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Participating Frequently
October 31, 2007
Question

Photoshop CS3 color management "Save for Web" problem

  • October 31, 2007
  • 680 replies
  • 62092 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

    Participating Frequently
    February 12, 2008
    > So the problem seems to be your monitor: either it, or your calibration, must be faulty.

    Now this might be the case. Actually I am calibrating an EIZO CG241W with a Spyder2 and the Colornavigator software and I suspect that the Spyder2 doesn't handle wide-gamut monitor calibration well. This is driving me crazy...
    February 12, 2008
    Michael: I have looked at them and this is what I get:

    Your original Tiff when viewed in Safari directly from your Site matches your Gallery #2.

    When that Tiff is downloaded to my Desktop and opened and viewed in Photoshop CS3 it will match the Safari rendering and Gallery #2 ONLY if I soft-proof it in the sRGB space.

    If I change my RGB working-space to ProPhoto, your Tiff then matches your Gallery #3 (very red) image.

    If I then make JPEGS, whether by using SFW with sRGB checked; or by converting the file to sRGB before saving; or by converting to my monitor-space and saving for web; I get identical results in all cases.

    All three now match your Gallery #3 image AND they match your original Tiff when viewed in the ProPhoto space.

    So the problem seems to be your monitor: either it, or your calibration, must be faulty.
    Participating Frequently
    February 12, 2008
    >It only APPEARS to work because, unfortunately, your monitor is not properly calibrated.

    It still might be a monitor profiling problem but really don't know because already tryed to re-calibrate my monitor few times and still getting the same output.

    BTW I have done few more test. I have produced several "Save for Web" samples and uploaded them at this URL: http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=808399. Once in the page click "Details" to see the workflow used to produce each sample. You can also try yourself with the original image used to start with. It's a 5.8Mb tiff file and you can found at http://www.micheleberti.it/docs/Box%20038%2015.tif

    If anybody out there has a flawless color management workflow and is using a wide-gamut monitor I would appreciate if he/she would give it a try with the original image and the SFW. I wonder if anybody can get an image equal to the second picture posted in the folder linked above.
    Participating Frequently
    February 11, 2008
    > It has nothing to do with you calibration. It has everything to do with your monitor's gamut.

    I understand why when looking an untagged image with a wider gamut monitor colors might be off but I wonder how a wider monitor can modify the way a picture is saved with the Save for web command because I see color shift also in a normal (no wide gamut) srgb monitor
    Participating Frequently
    February 11, 2008
    It has nothing to do with you calibration. It has everything to do with your monitor's gamut. This has been discussed literally over and over in this single thread alone. All you have to do is use a browser that recognizes embedded profiles and tag your images. This is going to be the way of the future as more as more monitors move into large gamut capacities.
    Participating Frequently
    February 11, 2008
    I was using a Dell 2407wfp-HC wide gamut monitor and yes, I had the same problem. All I know at this point is that photoshop CS3 prefers sRGB gamut monitors. I switched to an Apple Cinema Display, which is much closer to sRGB color space and now everything works fine. If you must work with wide gamut, I don't really know what to suggest as an alternative to photoshop. Maybe someone else will have a recommendation.

    Edit: and it seems it is not possible to properly calibrate a wide gamut monitor for use with photoshop. However my sRGB Cinema Display, with smaller color gamut, calibrates just fine.
    February 11, 2008
    >I really don't know why this works but it amazed me when I discovered this. >

    It only APPEARS to work because, unfortunately, your monitor is not properly calibrated.

    I suggest that you start by following the instructions on this site:

    http://www.gballard.net/nca.html#getagoodscreen
    Participating Frequently
    February 11, 2008
    Peter,

    don't know if you have solved the issue or not but I can only say I am experiencing exactly the same problem here.

    I have a fully calibrated color management workflow and the only way to get an image without color shifts in the web is to first convert the picture to the color profile of my monitor (from ProPhoto RGB to my custom Monitor Profile) and then run the save for web. This is the only way I get what I see and colors on the web are consistent.

    I really don't know why this works but it amazed me when I discovered this.

    Please try yourself and let me know.

    I also wonder if someone out there could explain this behavior. If could help explaining I am using a wide gamut monitor which cover almost the Adobe RGB 98 color space.
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    February 10, 2008
    >but remember including profiles increase file size...


    by a miserly 4kb or so. ;)
    Participating Frequently
    February 10, 2008
    >> Your advice as to tagging images with the ICC profile

    I tag very very very few images on the web...for any number of reasons previously stated

    >> The rollover images you showed on your site show a difference between the tagged sRGB (or Adobe RGB and Apple RGB) and the untagged images in Safari, but the (paired) images don't register as different in Windows XP in Explorer.

    That's precise and the whole point of the tutorial.

    Tagged sRGB would be the only logical way to go on the web at this time if you want to tag images with ICC profiles, but remember including profiles increase file size...

    When the world Honors embedded PAGE profiles, I will celebrate.