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anton_7599
Participating Frequently
January 20, 2025
Question

Gradient Issue Between Camera RAW and Photoshop

  • January 20, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 2458 views

Hi everyone,

 

I hope you’re doing well. I’m reaching out because I’m experiencing an issue with the transition between Camera RAW and Photoshop, and I was hoping someone here might be able to help.

 

Here’s the situation:

I opened a RAW file from my Hasselblad camera in Camera RAW and processed it as I usually do—using light masks and making all the necessary adjustments. Everything looked great in Camera RAW, with smooth gradients in the background transitioning beautifully from white to black. However, when I opened the same file in Photoshop, the gradients didn’t appear as smooth anymore.

 

The tonal gradations, particularly in the background, seem to lose their softness in Photoshop. I’ve never encountered this issue before, and it’s happening consistently on both my Mac Studio and MacBook, so it’s not device-specific.

 

I’ve already tried several troubleshooting steps, including:

• Testing different color profiles and ensuring that both Camera RAW and Photoshop are using the same profile.

• Consulting with photographer friends, though unfortunately, no one has encountered this issue before.

 

I’ve attached two screenshots to illustrate the difference between the two programs.

 

If anyone has any insights or has experienced something similar, I’d be incredibly grateful for your advice. This issue is a bit of a mystery to me, and I’d appreciate any help you can provide.

 

Thank you so much in advance!

 

Best regards,

Anton

1 reply

Conrad_C
Conrad_C
Inspiring
January 21, 2025

I don’t know if this is the right answer, but see if it helps to use the advice in this article and the video in it…it’s about the “Precise Previews for 16-bit Documents” setting in Photoshop that was added to address banding. If that option is already enabled in your copy of Photoshop, then I don’t know what the solution it.

 

How to eliminate false banding in Photoshop (Greg Benz)

 

He calls it “false banding” because the image itself is OK, it’s smooth…the banding is only in the Photoshop preview.

A
anton_7599Author
Participating Frequently
January 21, 2025

Hey there

Thanks so much for taking your time and trying to solve my problem. I really appriciate that.

I tried every step from the link you sent. Still not the same. I think that the solution is more technical in the Adobe software. Today i had a 3 hour call with one of the technical supporters from Adobe. But still to this time there is now solution...
They are trying to figure it out. They said that it could maybe have to do with the gernal camera Raw application...

I have really no clue.


So again. Thanks so much for the help and your time.

Best regards 

Per Berntsen
Per Berntsen
Braniac
January 22, 2025

Do you still see a difference when viewing at 100% in both applications?

This is the only view that will present you with a true representation of the image – one image pixel is represented by one screen pixel.

If you see a difference at other magnifications (like Fit on screen), it will most likely be caused by image scaling.

Different applications use different algorithms (like smoothing and sharpening) when scaling images.

And it could well be that Camera Raw and Photoshop use different scaling algorithms.

But at 100% they should display identically. If they don't, does it make any difference if you disable the GPU in one or both applications?

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