Color Problems with CS4 Upgrade

[_Ray_W_Knight_]

I recently upgraded to CS4 and have been experiencing the following problem. When I open an image from ACR to PS CS4 it looks absolutely nothing like it did in ACR. If I was to describe it, it would be that the image has an overall red tint when viewed in CS4. If I then save this image as a PSD file, and then open it in PS CS3 it matches the CS4 ACR image. So, what have I got set wrong in PS CS4 (which is still all of the default settings)?

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

Of course Bridge is color managed.

[_Joseph_Smith_Sr__]

How can I change the profile Bridge is using?
If all the CS4 apps are synchronized for color management, why does the same image not look identical in Bridge and PS?

[hignatius]

If you primary monitor is calibrated then you should not have an issue. If you move an image to your secondary monitor then the colors will be off. So just don't edit the images in any other monitor then the primary and always calibrate the primary.

Since many have two monitors with nearly equal characteristics then they probably are unaware of this problem - the color profiles are perceptually almost the same. However, if you are like me with a laptop and large LCD secondary the colors are way off. I have a workaround by making all my final color corrections in Lightroom which works just fine in both monitors.

[_Joseph_Smith_Sr__]

I have only ONE monitor.
PS renders a reddish, darker image than Bridge. The same image seems to be correctly displayed by Bridge.
I cannot get the image as displayed by PS to be identical to Bridge by applying different color profiles in PS. Therefore, I'd like to try the complement, that is, change the color profile in Bridge to match the image in PS.
Can I change the profile Bridge uses?
In any event, there seems to be a problem within PS CS4. If both Bridge and PS use the same profile (is this 'synchronization'?), the images should be identical as rendered by both apps. They are not even close to being identical as my system is set up now, and I'd like to fix this issue.

[Dennis_1111]

Joseph,

PS, Bridge, and ACR should all be automatically using the active monitor profile that has been set in your operating system (Mac or Win?). I know of no way to change that in any of the programs directly. You can re-profile your monitor, which will establish a new active profile, or you can use your operating system to manually select a specific monitor profile. Any of these changes of the monitor profile at the OS level, however, should impact all of the Adobe programs the same.

Now working colorspace is a different thing. You can have ACR set to one (ProPhoto, for example) and PS set to another (sRGB, for example). Under this situation you could have problems if you have your color management policies in PS set to "off".

Could you tell us what RGB working space you are using in PS in Color Settings? What color policy are you using for RGB in Color Settings in PS?

Sorry if you have already went through this. It does seem likely that there is an issue in certain situations (multiple monitors, upgrades over previous versions, etc.) that maybe Adobe needs to address since several people seem to be reporting it but there are also common configuration mistakes that can cause problems. It is important to rule them out.

Since you came into the thread a little late, it might also be helpful to explain from square one exactly what you are comparing. You are apparently seeing differences from Bridge to PS. What types of files? Does a raw file developed in ACR also change color when it gets to PS?

[_Joseph_Smith_Sr__]

Hi Dennis and thanks for the response.

My LCD monitor has been calibrated by colorimiter, and the monitor profile is OK. As you mentioned, the OS (XP, in my case) uses that regardless of app, so that shouldn't be a problem.

The camera (Canon) is set to shoot sRGB, jpg format.

I really don't use camera ACR since I shoot jpg. But I chimed into this thread because it seems like others may be having the same or similar difficulties as me.

PS CS4 color space is set to North American General Purpose 2, with sRGB... as the Working Space.

Color Management is set to Preserve Profiles.

In Bridge, Creative Suite Color Settings, North American General Purpose 2 is synchronized.

No matter what I do, I cannot get the image to look the same in PS and Bridge. The PS version has a reddish tint and is darker than it should be.

I have posted a copy of an image at www.three-six-zero.com/adobe/P1010064.JPG. Perhaps you could look at it on your machine???

Thanks

[_Robert_Krawiec_]

Have you tried turning off the OpenGL option?

I did this in PS CS4 and now it behaves as CS3 on my second monitor.

Rob

[hignatius]

Yup that works! I tried messing around with all the advanced settings but did not try that. Makes sense because this was a new feature in CS4.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

Very interesting.

[_Joseph_Smith_Sr__]

I glad it helped you guys out.
In fact, maybe I'm a just little jealous.
Turning OpenGL off made no difference here :-(

[Guest]

Hi - Haven't actually noticed until this week but we have exactly the same issue - but with jpegs as well(MacPros, Imac 24" and Macbook Pros running 10.5.7 or 10.5.8)....Tried the openGL trick and we can also confirm that in cs3 Photoshop or cs4 Bridge the image otherwise looks fine....We are running calibrated screens (but that is possibly irrelevant as the same image in each app on the one screen is visually different and bridge and photoshop are running the same colour settings)....I've gone right through proofing and colour settings just cant see where/why this is occuring - Didnt really want to turn off the open gl option either - was hoping to gain some speed from this....

[Langosta39]

Add me to the list of people wasting time and money tracking down this bug.

CS4, iMac as primary no profile (not worth the effort), profiled ACD, OpenGL enabled ---> loss of about 1/2 stop of exposure.  I too wanted to keep OpenGL enabled to help out the ol' iMac, and since I don't care about the profile on the iMac since it isnt good enough for color work anyway, I just assigned the ACD profile to the iMac and now its all good.  Come on Adobe, help us!!!

andy

[Debra Hendren]

I have read this thread in its entirety. I have removed by Huey calibration software and then reinstalled on both monitors (laptop and flat screen). I have disabled the Open GL. I am hoping someone can help me. When I first turn on Bridge, I can see my images with bright red (accurate to the original photo/scene). It is very quick but then it dims the color out and makes it much more subdued. The subdued colors also show up in Photoshop. Interestingly enough, when I do actually print at home (sent to prepress and have paper profiles, Adobe providing color management, not the printer) I end up having very blothcy red photos which do not match the overly subdues images on the monitor. Help please! I have everything set up based on Adobe PS CS$ by Scott Kelby - never had this problem with CS3 with same settings. I have resorted to sending my photos out.

[Debra Hendren]

Just to update and hope someone can help. . . Put new calibrator on today (eye-one display 2 from x-rite) and my photos look the correct red on my monitor in Photoshop. However, on Bridge, the continue to shift to a dull color (red turns burnt orange). Any advice / input is appreciated!

[Guest]

Not sure this is your problem, but worth trying.

At the top right (second line) of Bridge is an innocent looking icon, floating label is "Options for thumbnail quality and preview generation".  Invoke and set to "Always High Quality" or at least make sure it's NOT set to "Prefer Embedded (Faster)".  The latter causes Bridge to use the embedded jpeg in the raw file, which will reflect the camera picture control settings and not the ACR camera choice.

Richard Southworth

[Debra Hendren]

Thank you Richard, I made sure it is set to that. After playing around with the calibrator for quite some time (issues with Windows 7 and manually disabling security features to allow the drivers to download), PS looked immediately better. I had to reboot one more time to get Bridge to work as well. GL is off now, and the viewing is best quality. Thanks so much for your input. I am happy to report red looks red now! I am now going to attempt to calibrate my second monitor and then see if my printer matches. This has been a long process!

[Guest]

Debra,

What drivers were prevented from downloading and then allowed to download by disabling Windows 7''s Security? The drivers for the calibrator software? Or are you referring to the drivers launching during the calibration process being interrupted or prevented from working properly by the security features?

For clarity are you convinced that Windows 7 Security was the cause? IOW did you repeat the process by turning the security features back on to get it to happen again?

It would help out a lot of folks here to know this for certain.

[Grumelda1]

What is GL and how do I turn it off?  Thanks. Joyce

[Debra Hendren]

I ended up buying a new calibrator and it fixed the problem. It wasn't the GL

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

Did you relaunch Photoshop after turning off OpenGL?

[_Joseph_Smith_Sr__]

Of course I relaunched PS.

[_Ray_W_Knight_]

Turning off OpenGL also worked for me.

So, my primary monitor is an apple cinema, and the monitor I do all of my work on is a LaCie 526 (both are calibrated with a Gretag-Macbeth Eye-one).

What is interesting is that the image opens in the primary monitor (the apple cinema) and it looks fine. I move it to the LaCie it initially looks dark/red but after I release the mouse it changes and looks identical to the image in ACR.

So thanks Robert for the suggestion

Ray

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

>but after I release the mouse it changes

That's the precise instant when the monitor for that LaCie monitor gets applied to the image. While you're holding the mouse, you have the image being displayed on the LaCie with the wrong monitor profile from the Apple Cinema.

Thank you for reporting that turning off OpenGL has worked for you too, Ray.

[Check-raise Charley]

Robert you're a genius! I was having the same problem with inaccurate colors on my second display, except that I was comparing colors in Lightroom to CS4. Turning off Open GL in Preferences worked. Thanks!

Michael

[hignatius]

Here is an answer from Adobe on this issue:

"Yes, this is one of the possible known issues
with more than one monitor and OpenGL. We are working to integrate
multiple monitors with OpenGL to avoid these kinds of issues, but you
will likely not see any improvements until the next version of
Photoshop."