dragging a layer from psd into a jpg file makes it look faded

[Chris201Chris]

I have received a bunch of psd files from a photographer. When I open them in photoshop and saves as jpg they still look the same, but when I drag the single layer in the psd file into another image in photoshop (in this case a jpg), the colors look more faded. It is difficult to show the effect when I don't want to post the full portrait here, but if you e.g. look at the forehead it is reder, more colorful in the original. Does anyone know why (both are RGB 8 bits)?

[TheDigitalDog]

Check your color settings, be sure you have Paste Mismatch warnings on. 

You want to ensure you convert from one color space to a differing one IF you copy and paste (drag and drop) and they differ. 

Both being RGB is meaningless. One could be Adobe RGB (1998) and the other sRGB. Both are RGB, both differ. 

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

That happens when one of the files is untagged (doesn't have an embedded color profile). Never work with untagged files, always make sure the profile is embedded.

The profile is normally embedded by default, as long as you haven't made any changes to color settings. In Export you have to check the box.

If there is no profile you need to assign one.

[Chris201Chris]

This was the explanation. The document I was copying into had an unassigned profile.

[TheDigitalDog]

Bingo! Now update your color settings so PS tells you this; untagged data is bad! 

See: http://digitaldog.net/files/PhotoshopColorSettings.mp4

Photoshop CC Color Settings and Assign/Convert to Profile video

[Chris201Chris]

As I want to match the colors in my photo to that of some photos on a webpage, is there a way to see what color profile is used on the webpage (when I have selected save as image the image seems to have been saved with an unassigned profile)?

[TheDigitalDog]

You could download the image from the web and hopefully, it contains a profile but no guarantees. 

Your best 'guess' for untagged data is sRGB. Assign that first (use the Assign Profile command), see if the color appearance is (subjectively) OK. If so, tag that data and move on. 

[Chris201Chris]

Do the numbers after sRGB (see attach screenshot) matter? I want to ensure a photo I send to the company (who has the webpage) "matches" the other photos on their website as much as possible (I want to make it "fool proof" as I don't feel they have succeeded 100% when they in the past have added other photos after the original ones).
When I right click on the photos on their webpage and save and then open in Photoshop they are all untagged RGB. Should I try profiles (sRGB, etc) and compare to see which profile makes the photo look most similar to that on their web page (my monitor is calibrated) and then apply the same profile to my own photo before adjusting this to match the others in color? Or, can I keep my photo with the current profile (Adobe RGB (1998))?

[D Fosse]

sRGB IEC61966-2.1 is the full official name, usually referred to simply as sRGB.

All major web browsers today treat untagged images as sRGB. Effectively they assign sRGB just like you would in Photoshop. In other words - assigning sRGB in Photoshop should be a dead match to what you see in the web browser (if it isn't, something's wrong).

The one exception is Firefox, where you have to manually set this policy of assigning sRGB to untagged material.

The reason you should always embed the profile even if web browsers don't strictly need it, is that other image viewers haven't adopted the same strategy. If there is no profile, a color managed image viewer won't assume anything, it will just pass the numbers straight through uncorrected (which is the definition of no color management).