Colors Shift during Save for Web Legacy GIF Export

[Confused Fella]

I'm having an issue when I try to export a .gif. The document profile is Adobe RGB 1998. Viewing the .gif preview, you can see that the colors are quite saturated. Note how I haven't selected sRGB. 

Exporting the .gif gives me a much duller result (I am posting a screenshot, the actual file is too large to post.) 

What could be causing this discrepancy between the preview and what is being exported? How can I get the more accurate colors? I don't think it's related to my dither or color table options? 

[TheDigitalDog]

Once exported, you view the image where?

If you reopened it in Photoshop, it looks right or still mismatch?

[J453]

You probably want to use Preview: Monitor Color to view in Photoshop. That will give you an unmanaged preview you're probably seeing wherever you're viewing your GIF.

[Confused Fella]

Thank you for the quick response, apologies for the delay on my part! The .gif looks washed out using the Windows Photos app and viewing it in a web browser. Interestingly, opening the rendered .gif in Photoshop shows it much truer to is original colors. I guess there is a discrepency between how my monitor and how Photoshop displays the colors? I am a student and am not too literate in color profiles and whatnot. 

[Confused Fella]

When I choose the "Original" view in the Save for Web menu, it shows the washed out colors. But it seems like "Original" and "Optimized" are two separate export options, since they seem to have differing file sizes (2 MB vs over 50 MB, respectively.) And yet they're visually identical upon export. when viewed in the Photos App and in a browser... I suppose what I want to know if there is a way I can export the .gif to display with the same vibrant colors as in the optimized preview? 

[TheDigitalDog]

Depending on the version, Windows Photo Viewer isn't color-managed and that alone is a huge issue. Even if you save in sRGB, a non-color managed application isn't handling the color previews correctly/ideally. Without color management, sRGB is a meaningless concept.

[Confused Fella]

Thank you both for the feedback, yeah after some research it does just seem to be a difference between the assigned color profile (Adobe RGB 1998) and the "Monitor Color" option. How the colors appear depends on which program I view them in, with them being dull anywhere except Photoshop. I think it's just like you said, neither the Photos app or Google Chrome is color managed which is leading to these crummy washed-out colors. I don't think there's anything I can really do to fix or account for that. I appreciate the help. 

[TheDigitalDog]

Photoshop's preview is correct because it is color managed. The others are not. As such, there is nothing you can do to 'fix' those other applications.

Photoshop is using color management when you ask for 'monitor' color to show you want a non color managed app on your machine would preview as. If you get a match using that option, more evidence that those other app's are not color managed.

You should be able to access other photo viewers and web browsers that are color managed. And they will then match Photoshop.

[Jeff Arola]

What happens if you check Convert to sRGB?

[NB, colourmanagement]

Diugitaldog is right "Photoshop's preview is correct because it is color managed. The others are not. As such, there is nothing you can do to 'fix' those other applications."

IF you don't like the appearance in Photoshop then colour correction is needed until you do.

Non colour managed applications (like most versions of Windows Photos) will never display images accuarely. Best you can do for those apps (and web browsers) is 'save as' after converting to sRGB [I prefer s'ave as' to export] + embed the profile (for apps that respect that) and if yuore not openignin Photoshop, then don't view on large gamut display [because without colourmanagement the image will be way off if you do. 

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer:: Co-Author:Getting Colour Right
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

[D Fosse]

GIF doesn't support icc profiles, so in this case it doesn't matter much which application is used.

Inside Photoshop, however, the working space will be used, but that's just how Photoshop works. Outside Photoshop it's just an untagged image, and it will be treated differently in other applications.

In web browsers, it will be treated as sRGB. In other applications it will not be color managed at all, and the numbers just passed directly to screen.

So in this case it's probably best to convert to sRGB and hope for the best. No guarantees without an embedded profile. The only certain thing is that Adobe RGB is not a good idea here.

[Michael34435690tw60]

HI, I got the same problem too when attempting to render an animated .gif from Photoshop 2024 from Creative Cloud. The issue of color change happens to my .gif if the animation timeline goes beyond 2-seconds. The screenshot below show version #1, which is exactly 2 seconds, then shows version#2, which is 2.5 seconds. As soon as I went beyond 2 seconds of time, the colors drastically depreciated, looking dull.

Im also considering it's a .gif for web content, not a movie, so 2 seconds seems about right.

I used the export option File > Export > Save for Web Legacy

Hope this helps.

[piperfergusonpix]

How do we make the photos just look like the photos, it's simply exporiting a gif! not sure why or how this could be so complicated in 2025?

[D Fosse]

@piperfergusonpix 

It's complicated because the GIF file format specification does not support color management and icc profiles.

There's nothing Photoshop can do about that.

Internally, Photoshop uses the working space to display the file. But there's no way to export that.