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Tr5EED
Participant
August 21, 2020
Answered

Color renders differently in and out of Photoshop

  • August 21, 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 2715 views

I have been having issues with how the colors of my photos render differently in photoshop and when I open the jpg somewhere else. I usually start by editing the raw file in lightroom and continue in photoshop to to do more edits. I save it in jpg afterwards using my default color profile (prophoto rgb) and an srgb version. But when I open the 2 jpegs outside photoshop they end up with so much contrast. I also tried opening it on my iphone and the picture still has too much contrast. I don't know if the issue is with Photoshop or something else. Can someone please explain to me what's going on because I don't know how to correct it. I have attached a sample of what I'm experiencing. It shows the same photo opened in photoshop and in other photo apps.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Bob_Hallam

    First, this image is using ProPhoto RGB so unless your printing it on a wide gamut printer and complaining what you most likely have is two devices that have different size color gamuts.  If you saved in sRGB the results should be much better if the devices cover that gamut.  

    5 replies

    Bob_Hallam
    Bob_HallamCorrect answer
    Legend
    August 21, 2020

    First, this image is using ProPhoto RGB so unless your printing it on a wide gamut printer and complaining what you most likely have is two devices that have different size color gamuts.  If you saved in sRGB the results should be much better if the devices cover that gamut.  

    ICC programmer and developer, Photographer, artist and color management expert, Print standards and process expert.
      didiermazier
      Community Expert
      didiermazierCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 21, 2020

      You should specify  that you want photoshop to emulate srgb… so you could see in photoshop the image the way it will be once exported

       

      davescm
      Community Expert
      davescmCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 21, 2020

      In general yes, Photoshop is going to use the document profiles correctly along with the monitor profile, whereas non colour managed software will ignore both.

      If you want to add a further layer of accuracy, then it is important that your monitor profile describes your monitor with its current settings. That is why many of us use hardware calibration devices along with their associated profiling software (e.g i1Display) to ensure that the profile does describe the monitor accurately.

       

      The advice above to export images to the web in sRGB format is a sensible compromise and images will display correctly in colour managed applications and close to intended on non colour managed systems with sRGB displays. Folk using wide gamut displays and non colour managed applications will see the wrong colour - but there is nothing you can do about that.

       

      Dave

       

        davescm
        Community Expert
        davescmCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        August 21, 2020

        The simple explanation below might help you:

         

        Colour Management simple explanation

        Digital images are made up of numbers. In RGB mode, each pixel has a number representing Red, a number representing Green and a Number representing Blue. The problem comes in that different devices can be sent those same numbers but will show different colours. To see a demonstration of this, walk into your local T.V. shop and look at the different coloured pictures – all from the same material.

        To ensure the output device is showing the intended colours then a colour management system needs to know two things.

        1. What colours do the numbers in the document represent? 
        This is the job of the document profile which describes the exact colour to be shown when Red=255 and what colour of white is meant when Red=255, Green = 255 and Blue =255. It also describes how the intermediate values move from 0 through to 255 – known as the tone response curve (or sometimes “gamma”).
        Examples of colour spaces are (Adobe RGB1998, sRGB IEC61966-2.1)
        With the information from the document profile, the colour management system knows what colour is actually represented by the pixel values in the document.

        1. What colour will be displayed on the printer/monitor if it is sent certain pixel values?
          This is the job of the monitor/printer & paper profile. It should describe exactly what colours the device is capable of showing and, how the device will respond when sent certain values.
          So with a monitor profile that is built to represent the specific monitor (or a printer profile built to represent the specific printer, ink and paper combination) then the colour management system can predict exactly what colours will be shown if it sends specific pixel values to that device.

          So armed with those two profiles, the colour management system will convert the numbers in the document to the numbers that must be sent to the device in order that the correct colours are displayed.

        So what can go wrong :

        1. The colours look different in Photoshop, which is colour managed, to the colours in a different application which is not colour managed.
          This is not actually fault, but it is a commonly raised issue. It is the colour managed version which is correct – the none colour managed application is just sending the document RGB numbers to the output device regardless without any conversion regardless of what they represent in the document and the way they will be displayed on the output device.

        2. The colour settings are changed in Photoshop without understanding what they are for.
          This results in the wrong profiles being used and therefore the wrong conversions and the wrong colours.
          If Photoshop is set to Preserve embedded profiles – it will use the colour profile within the document.

        3. The profile for the output device is incorrect.
          The profile should represent the behaviour of the device exactly. If the wrong profile is used it will not. Equally if the settings on the device are changed in comparison to those settings when the profile was made, then the profile can no longer describe the behaviour of the device. Two examples would be using a printer profile designed for one paper, with a different paper. A second example would be using a monitor profile but changing the colour/contrast etc settings on the monitor.
          The monitor profile is set in the operating system (in Windows 10 that is under Settings>System>Display >Advanced) which leads to a potential further issue. Operating system updates can sometimes load a different monitor profile, or a broken profile, which no longer represents the actual monitor.

         

         

        Colour management is simple to use provided the document profile is correct, always save or export with an embedded profile, and the monitor/printer profile is correct. All the math is done in the background.

         

        I hope that helps

         

        Dave

          davescm
          Community Expert
          davescmCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          August 21, 2020

          Some applications are colour managed and use information embedded in the document color profile* and the monitor colour profile* to translate the pixels values into correctly displayed colours.  Photoshop is one of those applications.

          Some applications however are not color managed and just send the pixel values to the monitor, ignoring the document and monitor profiles. 

          That is why you will see a difference.

           

          *The document profile describes what colours are represented by the pixel values in a document. So the same values represent different colours in an sRGB document and a Prophoto document.

          ** The monitor profile describes the behaviour of the monitor so that the colour management system can ensure that the document values are translated and sent to the screen as values that will display the correct colour.

          Dave

            T
            Tr5EEDAuthor
            Participant
            August 21, 2020

            Thank you for your reply, Dave. So would you say that I can trust the colours that photoshop displays more than what other application displays? Would the same explain why when I open the picture on another device it still appears to have more contrast than what I see on photoshop?

            btassev
            btassev
            Participant
            August 21, 2020

            I would suggest that you check what color space you use when you are editing. You can change the color space of your file by going to Edit > Convert to Profile.

             

            Also if you are using Lightroom, you need to check how it exports your images to Photoshop. You can do that in the Preferences/Properties window. In the External Editing Tab you will have to choose FIle Format, Color Space, Bit Depth, and Resolution.

             

            I would suggest that you save all your files intended for web or other applications in sRGB IEC61966-2.1, because this is the color space most apps and the internet as a whole live in 🙂

             

            Boris

            M
            MANUELA5C71
            Participant
            August 21, 2020

            Have you tried to save it in another format, maybe PNG?

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