P: Web download color space = "Adobe RGB", desaturates image in Instagram

[Jeff R Davis]

I have a problem where my photos look as expected in the browser or in the Lightroom app. I then save the photo from either Lightroom mobile app or choose to download it from Lightroom web. The exported photos look as expected in the photo gallery on my phone, but when I import either exported photo into Instagram the photo looks desaturated and maybe more green than the original. Note that this is just with the "Normal" filter applied.

EDIT:  It looks like I found what the issue is. If I Export the photo as JPG and set the color space to sRGB in Lightroom Mobile then the photo does not get desaturated. I checked in Photoshop and both the regular "Save to Device" function in the Lightroom Mobile app and "Download" buttons from Lightroom Web set the color space to Adobe RGB, not sRGB. Is this by design, and if so, why? This is a serious problem for people to use photos I share with them.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

For Web sharing sRGB and Display P3 are preferred. Adobe RGB is primarily a printing profile and not best for web sharing. I would recommend using sRGB for maximum compatibility with your shared clients environment. 

[Jeff R Davis]

I agree. The problem is that Lightroom is defaulting to Adobe RGB and there is no way to override it. To be clear, I always export files as sRGB when manually export from Lightroom to import into FB or Instagram.

The problem scenario is when I invite someone to view one of my Lightroom albums (ie "Share & Invite"). There is an option when sharing the album to "Allow JPG downloads". I check this box to allow other people to download my photos. They don't have a Lightroom subscription and don't know about export color spaces, but even if they did it doesn't matter since the "Download" function in Lightroom Web will always download an Adobe RGB JPG. If they turn around and upload that image to Instagram the photo looks desaturated and green - it's extremely upsetting.

The problem is I want people to be able to download my images and use them, but this behavior in Lightroom Web means I can't share my images using Lightroom anymore. I'm not willing to continue to see my images get mangled by this color management issue. This is a major blocker and is making me question the value proposition of Lightroom cloud to me.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

It looks like the issue may be that Instagram is not respecting the Display P3 profile we are providing from the Web environment.  If you do an export from your mobile environ in Display P3 and and then pushing to Instagram. Does it appear correctly? 

[Jeff R Davis]

I see the same problem even if I export an image and explicitly choose the color profile as Display P3 in the latest Lightroom Mobile for Android. If I try to import the sRGB imported image to Instagram the colors appear as the do in Lightroom on the same decide. If I try to import an image explicitly exported from Lightroom Mobile as either Display P3 or Adobe RGB into the Instagram Android app the colors are desaturated the image is tinted green.

[Jeff R Davis]

OK, I got more detail on this. I did a bunch of testing by exported the same image using Lightroom Android app, Lightroom PC Desktop app, and Lightroom Web. All the exported files are here with names that describe how I generated each.

1. On Lightroom Android Mobile, I exported the image and manually chose all the parameters. I exported separate images while manually selecting each of the three main color spaces (Display P3, sRGB, Adobe RGB).
1. On Lightroom PC Desktop I exported the same three images and manually selected the same color spaces.
1. On Lightroom Web on the PC I manually downloaded the same image.
1. On Lightroom Web on my Android phone I manually downloaded the same image.

I then opened all these images in the latest Photoshop and checked what Photoshop saw as the Color Space. This highlighted what appears to be a NEW MOBILE BUG in the Android app (#3 below).

What I found:

1. Lightroom Web is exporting a JPG with Color Space = "Display P3" on both my PC and Android phone. These images look correct / similar in Photoshop vs. what they look like in Lightroom on the same computer.
1. Lightroom PC Desktop is exporting images with the specified color space (i.e. it shows in Photoshop as "Display P3" if I export the images with that color space). All three of these images look correct / similar in Photoshop vs. what they look like in Lightroom on the same computer.
1. Lightroom Android Mobile - Photoshop is reporting all three of these images as Color Space = "untagged" rather than the Color Space I selected in the Export screen in LR Mobile app on Android. The display looks weird in Photoshop (one is oversaturated, one is undersaturated and green, etc.) compared to the same image in Lightroom on the same computer.

In terms of Instagram, they have a blog post from a couple years ago where they claim they support "Display P3" color space. When I try to add ANY of the "Display P3" files that I generated (through LR Web download, Desktop app, or LR Android app), they all appear correct in the photo gallery chooser screen that is called up from within Instagram, but are desaturated and get a green tint in Instagram itself (i.e. as soon as you hit "Next" to show the photo and start choosing filters).

Any ideas on this?

[Jeff R Davis]

OK, I got more detail on this. I did a bunch of testing by exported the same image using Lightroom Android app, Lightroom PC Desktop app, and Lightroom Web. All the exported files are here with names that describe how I generated each.

1. On Lightroom Android Mobile, I exported the image and manually chose all the parameters. I exported separate images while manually selecting each of the three main color spaces (Display P3, sRGB, Adobe RGB).
2. On Lightroom PC Desktop I exported the same three images and manually selected the same color spaces.
3. On Lightroom Web on the PC I manually downloaded the same image.
4. On Lightroom Web on my Android phone I manually downloaded the same image.

I then opened all these images in the latest Photoshop and checked what Photoshop saw as the Color Space. This highlighted what appears to be a NEW MOBILE BUG in the Android app (#3 below).

What I found:

1. Lightroom Web is exporting a JPG with Color Space = "Display P3" on both my PC and Android phone. These images look correct / similar in Photoshop vs. what they look like in Lightroom on the same computer.
2. Lightroom PC Desktop is exporting images with the specified color space (i.e. it shows in Photoshop as "Display P3" if I export the images with that color space). All three of these images look correct / similar in Photoshop vs. what they look like in Lightroom on the same computer.
3. Lightroom Android Mobile - Photoshop is reporting all three of these images as Color Space = "untagged" rather than the Color Space I selected in the Export screen in LR Mobile app on Android. The display looks weird and colors in each image are different in Photoshop (one is oversaturated, one is undersaturated and green, etc.) compared to the same image in Lightroom on the same computer.

In terms of Instagram, they have a blog post from a couple years ago where they claim they support "Display P3" color space. When I try to add ANY of the "Display P3" files that I generated (through LR Web download, Desktop app, or LR Android app), they all appear correct in the photo gallery chooser screen that is called up from within Instagram, but are desaturated and get a green tint in Instagram itself (i.e. as soon as you hit "Next" to show the photo and start choosing filters).

Any ideas on this?

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Jeff, I researched and found a bug logged in our system for Android failing to tag the color space. I have escalated its priority. 

As for the other issues, I would have to refer you to Instagram. 

[Jeff R Davis]

Thanks, Rikk.

In terms of Instagram app support for wide color gamut, I really need a better solution here from someone. It looks like Facebook app supports wide color gamut on both iOS and Android, but Instagram only supports wide color gamut images on iOS.

I filed a bug on Instagram, but my expectations are low for them to respond to me. Given that Instagram is the number one photo sharing app in the world, making sure that there is a seamless interchange between Lightroom and Instagram seems important. Is this something Adobe can raise with them as well?

Alternatively, can Adobe provide an option so customers can download sRGB files from Lightroom Web so these images can be used in tools / apps that don't support wide color yet?

[Todd Shaner]

Jeff, I researched and found a bug logged in our system for Android failing to tag the color space. I have escalated its priority.

Rikk, This issue is still present in LR Mobile for Android 5.3.1. The export file is in Display P3 color space with no assigned color profile. In short the file will look incorrect in any and all apps that assume untagged means sRGB. What's up with a fix?

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

I have asked engineering to review it for a higher priority. 

[Todd Shaner]

Thanks Rikk!