Over saturation when changing ICC screen profile

[Marc James]

I am posting to see if anyone else has had this issue. I recently picked up the XRite i1 Display and once I had calibrated my Macbook screen, I noticed any photo I open in Photoshop appears over saturated and contract. I've been able to narrow it down to the change in the .ICC file as if I change it back to the default profile, it goes back to looking normal. Has anyone else experienced this or know how to fix it? 

[TheDigitalDog]

Photoshop is color managed. That means it uses the display profile and the document profile to produce a preview. It is correct (within reason) based upon the display profile. 

The 'default' profile (or a custom one) may or may not be ideal but the hardware route should be far more accurate colorimetrically in calibration and profile creation. That one looks more or less saturated isn't the point; one is (more) correct. 

You should always test using good color reference images designed for that task. The color reference images RGB values are such that they are set for output and are editing and display agnostic. Test the output this way and examine for the same color issues so we know it's not your image-specific issues causing the problems:
http://www.digitaldog.net/files/2014PrinterTestFileFlat.tif.zip
This and other such documents can also be downloaded at http://www.digitaldog.net/

[Marc James]

Thanks for the info. As mentioned below, I've also used another monitor calibrator before to create an .ICC profile and it worked fine. For whatever reason, this new one (which also used a different software) seems to do the same thing no matter how I create the profile. 

[D Fosse]

Did you relaunch Photoshop? It loads the monitor profile at startup, and continues to use that profile for the remainder of that session.

[Marc James]

I did restart my computer and Photoshop and still have the same issue. Interestingly, I've used a friend's monitor calibrator before (also made my XRite) and that profile works perfectly fine. It's just this new one which also used a different program that I seem to be having issues with. 

[D Fosse]

And which different program is that?

[Marc James]

The first program is called i1Studio and their new version of it is called calibrite PROFILER. Both were using the XRite i1 Display monitor calibrator. 

[TheDigitalDog]

The first program is called i1Studio and their new version of it is called calibrite PROFILER. Both were using the XRite i1 Display monitor calibrator. 

By @Marc James

With either, never build a V4 (version 4) spec profile.

[Marc James]

Oh that's good to know, I'm not sure if it did make it a V4 but I will check this. 

[TheDigitalDog]

Oh that's good to know, I'm not sure if it did make it a V4 but I will check this. 

By @Marc James

Not all products play nicely with V4; that spec brings nothing to the party; it's useless and often problematic. That could explain why one product previews correctly while the other doesn't, even if both are ICC-aware/color managed. 

[D Fosse]

Not just V4 vs V2 - it's also matrix-based vs LUT-based. The latter can also be problematic in some scenarios. Matrix is always safer. Some calibration software will make LUT profiles by default; some will even make LUT and V4.

[NB, colourmanagement]

@D Fosse "Not just V4 vs V2 - it's also matrix-based vs LUT-based. The latter can also be problematic in some scenarios. Matrix is always safer. Some calibration software will make LUT profiles by default; some will even make LUT and V4."

Macs don't like LUT profiles at all these days.

basICColor display includes this warning installation:

Monitor profiles in Mac OS 10.12 thru 10.15

A really good monitor profile is essential for a color correct visualisation of your pictures!

This notice is needed because Apple no longer supports LUT-type display profiles in Apple Software. The Icons and other elements on the desktop may look whacked and images in Apple ́s programs (e.g. Preview, Photos, Safari...) will not be color correct.

Browsers like Firefox aren ́t any better, just Chrome and Edge will display the correct color if color management is enabled.

Although LUT display profiles are actually an advantage with some monitors, with a high-end hardware-calibrated monitor you will see no drop in quality when using matrix-based profiles.

This is why – in MacOSX 10.12 and later – we recommend to make Matrix type profiles in basICColor display 6. If you should use other monitor profiling software – which we don ́t recommend – you may want to set the profile type to Matrix-based, if that software allows for a choice.

We’d love Apple to fix this!

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

[NB, colourmanagement]

If you have made a screen profile previously and been OK this reads like a profile issue. Be careful with the settings in the X-Rite software. 

However, if COULD be that the X-Rite profile is the good one and you've made all your images too saturated, lets hope not

Like @TheDigitalDog I suggest you do a test with known image -

please go here and download the Adobe RGB testimage: https://www.colourmanagement.net/index.php/downloads_listing/

do the colours and skin tones look natural with any of your proflles

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

[Marc James]

Appreciate the help here, however I can for sure say this seems like a Photoshop issue specifically and not a system or over-saturation image issue. I have a fairly good understanding of how image profiles work within Photoshop and how .icc profiles work when it comes to calibration. I downloaded the test image and viewed it in preview on my mac, and also in Photoshop with my previous calibration and I can see it appears fine. Then changing over to the new profile, the over-saturation and contrast seem to be now how it's shown. I've attached a screenshot and video to showcase the difference. 

I wonder if I need to reach out to X-Rite directly to address this. 

[NB, colourmanagement]

@Marc James yeah definitely something amiss with that new profile I'd say

have you tried remaking it? 

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