Photos look different on my phone compared to photos on the computer.

[saurabhp5927337]

Hi Guys,

I edit my photos in either Lightroom or Photoshop. The photos look vibrant and colourful on my PC, as per the editing I had done. But when I save these photos in my S9-Plus, they look colourless and weird.

Can someone please help me here? Do I have to save the files differently once I edit the photo in Photoshop or Lightroom?

Example 1 -

The photo on PC -

Photo/Screenshot from my Samsung S9Plus -

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Example 2 -

The photo on my PC -

Screenshot from my Samsung S9Plus-

[davescm · Accepted solution]

Hi

The explanation is in the way colours are stored in the image. Each pixel stores the colour as three numbers representing Red, Blue and Green. However what actual colour is represented by each number depends on the colour profile. Your original document is using a profile called ProPhoto.

Photoshop is colour managed. It uses the color profile embedded in the document to tell it how to use the RGB numbers that make up each pixel and correctly display it on your monitor (using the monitor color profile stored in your system).

Many applications (including phones) are not colour managed and just send the raw numbers to the display.

To be safe when sending an image to the web (or to an unknown device) , Export a copy of your image using "Save for Web (Legacy)" and ensure that both  "Convert to sRGB" and "Embed Color Profile" are checked. That way if the other device is colour managed it will use the profile. If it is not , then sRGB will display close to correct on many devices.

Dave

[saurabhp5927337]

Thanks, davescm, that worked

[davescm]

You're welcome

Dave

[shwetav]

Hi Dave and Saurabh,
I am also facing the same issue I mean when I edit photo in my laptop and view in my laptop and mobile photo looks totaly different.
I am using Lightroom Classic, as per Dave's reply I cannot find "Save for Web (Legacy)" , "Convert to sRGB" and "Embed Color Profile" option.
Your help is greatly appreciated!!

Thank you

[D Fosse]

Lightroom Preferences > External Editing. Change the color space from ProPhoto to sRGB.

Save For Web is in Photoshop, not Lightroom.

[evan5E6B]

I am trying to find these settings and can not. Can you send a 2021 version?

[iczemi]

... it worked perfectely.

[iczemi]

Thank you.

[Arun5CB2]

Hi

I have started using lightroom classic and photoshop recently . I noiced that when i export photo to my windows it looks same but when i export it to my phone , the saturation was increased . The photo was in Srgb format. Please help me what is the solution

[davescm]

Until phone manufacturers start color managing their images (neither Android nor iOS do) then you will never get a match.

Dave

[TheDigitalDog]

IOS is indeed color managed and for a very long time.

[davescm]

Really? Where does the monitor profile sit in iOS?

Dave

[TheDigitalDog]

https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/visual-design/color/

iOS is indeed color managed.

[davescm]

Thanks for tje link Andrew.

So reading that, it would appear that from iOS 13 the system will manage sRGB and P3 profiled images, it may handle other profiles but there is no mention so would need a test.

However, without the ability to calibrate and profile the display then images are still going to vary from device to device due to manufacturer tolerances, screen age and, how the user alters their screen controls. So, 'sort of' colour managed but not in a way that gives the consistency we associate with colour management.

Dave 

[TheDigitalDog]

It will handle any tagged image.

Calibration is done at the factory under manufacture. Very consistent.

This OS is fully color managed.

[davescm]

Thanks for the confirmation on the image tags.

I'm less than  convinced on factory calibration though. With aging or even altering a brightness control it would be invalidated. The same reasons for which we re-calibrate and re-profile even high end monitors. 

Better than nothing though 🙂

Dave

[TheDigitalDog]

You don't have to be concerned about factory calibration because it's utterly moot! And there is measurement data I've seen and have been published that show multiple iOS displays of differing kinds well below JND. Some iOS devices are OLED, some differ, device drift has nothing to do with the ability of an OS to be color managed. 

The facts are, iOS IS color managed and has been maybe since day one but for a very, very long time. 

You can buy a Mac today and it's OS is color managed. You can hook any display up to it, the OS is still color managed. You can take an iMac out of the box, it's color managed and in all the above cases, the user never HAS to calibrate and profile that display, a profile exists and more importantly, that OS IS color managed. One doesn't have to calibrate and profile a display to make the OS color managed; it either is or it isn't. All that's required is an OS that recognizes a descriptor for a display (right or wrong, EDID  or otherwise) and the scale of the numbers in a document via it's embedded profile (or without, make an assumption, usually sRGB). That color managed OS then produces a color managed preview with that data (display using monitor compensation). That preview may or may not be ideal, but it is color managed. And that's how iOS works and again, it is fully color managed. 

Should user calibrate and profile their displays? That's another discussion and has nothing to do with whether an OS is color managed or not. 

As to your statement about iOS and Android, it's not fully accurate and further, if you look, Android (which I have no desire or knowledge of IS supposed to be getting (or has recently had) OS color management:

https://medium.com/google-design/android-color-management-what-developers-and-designers-need-to-know...

This statement is partially correct (well all phone's who's OS isn't color managed) and partially wrong:

"Until phone manufacturers start color managing their images (neither Android nor iOS do) then you will never get a match."

[davescm]

Haha.

Let me re-phrase in tbe light of the iOS info provided by Andrew, Some phones operating systems are colour managed, some are not. Most, I don't know of any that do but there may be exceptions, do not have the ability to individually calibrate and profile their displays. Either of the above can lead to inconsistency which can in turn lead to a mismatch even if the images are well within the gamut of the displays.

Do I use a phone? Yes. Do I look at photos on a phone? Yes. Would I expect a match to my Eizo monitors - No. Would I carry out image adjustments on a phone - No.

Feel free to argue semantics but a colour managed system without a display that can be either individually re-profiled (for an ICC workflow) or finely re-calibrated ( for a video workflow), in my view, is not effectively managing its colour.

Dave

[TheDigitalDog]

Dave, if you examine the colorimetric facts, you'll find more image matching among the same iPhone then all the differing Eizo displays using differing user calibrations. But NONE of this changes the facts of what a color managed OS is and that iOS is fully color managed. Got nothing to do with semantics. I've explained that above and this fact has nothing to do with users ability or desire to or not to calibrate their display to any number of calibration possibilities. 

[TheDigitalDog]

"Either of the above can lead to inconsistency which can in turn lead to a mismatch even if the images are well within the gamut of the displays."

And (hopefully lastly), let's do a little thought experiment in terms of the idea users must have their own calibration for a display to provide color management and matching. 

Dave and I both have the same make and model of Eizo display, colorimeter, software. 

He calibrates to a CCT of 5500K, 95cd/m2. 

I calibrate to a D50, 140cd/m2.

All other calibration settings are identical (our video cards and subsystems are also identical). But of course, that's not always the case, it's often not the case. 

Does the same color reference image in a tagged color space preview match? No, they do not match.

Now we view the same image on two iPhone X's. They DO match. 

[davescm]

So your thought experiment calibrates to two different settings - of course they don't match. Just as the iPhones will not if the brightness is set differently on each.

I have two Eizo monitors in front of me - both calibrated to the same luminosity, white point, black point, and gamma - and both look identical. They are kept that way through regular calibration and profiling.

When I worked in industry I had a guy working for me tasked with putting in an end to end process management system to ensure consistency. He put in a system, did not make it cover the end to end process, but tried to argue he had delivered a process management system. He did not work for me for long.

Dave

[TheDigitalDog]

My thought experiment illustrates that how (IF) a display is calibrated has nothing to do with an OS being color managed. In fact, if the OS wasn't color managed, there would be no profile or descriptor of the display for previews. 

Out of the box, two iPhone's will match, they are calibrated at the factory as discussed. Yes, one can alter the brightness but that's it. It is far, far more likely the same image will appear the same on an iPhone with iOS than a Mac using two Eizo's; that's my point. 

Let's not forget the text provided:

"Either of the above can lead to inconsistency which can in turn lead to a mismatch even if the images are well within the gamut of the displays."

And

I'm less than  convinced on factory calibration though. With aging or even altering a brightness control it would be invalidated.

Less, far less inconsistency between iPhone's or iPads for the facts expressed and of course, the fact that iOS is color managed no matter who, what or how a display is or isn't calibrated. It isn't on an iPhone or iPad. 

A color managed OS doesn't 'care' if or how a display is calibrated, how often; it's still color managed. 

[NB, colourmanagement net]

I agree Andrew -

iPad [and iPhone] factory calibration is pretty reliable, they are quite consistent - of course brightness is very adjustable. 

IF your main computer screen is correctly calibrated and profiled and if you save images with the sRGB ICC profile embedded they should reproduce well on. the iOS device. My iPhone X matches my calibrated Eizo Coloredge screen very well. . 

Here's an Adobe RGB image to try on the computer - and a version for the 1Pad / iPhone (view in Safari)

With all set up correctly on your computer, these should match well

neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer:: co-author: 'getting colour right'

google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

[John344785627jva]

To check for any updates or changes in iOS settings related to display calibration and color profiles, you can go to the Settings app on your iOS device, navigate to "Display & Brightness" or "General," and explore available options. Additionally, Apple's official support documentation and forums can provide insights into any new features or settings introduced in recent iOS versions.