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Participating Frequently
October 31, 2007
Question

Photoshop CS3 color management "Save for Web" problem

  • October 31, 2007
  • 680 replies
  • 62210 views
This problem is getting the best of me.......

After spending 3 full days researching this problem, I am no closer to finding an answer than when I started. I still cannot produce a usable image through the "Save for Web" feature of Photoshop CS3. I have read web page after web page of "Tips, Tricks and Recommendations" from dozens of experts, some from this forum, and still I have no solution... I am exhausted and frustrated to say the least. Here's the simple facts that I know at this point.

I have a web design project that was started in PS CS1. All artwork was created in photoshop and exported to JPG format by using "Save for Web". Every image displays correctly in these browsers (Safari, Camino, FireFox and even Internet Explorer on a PC).

I have recently upgraded to PS CS3 and now cannot get any newly JPG'd image to display correctly. My original settings in CS1 were of no concern to me at the time, because it always just worked, and so I do not know what they were. I have opened a few of my previous images in CS3 and found that sRGB-2.1 displays them more or less accurately. I am using sRGB 2.1 working space. Upon openning these previous image files, I get the "Missing Profile" message and of course I select "Leave as is. Do Not color manage". CS3 assumes sRGB-2.1 working space, opens the file, and all is well.

The problem is when I go to "Save for Web", the saturation goes up, and the colors change. The opposite of what most people are reporting. Here's another important point... new artwork created in CS3 does exactly the same thing, so it's not because of the older CS1 files.

I have tried every combination of "uncompensated color", "Convert to sRGB", "ICC Profile", etc. while saving. I have Converted to sRGB before saving, and my monitor is calibrated correctly.
I have tried setting the "Save for Web" page on 2-up and the "original" on the left is already color shifted before I even hit the "Save" button. Of course, the "Optimized" image on the right looks perfect because I am cheating by selecting the "Use Document Color Profile" item. Why do they even have this feature if doesn't work, or misleads you?

Does anyone have any ideas what could be happening here? Why is this all so screwed up?
CS1 worked fine out of the box.

Final note: I do have an image file I could send along that demonstrates how it is possible to display an image exactly the same in all 4 of the browsers I mentioned with no color differences. It is untagged RGB and somehow it just works.

I am very frustrated with all of this and any suggestions will be appreciated

Thanks,
Pete
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    680 replies

    tianj39935097
    Participant
    November 26, 2019

    I also have this issue 

    Participating Frequently
    September 11, 2008
    You are welcome, that problem came to light on this threads.

    here is a much shorter read on using wide-gamut monitors on Macs
    > g ballard, "Wide Gamut Monitors" #1, 8 Sep 2008 5:36 pm
    Participant
    August 5, 2009

    Hello everyone. Great thread.

    I too have a problem with SFW since CS3, which I never encountered before in previous versions of PS.

    Quite simply, when I try to use SFW, the color shifts. If I toggle between the Original and various Optimized tabs in SFW you can see the shift clearly (see screen shots). It is therefore impossible to use SFW.

    I have read and read and experimented with lots of settings to no avail. CS3 SFW is handling color differently than previous versions. Period. Or I've found a bug.

    To prove this, if I take a file (see link below) and do a Save As to JPEG, the colors do not shift. If I take that same image into SFW the colors do shift, plus as you'll see from the screen shots there is a display bug in the Optimized view of SFW:

    http://www.vidiotsvideo.com/whatsnewtest.html

    I don't feel this is a monitor or calibration issue, even knowing these certainly effect output, but regardless of that, how can the same file output correctly using Save As... and be wrong using SFW if there isn't an issue, if not a bug, with SFW?

    Thanks for any help, as SFW is not usuable for me.

    Regards,
    Steven

    August 5, 2009

    shmerls wrote:

    I don't feel this is a monitor or calibration issue, even knowing these certainly effect output, but regardless of that, how can the same file output correctly using Save As... and be wrong using SFW if there isn't an issue, if not a bug, with SFW?

    Thanks for any help, as SFW is not usuable for me.

    Regards,
    Steven

    Well that statement says to me you don't have a calibrated monitor. Photoshop uses the custom monitor profile to display your image correctly on your computer.

    with CS3 you need to convert to sRGB before using save for web. Now that browsers are becoming color managed include the profile.

    If you read this whole thread you would know all this, you would also know that very few people have calibrated monitors so most of the people viewing your images are not seeing what you see, and wide gamut monitors are a bit over saturated. So if you have a Wide gamut monitor that is part of your problem.

    Participant
    September 10, 2008
    @Ramon

    It is about saving MY eyesight and sanity - I don't give a damn about others. You should see reds and greens on the Dell 2408.
    Participant
    September 10, 2008
    g

    Many thanks for this thread and your page. I have a Dell 2408 on mac and was going crazy with the cartoon colors. It works well on Firefox3 thankfully, but pretty much in all other apps, it looks idiotic.
    Participant
    May 31, 2008
    Well I'm glad it's debunked then, and that you took the initiative to tell him. I wouldn't mind to remove the link myself if there was a way I could on here. Btw, it wasn't intentionally posted to reck someones work flow. I ran across it trying to fix my problem, but it wouldn't of helped me anyway. good luck
    Known Participant
    May 31, 2008
    As has been said, most Web users have uncalibrated monitors and have no idea what calibration is all about or why one would want it.

    Neil
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    May 30, 2008
    Bald headed men fighting over a comb.

    No one has any control over what any image on the web will look like to web users.
    Participating Frequently
    May 30, 2008
    Food for thought, if Adobe would add a button to F'otoshop preferences "DO NOT IGNORE MY VERY IMPORTANT sRGB MONITOR PROFILE WHEN PREVIEWING IMAGES". No one would be having these problems. Not all monitors accurately display sRGB images right out of the box. Ignoring the profile that fixes this is idiotic! It's like removing your glasses and assuming everyone sees like you do!
    May 30, 2008
    Neil Please remove the link. Its that monumentally bad advice again.

    Crystal this guy is a complete moron. I have popped in and explained to this guy why this is bad. and he still has it up. Do not follow his advice if you do you will have even worse color. What this guy can't comprehend is, if you use your monitor profile as your color space only you will have correct color. Give that picture to me and I have no reference point and if you have a bad profile it makes the problem worse.

    Your monitor profile is for color managed applications to use to display the image correctly within a common workspace. Because everyones monitors are different its the profile that smoothes out the inconsistencies.
    Participant
    May 30, 2008
    Ann Shelbourne - Here's the thread below then, you decide.

    [link removed by host]

    Quote from link:
    "I've recently begun using Photoshop CS3 and noticed that all of my saved 'Save for Web and Devices' jpgs were coming out differently than they looked in my workspace. I always disable colour management as I don't do any print work and I believe the simplest method for web development and design is to work in my monitor's colour working space. This was working fine in CS2 but for some reason my jpgs were looking different when I'd saved them. I discovered a setting in Save for Web and Devices that is on by default and converts the output to the sRGB profile before saving."