RGB & CMYK images look the same

Hi

If your images look crazy when printed but good on screen, then, if we can trust the print service you are using - this seems to me like this is may be a screen calibration issue. 

WINDOWS?

Display profile issues on Windows

At least once a week on this forum we read about this, or very similar issues of appearance differing between applications.

Unfortunately, with Microsoft hardware: Windows updates, Graphics Card updates and Display manufacturers have a frustratingly growing reputation for installing useless (corrupted) monitor display profiles.

I CAN happen with Macs but with far less likelyhood, it seems.

The issue can affect different applications in different ways, some not at all, some very badly.

The poor monitor display profile issue is hidden by some applications, specifically those that do not use colour management, such as Microsoft Windows "Photos".

Photoshop is correct, it’s the industry standard for viewing images, in my experience it's revealing an issue with the Monitor Display profile rather that causing it. Whatever you do, don't ignore it. As the issue isn’t caused by Photoshop, don’t change your Photoshop ‘color settings’ to try fix it. 

If you want to rule out pretty much the only issue we ever see with Photoshop, you can reset preferences, I never read of a preferences issue causing this problem though:

To reset the preferences in Photoshop: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

Note: Make sure that you back up all your custom presets, brushes & actions before restoring Photoshop's preferences. Migrate presets, actions, and settings

To find out if this is the issue, I recommend you to try setting the monitor profile for your own monitor display under “Device” in your Windows ‘color management’ control panel to sRGB. You can ADD sRGB if its not already listed. 

And be sure to check “Use my settings for this device”.

(OR, if you have a wide gamut monitor display (check the spec online) it’s better to try Adobe RGB instead).

Quit and relaunch Photoshop after the control panel change, to ensure the new settings are applied.

If this change fixes the issue, it is recommended that you should now calibrate and profile the monitor properly using a calibration sensor like i1display pro, which will create and install it's own custom monitor profile. The software should install it’s profile correctly so there should be no need to manual set the control panel once you are doing this right. 

Depending on the characteristics of your monitor display and your requirements, using sRGB or Adobe RGB here may be good enough - but custom calibration is a superior approach.

I hope this helps

if so, please "like" my reply and if you're OK now, please mark it as "correct", so that others who have similar issues can see the solution

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement.net :: adobe forum volunteer

[please do not use the reply button on a message in the thread, only use the one at the top of the page, to maintain chronological order]

Hi Jean-bean

Carefully read the replies you've received – they are from some very experienced color experts. Linkedin Learning also have useful online video tutorials on using Photoshop and Color Management and you can get 30 days free access.

And, of course, return to this friendly forum for particular questions.

I'm guessing you're using neither color management nor a color calibrated display.

I have an Epson ink jet printer in my office.  Color is managed by the printer's software.   And I never, ever use CMYK.  In fact, it's not recommended.   So if you're printing this yourself, stick with RGB color and double check your paper and output settings.  If you're seeing too much ink, use a higher quality paper or drop down to draft quality print.

When I send artwork out to my professional print shop, I use the CMYK profile that the print shop recommends.  Don't make wild guesses.  Ask your print professional which CMYK profile they want you to use.

Out of curiosity, what type of printer are you using? CMYK profiles are for commercial offset presses, while local inkjet printers have sRGB drivers and you stay at sRGB.

Since printing converts the RGB images to the printer's colours (probably CMYK, but not necessarily), you may be trying to solve the problem the wrong way. If the images appear over-saturated perhaps they really are over-saturated... but something in your set up stops you seeing them that way. Or perhaps you have the wrong kind of conversion.

Do you understand colour management, or try to avoid it? The fact that you "pick another" CMYK profile suggests you are assuming they are pretty much interchangable - they aren't! What RGB and CMYK profiles are in use here, and what is the output device? And do you have a calibrated monitor?