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Participating Frequently
October 31, 2007
Question

Photoshop CS3 color management "Save for Web" problem

  • October 31, 2007
  • 680 replies
  • 62138 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
    November 2, 2007
    >Now what? Oh god let it end...

    Save as dialog box
    November 2, 2007
    Well then, since I am taking an sRGB image, using SFW with "convert to sRGB" checked, and the resulting image as seen within the SFW dialog box is drastically different in both the "original" and "JPG" panes, then something is wrong.

    Now what? Oh god let it end...
    Participating Frequently
    November 2, 2007
    >How is the tag stripped?

    Save for web removes or strips the ICC profile upon export in some cases.

    >And isn't the "convert to sRGB" checkbox converting it?

    yes, and removing the profile in some cases.

    The problem is the confusion between original and optomized settings in the tabs of the image for SFW.
    November 2, 2007
    How is the tag stripped? And isn't the "convert to sRGB" checkbox converting it?
    Participating Frequently
    November 2, 2007
    >Seriously though...if an sRGB tagged image is changing when I use Save For Web, is not something wrong?

    If the tag is stripped and the image is converted upon export then yes.
    November 2, 2007
    By the way, for all you Dell haters out there, it was not my decision to make.
    November 2, 2007
    Mike...you assume I understand what the heck you're saying. I'm sorry, that just didn't shed any light on this for me. Thanks though, I guess?

    Lundberg02...the ROFL people?

    And I'm still wondering why different Display Preferences monitor profiles have such a dramatic effect on the way that SFW works. I really appreciate the talent and skill that some of you have to offer here -- g ballard and Mike Ornellas, you both seem to have a thorough understanding of how this all works -- but something is getting lost in translation.

    Although I really would like to gain a thorough understanding of colour profiles, I am prepared to just forget the whole thing...I just want Save For Web to work the way it used to for me. If a certain set of PS SFW settings result in no colour shifting during the process, then why should it change so much depending on the System Preferences monitor profile? As per my earlier comment (#90) about the System monitor profiles affecting the display globally.

    Seriously though...if an sRGB tagged image is changing when I use Save For Web, is not something wrong?
    Inspiring
    November 2, 2007
    Two guys go into a bar. The bartender says, "Are you both using a Dell LCD monitor?'

    "Yes"

    "Do all the pictures you post in the PS forum look exactly the same in Safari?"

    "That's what the ROFL people are saying"
    Participating Frequently
    November 2, 2007
    you are assuming linear color spaces between the two devices. This is your first mistake.

    you assume that the capture is being converted to a working space.

    you assume that the image may just be getting dumped into the working space with no conversion.
    November 2, 2007
    This may be too tangential, but one thing I've never understood:

    Adobe RGB (1998) is supposed to have a wider gamut than sRGB. But in both cases, in 8-bit images each channel (Red, Green and Blue) have values ranging from 0-255. Where is the extra colour range coming from?

    I can understand output devices having different gamut. We just replaced an old Sony CRT with a new Dell LCD. The Dell has drastically increased contrast. So if I displayed an image on the Sony which included pure black and pure white, I could recreate that appearance on the Dell monitor, and still be able to go beyond that to darker blacks and brighter whites. So what's the difference between Adobe RGB and sRGB when a camera or a scanner is capturing an 8-bit image?