Lightroom Color Space/Color Management

Question

Hi all,

I am new to Lightroom and I am struggling with the color space/color management settings when exporting. I will try to explain my problem the best I can.

When I was done editing my photo, I exported the image as a JPG. I then sent the image to myself via email, and the image color was fine when I viewed it on my computer. However, when I viewed the photo on my IPhone 5s, the color was faded and washed out. I tried looking up solutions, and found out the solution was to change the color space setting to sRGB when exporting. I changed the color space to sRGB and resend the image to myself. Again, the image's color was fine when I viewed the photo on my computer, but it was still faded and discolored when I viewed it on my mobile device. I am extremely confused as to why the color is wrong when viewed on my mobile device. The most annoying part is that I saved the image on my mobile device so I can upload the two images side by side on this forum to show the different colors of the images but when I uploaded the image from my phone to my computer, the image's color was correct again. If you have a solution to this problem it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

TheDigitalDog · Accepted Answer

The iPhone OS is color managed but there's nothing you can do to 'calibrate' and profile that device. Shouldn’t be necessary. Your own display is a different story.

First, open a color reference image with known, good quality RGB numbers that should preview well. Here's a couple of examples but they must be viewed in a color managed application (like Photoshop, Lightroom, etc):

http://www.digitaldog.net/files/Printer_Test_file.tif.zip

http://www.digitaldog.net/files/2014PrinterTestFileFlat.tif.zip

Examine the colors, perhaps recalibrate your desktop display if necessary. Convert them to sRGB and upload on the iphone. Do not expect a perfect match! This may help too:

sRGB urban legend & myths Part 2

In this 17 minute video, I'll discuss some more sRGB misinformation and cover:

When to use sRGB and what to expect on the web and mobile devices

How sRGB doesn't insure a visual match without color management, how to check

The downsides of an all sRGB workflow

sRGB's color gamut vs. "professional" output devices

The future of sRGB and wide gamut display technology

Photo print labs that demand sRGB for output

High resolution: http://digitaldog.net/files/sRGBMythsPart2.mp4

Low resolution on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyvVUL1gWVs

dj_paige · Answer

Either your monitor is out of calibration or your iPhone screen is out of calibration. Ideally you should calibrate both. I don't know if you can calibrate an iPhone 5s screen.

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