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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
    SFW is working fine here.

    I pointed you directly to the problem: PS> (Convert to sRGB) View> Proof Setup: Monitor RGB

    AND, I outlined above HOW to rule out the monitor profile...
    Participating Frequently
    November 2, 2007
    Maybe people should not use SFW.
    Participating Frequently
    November 1, 2007
    Well I am glad to see that you all are taking me seriously on this matter. I was beginning to feel like a terrorist... all I wanted was some love and affection ;-)

    I do not have a clue as to what is causing this on my end, but it is not intermittent for me.

    At this point I will be happy if I can SFW with ANY combination of settings, no matter how complicated or unintuitive and since I am not a colorist or professional profiler or photoshop guru, I will retreat somewhat and hope to DOG that someone figures this out, or comes up with a new direction to look. I need to get some work done before the wife leaves me!

    For now, I will fudge the color and hope for the best. Maybe I should just re-install CS1 on another machine.

    Peter
    November 1, 2007

    "close enough for government" workaround"

    I don't see that as a workaround. Just send some time surfing many of the photography websites and download some images. You will see a lot of them tagged, "Untagged RGB" rather than "sRGB". It's easy to do when you go to SFW, just uncheck the "Convert to sRGB". If you go to g ballard's website, and lownload his images, you will see they are untagged RGB.

    Participating Frequently
    November 1, 2007
    >> I figure it shouldn't matter what colour profile is used, the original image should look (almost exactly) the same as the SFW image if "convert to sRGB" is selected.

    In CS3 Save FOr Web that should be the case, any difference being the difference between sRGB and MonitorRGB.

    There are ways to screw up the default SFW settings and confuse the issue, though...
    November 1, 2007
    We just got new Dell 24" monitors here at work, and I am experiencing the same issue as Peter. I haven't worked here for very long, and we don't really save for web generally (I haven't yet), but I have an enquiring mind.

    I am wondering if this problem only exists for people using calibration software...in my case, Spyder Pro 2. It doesn't seem logical to me though, since I figure it shouldn't matter what colour profile is used, the original image should look (almost exactly) the same as the SFW image if "convert to sRGB" is selected. PS isn't using different monitor profiles for different processes, is it?

    Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with my Save For Web behaviour before switching monitors. I will reconnect my old monitor and see what can be seen. Meanwhile, we do know that both Peter and I are using the same Dell monitor and have used calibration software, albeit different brands.

    I'd rather find a way to make things work as they are supposed to, instead of finding a "close enough for government" workaround.

    Hmmm, and grrrrr, and stuff like that.
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    November 1, 2007
    >I can live with this.

    So can I. I don't generally deal with the web anyway, just the occasional JPEG uploaded to Pixentral to illustrate a point, as I did above.
    November 1, 2007
    Cool trick!... I'm getting the same results as you did. Close enough for me. I can live with this. Thanks :-)

    Side note: I calibrated my monitor with the Spyder2 Pro.
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    November 1, 2007
    &gt;Does anybody see any difference? <br /> <br /> Sure. <br /> <br /> You can confirm that by dragging one on top of the other in Photoshop and setting the blending mode of the top layer to Difference. If there were no differences, you'd expect to see a solid black rectangle. Instead, you get this: <br /> <br />c <a href="http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1MfEGPWjcbGjYOcX1lAapBNqZWNeJ0" /></a> <img alt="Picture hosted by Pixentral" src="http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1MfEGPWjcbGjYOcX1lAapBNqZWNeJ0_thumb.jpg" border="0" /> <br /> <br />Close enough for government work? You decide. :)
    November 1, 2007
    I calibrated my monitor to 2.2/6500. Opened an image that had an embedded profile in Adobe RGB (1998). I did not convert the image before going to SFW. Went to SFW and saved the first image as untagged RGB. then again sRGB. Both images are on this <a href="http://www.apo442.com/sfw/test.htm">web page.</a> They both look the same to me. Does anybody see any difference? I opened the original PSD image on my calibrated monitor and put it side by side with the web page with the two images. I can see <B>no</B> difference between any of the three. So does this mean I nailed it? Or did I just get lucky? <harrycallahan>Well, do ya, punk?</hc> <img src='http://www.adobeforums.com/Images/e/grin.gif' alt='Blind' border=0>