Completely different colors when exporting

[TylerWeslow]

Hi all. When exporting from Lightroom Classic, or using the "edit in" function and editing in Photoshop 2022, the colors in my image are completely different. I have tried updating my graphics drivers. My display calibration is set to sRGB - but I do not think this is the issue as they are different even between applications.

I have not tried uninstalling and reinstalling. Version numbers are at the bottom of this post.

I've been struggling trying to find a solution for about 2 hours now and would appreciate any and all help as to why this would be happening.

Photoshop Color Settings

Lightroom External Editing & Export settings

Example below. Left is lightroom(correct) right is photoshop(wrong) You can even see some weird red color artifacting on the hood in the right image.

Lightroom Classic version: 11.0.1 [ 202111111509-eae8952e ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en
Operating system: Windows 10 - Home Premium Edition
Version: 10.0.19044

Adobe Photoshop Version: 23.0.2 20211119.r.101 ace26c0 x64
Number of Launches: 2
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
Version: 10 or greater 10.0.19044.1387

[GoldingD]

As of this evening, several updates are available, your issue may or may not get fixed.

PS v23.1

Lr v5.1

LrC v11.1

Camera RAW v14.1

[TylerWeslow]

I do not see these updates available.

[GoldingD]

You may need to refresh, also you can click on check for updates.

refresh mentioned in https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-headlights-dll-error/idc-p/12592127#M22763

[TylerWeslow]

Thanks - I've updated all my applications but the issue still persists unfortunately.

[johnrellis]

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

The Export settings show no color space is selected:

That's not supposed to happen -- normally, LR forces you to pick one. Try selecting sRGB and then updating the Export preset (if you're using one).

Correcting the Export settings won't affect the issue you're also seeing with Photoshop, but one issue at a time.

[johnrellis]

"My display calibration is set to sRGB"

1. Do you mean you've selected sRGB as the profile assigned to the display by Windows?

2. Are you on a Surface Pro by any chance? 

3. Triple-check you've assigned the profile "sRGB IEC61966-2.1" to your display by following the instructions here precisely:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-change-my-monitor-profile-to-check-whether-its-corrupted/

[TylerWeslow]

1) Yup! 2) No I am not on a Surface Pro. I am using a Windows desktop I built. and 3) Done. Screenshot below.

I've changed the export settings to SRGB, and double checked my monitor profile to what you described in step 3. The export is now closer, but still not exactly right. You can still see a bit of the red/magenta triangle in the right bottom right side of the hood. Right is PS, Left is LRC. 

Edit in Photoshop is still bunked up though. No change there.

[johnrellis]

"You can still see a bit of the red/magenta triangle in the right bottom right side of the hood."

I don't see that difference -- can you circle it in both images in the screenshot? Or provide closeups of the affected areas in LR and PS?

[TylerWeslow]

Here are all 3 side by side - makes it much easier to see. The first being how it should look, 2nd being Lightoom export (it's close to being right but the grey/colors are still off and that red artifacting is ever so faintly there) and the 3rd being the Edit In>Photoshop example, of which the banding and colors are very bad.

[TylerWeslow]

The compression on here makes it hard to tell. Here's a download for the side by side.

[johnrellis]

I'm viewing these on my calibrated wide-gamut Eizo and my uncalibrated wider-gamut Macbook Pro Retina screen. In all three screenshots, I see a very faint, barely noticeable dark red tint across the hood, and in 10.png I might see a tiny bit of red triangle in the lower-right corner. It may be that 9.png and 10.png show just a tad bit more red tint than 8.png (Lightroom).

It sounds like the band of red across the hood and the triangle are much more noticeable on your display.

Some thoughts: 

1. How are you viewing the image in LR, Library Loupe or Develop?  You'll get the most accurate color by viewing at 100% zoom in Develop. In Library Loupe, there's an additional conversion to 8-bit Adobe RGB. (See the next point.)

2. There can be small differences between LR Develop, LR Library Loupe, and Edit In Photoshop.  Develop's working space is Melissa RGB (16-bit, Pro Photo primaries, a linear curve); Library previews are in 8-bit Adobe RGB (wider gamut than sRGB, but with more opportunity for color banding); your Edit In Photoshop settings convert the raw photo to 16-bit Pro Photo RGB; and the display's profile is 8-bit sRGB.  So the paths are:

Develop: raw > Melissa RGB > display's sRGB

Develop, Edit In PS: raw > Melissa RGB > Pro Photo RGB > display's sRGB

Library Loupe: raw > Melissa RGB > Adobe RGB, compressed JPEG > display's sRGB

Export to sRGB and open in PS: raw > Melissa RGB > sRGB, compressed JPEG > display's sRGB

Especially in the darker areas, there can be color inaccuracies with these paths due to the color-space conversions (especially to 8-bit Adobe RGB and sRGB) and from the JPEG compression.  It seems plausible that the different paths will produce slightly different results in the darks.

3. By setting your display profile to sRGB, you've ensured that differences between LR and PS weren't being caused by incompatible or non-industry-conforming display profiles. But you'll get more accurate color display by calibrating your display with a hardware calibrator.  (And when you do that, defer any upgrade to Windows 11 until you've verified that Microsoft has fixed its horrible bug with setting display profiles.)

4. If you provide the original raw with its edits, others of us can view the photo on wider-gamut displays, to confirm what you're seeing is caused by displaying the image on an sRGB display. Select the photo, do Metadata > Save Metadata To File, upload the raw and the .xmp sidecar to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar, and post the sharing link here.

[TylerWeslow]

I see that in the files I posted as well - odd that the magenta/red is showing up in 8 in those images. In Lightroom, that is not present on my monitor.

I am viewing the image in Develop inside Lightroom. Great info on the conversion paths though - that's nice to know.

Here is a link to the raw and xmp sidecar. Let me know what you see when you open it up/export/edit in PS.

Adobe Files 

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

"Here is a link to the raw and xmp sidecar. Let me know what you see when you open it up/export/edit in PS."

On my wide-gamut calibrated Eizo, I can't see any difference between:

- LR Develop,

- LR > Export to quality 100 sRGB JPEG > PS, and

- LR > Edit In > PS (ProPhoto RGB)

This suggests that what you are seeing is specific to your display, and calibrating it with a hardware calibrator (e.g. a Spyder or i1Display for about $130 - $200) should be the next step.

[TylerWeslow]

Okay, that's good to know!! I just purchased a SpyderX Pro. It'll be here Wednesday - I'll get my monitor calibrated and we'll go from there.

[Rob_Cullen]

Congrats on your selection of the SpyderX Pro.- I have used a Spyder for several years (now the SpyderX) and since using have never encountered color problems with Prints, Books, Slideshows, editing, on desktop and laptop systems.

Admittedly I am an amateur, so needs not ultra critical, but, as others suggest, it should be a crucial component for anyone wanting 'correct' colors.

(This is not an endorsement of the product- a personal opinion)

[TylerWeslow]

Update to this : I calibrated my display using the Spyder I purchased. My issues are gone - everything matches up wonderfully.

My primary display is an LG 34gp83a, so I was a little worried about it not working with the curved aspect of it, but it worked awesome. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[johnrellis]

Excellent.

[Leonardo Izar]

Simple solution and many wrong answers. I faced the same problem. go to the color sync utility and change the default color LCD to sRgb. You may need to look for the profile in the color profiles folder on the system.