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ANY image when imported to my Lightroom Classic gets darker while I work in it.

Community Beginner ,
Feb 04, 2025 Feb 04, 2025

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Any time I try to import an image to LrC the image gets darker. Then, when I adjust the settings and export it, the image gets brighter, as if I'm editing a different version of a picture. This makes impossible to work in my LrC and I've been struggling with this issue for some time now. Please help!!!

 

Altough my specs aren't really focused on image editing an studio stuff, I managed to work with LrC for a long time before this issue came in. I suspect it's a GPU driver thing but I've looked everwhere and couldn't find an answer.

 

Again, I'm not talking about RAW images an the JPEG or JPG conversions that happens in LrC. This issue happens with ANY image imported to my Lightroom Classic, even a JPG downloaded from Google.

I'm running Lightroom Classic with:
Intel i7-7700
Geforce Gtx 1060
16 GB RAM

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LEGEND ,
Feb 04, 2025 Feb 04, 2025

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More details would be helpful. Is this photo JPG or RAW? Where (please be specific) in LrC do you see it darker? You said "any time I try to import an image to LrC the image gets darker", this sounds like the image gets darker when you see it in the import dialog box, is that what you mean? Or does the darkness occur AFTER you have successfully imported it. Does it get even darker as you edit it, or does the darkness remain roughly the same?


As a wild guess, please see if this helps: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-change-my-monitor-profile-to-check-whether-its-corrupted/

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 04, 2025 Feb 04, 2025

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Hi! Sorry for the lack of info.

This issue happens with any type or format (JPG, JPEG, RAW...), in this case I'm talking about the .JPG picture that I uploaded to the post.

I can successfully import the pictures but they look way darker inside the application than at the windows gallery. I'm able to edit it. For example, I can change the exposure to avoid the pic getting darker. But bringing the Exposure to a "normal level" (as in to make the picture look like the way it's shown on Windows Gallery) completely over-expose the picture when I export it.

I know I sound confusing. But I hope the screen recording helps.

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 04, 2025 Feb 04, 2025

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Sorry. I couldn't get the screen recording to work properly

 

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LEGEND ,
Feb 05, 2025 Feb 05, 2025

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I can successfully import the pictures but they look way darker inside the application than at the windows gallery. I'm able to edit it.


WHERE do you see this darker image? Import dialog box, Library module, Develop Module, somewhere else?

 

Did you try the steps at the link I provided???

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 05, 2025 Feb 05, 2025

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Hey!

Yes, I tried the steps at the link above. Unfortunately the issue has nothing to do with the monitor.

The image appears darker at the Diolog box, at the Library module and at the Develop Module as I edit it. When I export it, the final picture looks completely different from what's seen at the Diolog box, at the Library module and at the Develop Module. 

I really think it's a driver update or a OS update that broke the application, if you know anything about that would be very helpful!

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Community Expert ,
Feb 06, 2025 Feb 06, 2025

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Please post a screenshot of the exported image, and tell us the name of the application used to view the image.

Also post a screenshot of the Export dialog with the settings used to export the image.

Do not attach the screenshots, use the Insert Photos button in the toolbar to insert them directly in your post.

 

Insert-photos.png

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LEGEND ,
Feb 06, 2025 Feb 06, 2025

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@Per Berntsen asks for some screen captures, I would like to request additional screen captures. Let us see a screen capture of the darkened image in the Import dialog box, and a screen capture of the image BEFORE LrC touches it , as seen in some other software. Please be sure to mention what software is displaying the image BEFORE LrC touches it.

 

Do not attach the screenshots, use the Insert Photos button in the toolbar to insert them directly in your post.

 

dj_paige_0-1738837653515.png

 

 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 07, 2025 Feb 07, 2025

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I appreciate your effort and time!

Here are the screenshots:

SysInfo.png

Captura de tela 2025-02-07 135918.pngCaptura de tela 2025-02-07 135937.pngCaptura de tela 2025-02-07 135951.pngCaptura de tela 2025-02-07 140047.pngCaptura de tela 2025-02-07 140215.pngCaptura de tela 2025-02-07 140313.png

As you can see, just after I imported the picture it got darker!

When I try to compansate the darkness with some tweaks, the export looks completely different!

I hope you can now understand better what's going on. I'm sorry for the lack of info, it's my first time doing this on helping communities. 

 

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LEGEND ,
Feb 07, 2025 Feb 07, 2025

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As you can see, just after I imported the picture it got darker!

When I try to compansate the darkness with some tweaks, the export looks completely different!

 

I certainly see what you are seeing, that's very obvious that something somewhere is wrong. What software are you using to view the exported image?

 

One thought is the camera settings — different cameras have different names, for Nikon it is D-Lighting, it attempts to improve blown out highlights (or nearly blown out highlights) by adjusting the image in the camera. If you do this with a Nikon and then import the RAWs, they will appear to be darker in LrC. So if you have a Nikon, make sure D-Lighting is turned off. If you have some other brand, you will have to find the name of this option for that brand. I don't know if this applies to JPGs, I do know it applies to RAW. What camera are you using?

 

Another thought, since this example is JPG, is if the photo has previously been edited by LrC and then exported asking LrC to overwrite the original at export, and then you import it again, this could also cause the darkening that you see. (This should not apply to RAW originals).

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Community Expert ,
Feb 07, 2025 Feb 07, 2025

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Camera settings would be a good candidate here, but since the original is a jpg, it can't be that.

A jpg should look roughly the same in the import dialog (which is not color managed btw) and in Library/Develop.

There's a good match between the histogram and the brightness of the image in LrC, so this is clearly a correct rendering.

 

@mateus_0264 

I have no experience with HDR, but do you have HDR (HD colors) enabled in Windows display settings?

If you do, try turning it off, and see if it makes a difference.

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LEGEND ,
Feb 06, 2025 Feb 06, 2025

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quote

 

Yes, I tried the steps at the link above. Unfortunately the issue has nothing to do with the monitor.


By @mateus_0264

 

 

It may be true that the steps at the link above didn't work. However, you didn't specifically say the steps didn't work, is that what you mean?

 

Even if the steps didn't work, that does not allow anyone to conclude that it has nothing to do with the monitor, there could be other problems with the monitor.

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Adobe Employee ,
Feb 04, 2025 Feb 04, 2025

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Hey there @mateus_0264! 👋 Welcome to the community, and thank you for sharing the pictures!

I just tested this on my end, and the colors look normal for me.



Along with answering dj_paige's questions, could you let us know which version of Lightroom Classic you're using? It would be super helpful if you could share the System Info. You can find it under Help > System Info. Just copy the info to a text file and attach it to your response.

Other info that could help narrow down the issue: When did this issue start happening? Was it after a recent OS or Lightroom Classic update? Did you make any changes to your computer around that time?

Thanks a bunch! Alek

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 04, 2025 Feb 04, 2025

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Hey! Great to see the picture working in a different computer! That narrows down a lot my problem.

I'm using LrC's latest version, 14.1.1. 

This issue started a couple months ago seemingly out of the blue. But I remember running Windows 11 and the application used to work perfectly, I downgraded to Win 10 because of the UI but LrC used to work normally at the time.Lightroom version.pngSysInfo.png

Sorry about the portuguese tho. Ask me if you have any doubts about it

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Adobe Employee ,
Feb 05, 2025 Feb 05, 2025

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Hello @mateus_0264! No worries about the language! 

Thanks a ton for the info and screenshots! It looks like you captured the Help > About Lightroom Classic window and your specs from the Windows settings. Could you share the details from the Help > System Info window in Lightroom Classic instead? It will give us more info about your system specs and how they're being used by the app.

Just a heads-up: RAW files are unprocessed, which is why they might appear darker, flatter, duller, and with less contrast. Lightroom isn't darkening your image; it's just showing the unprocessed RAW file. That explains part of it, but it's definitely odd that it's happening with JPGs too. Have you tried resetting your Lightroom preferences? Just hold Alt and Shift while opening Lightroom.

Thanks a bunch!

Alek

 

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 05, 2025 Feb 05, 2025

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Hi!

I thought you were talking about the PC info lol

Follows the system info from LrC:

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 05, 2025 Feb 05, 2025

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I also tried resetting Lightroom preferences holding Alt + Shift at Adobe Creative Cloud, clicked yes, but nothing changed. That dind't solve the issue.

 

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Community Expert ,
Feb 07, 2025 Feb 07, 2025

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This was referenced in the very first answer from @dj_paige but was not addressed later. This kind of issue if it happens not just to raw files but also jpegs is almost always due to a bad monitor profile. You should calibrate the display. If you don't own a calibrator, set the monitor profile to sRGB (it's in the monitor's properties panel in the color management area - just delete any profile associated with the monitor) to test if this is the problem. 

The second candidate for problems such as this is an out-of-date GPU driver. Go to the Nvidia website and look for the most up to date studio driver for your GPU and install it. 

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