icc profile. It's a description of the monitor's current behavior in its current calibrated state. The profile doesn't do anything, it's just a map. If the monitor's behavior changes, the map is no longer valid.

     

    The monitor profile is used by color managed applications only. It's a standard profile conversion, performed on the fly, from the document profile into the monitor profile, and these corrected numbers are sent to screen. The precision is much higher than what you can achieve in calibration, and it uses many more parameters.

     

    Don't "assume" that applications are color managed, check! In fact, most consumer-oriented image viewers are not.

      J
      JarlehmAuthor
      Participant
      July 11, 2021

      This is what it looks like with Photoshop and Chrome side by side

      JJMack
      Community Expert
      JJMackCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 11, 2021

      What color space colors does the Jpeg image  have.  The image's  colors should be correct in Photoshop.  In chrome the colors may only be correct if the jpeg image has sRGB colors.

       

      JJMack
        J
        JarlehmAuthor
        Participant
        July 11, 2021

        Now they are sRGB and I still have the same problem. At this point I can't remember what it was originally, but it was whatever PS defauls to. Never touched those settings until I got issues.

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
        Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices