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mikerHelix
Inspiring
September 10, 2018
Answered

Pro Photo RGB shows significant red shift

  • September 10, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 864 views

So I just changed my Photoshop color setting to Pro Photo RGB since I'm using it with Lightroom Classic and I wanted the color settings to match. The thing is, now all my work that isn't connected with Lightroom shows a pretty significant red shift in Photoshop with this color setting in place. This doesn't strike me as being correct, but (as often happens) I could well be wrong. I thought I'd check with the experts. Is the this red shift normal using the Pro Photo color space?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer D Fosse

    mikerHelix  wrote

    So I just changed my Photoshop color setting to Pro Photo RGB since I'm using it with Lightroom Classic and I wanted the color settings to match.

    There is absolutely no reason the color settings in Lightroom and Photoshop need to match. This is just a widespread myth and I don't know where it comes from. These are all color managed applications and they will display files correctly no matter what the color profile is. Any profile embedded in the file will be preserved in Photoshop and used to interpret the data correctly. That includes the profile coming from Lightroom.

    At the same time, there is no particular reason to use ProPhoto just because it's the default in Lightroom.

    ProPhoto shouldn't produce any more color shifts than any other color space. A color shift is not normal and indicates something's wrong with the profile handling.

    So the question is - have you changed any other settings? Can you show a screenshot of Photoshop's color settings dialog? Can you also post a screenshot showing the red shift, side by side with a good image?

    3 replies

    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 10, 2018

    mikerHelix  wrote

    So I just changed my Photoshop color setting to Pro Photo RGB since I'm using it with Lightroom Classic and I wanted the color settings to match. The thing is, now all my work that isn't connected with Lightroom shows a pretty significant red shift in Photoshop with this color setting in place. This doesn't strike me as being correct, but (as often happens) I could well be wrong. I thought I'd check with the experts. Is the this red shift normal using the Pro Photo color space?

    Thanks in advance for any insight!

    Sounds like you assign ProPhotoRGB to that work? That is not the way that color management works. You have to preserve the embedded profiles. And -as already mentioned here- it is a myth that you should set your working space in Photoshop to ProPhotoRGB because Lightroom uses that. The working space is only relevant for new documents, not for existing documents that are opened by Photoshop and that is what happens when you send an image from Lightroom to Photoshop. Just set your Color Management Policies settings to 'Preserve Embedded Profiles'.

    -- Johan W. Elzenga
      M
      mikerHelixAuthor
      Inspiring
      September 10, 2018

      @D Fosse and @JohanEl54 - Thanks for the great replies. I only changed the settings in Photoshop because literally EVERY freakin' page I visited said that was how to "optimize" Lightroom and Photoshop tp best work together. It's both frustrating and a relief to find this isn't true. I returned my profile back to Adobe RGB (and back to preserving profiles), and my problem is solved. Thanks!!

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      September 10, 2018

      mikerHelix  wrote

      So I just changed my Photoshop color setting to Pro Photo RGB since I'm using it with Lightroom Classic and I wanted the color settings to match.

      There is absolutely no reason the color settings in Lightroom and Photoshop need to match. This is just a widespread myth and I don't know where it comes from. These are all color managed applications and they will display files correctly no matter what the color profile is. Any profile embedded in the file will be preserved in Photoshop and used to interpret the data correctly. That includes the profile coming from Lightroom.

      At the same time, there is no particular reason to use ProPhoto just because it's the default in Lightroom.

      ProPhoto shouldn't produce any more color shifts than any other color space. A color shift is not normal and indicates something's wrong with the profile handling.

      So the question is - have you changed any other settings? Can you show a screenshot of Photoshop's color settings dialog? Can you also post a screenshot showing the red shift, side by side with a good image?

        Akash Sharma
        Akash Sharma
        Legend
        September 10, 2018

        Hi mikerHelix,

        Sorry that Lightroom is showing a considerable shift in red since you've changed the color setting to Prophoto RGB in Photoshop. Let's begin with making sure that the color profile across these apps is setup correctly. Could you please take a look at this article Keeping colors consistent in Photoshop and let us know if that helps?

        Thanks,

        Akash

        M
        mikerHelixAuthor
        Inspiring
        September 10, 2018

        Hey, thanks for the reply Akash. Unfortunately, that's not going to help because the links on that page are 404/dead.

        gener7
        Community Expert
        gener7Community Expert
        Community Expert
        September 10, 2018

        Yes indeed, the links are broken there, so let's try this page: Color manage topic links seem to be working there.

        Photoshop Help | Photoshop User Guide  (Color Management chapter)

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