JPG Color Shift When Importing into Lightroom

[big_9779]

Hello Adobe Support,

I’m using a Canon 5D Mark IV and I usually shoot in JPG. I’ve noticed that when I import my JPG files into Lightroom Classic, the colors appear noticeably different from what I see on the camera’s LCD or when viewing the image in other basic image viewers. The color looks flatter, less saturated, and not as true to what was captured in-camera.

I understand that RAW files often lose the in-camera Picture Style when opened in Lightroom, but in this case, I’m working with JPG files, which should already be processed by the camera.

Is there a way to preserve the exact color and tonal look of my original JPGs when importing them into Lightroom, without any changes to the appearance?

I’ve tried checking the profile in the Develop module, and Lightroom applies “Adobe Color” by default. Changing the profile helps a bit, but it still doesn’t match the original JPG appearance from the camera.

Is there any way to import JPGs into Lightroom without Lightroom applying any additional color interpretation or profile changes?

Thank you for your help!

[Aleke]

Hi @big_9779! Welcome to the community—it's great to have you here!

To help figure this out, could you let me know which version of Lightroom Classic you're using? Also, is this issue happening with all JPGs or just the ones from your Canon camera?

If you’re able to share a few examples showing how your photos look in Lightroom compared to other apps, that would be super helpful for troubleshooting.

Thanks so much, and looking forward to helping you out!
Alek

[johnrellis]

Building on Aleke's reply:

"Is there a way to preserve the exact color and tonal look of my original JPGs when importing them into Lightroom, without any changes to the appearance?"

In general, LR will display imported JPEGs faithfully, nearly identical as to how they are viewed in other viewers, e.g. Mac Preview or Adobe Photoshop. Some specific things to check:

1. "I’ve tried checking the profile in the Develop module, and Lightroom applies “Adobe Color” by default." Triple-check that. When you open one of the JPEGs in LR Develop, do you see Profile: Color or Profile: Adobe Color?  Profile: Adobe Color only applies to raws, so if that's what you see, you're editing a raw, not a JPEG. If you see Profile: Color, then proceed.

2. Open one of the JPEGs in Develop and click Reset. If the colors change, do they now look better? If the colors change, that suggests you're applying a Develop preset on Import.  In the Import window's right column, set Apply During Import > Develop Settings to None.

3. Open one of the imported photos in the Mac Preview app in particular. Does it look similar to what you see in LR, or closer to what you expect?

4. Quickly test if the color profile assigned to your display is corrupt or incompatible with LR:

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