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isaacs28345972
isaacs28345972
Participant
December 23, 2019
Answered

Photoshop work screen is desaturated(in color) compared to my files/photos.

  • December 23, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 11511 views

Let me just start off with saying that I've used Photoshop for 3 years now and this is the first time I've dealt with anything related to desaturated colors.As you can see the colors are a lot different. It sucks because I paint in Photoshop everyday. I didn't notice the color difference until I saved a landscape page I was painting.

My guess is that my Photoshop is displaying the colors in CMYK format, but every color setting I look at it says RGB. I've looked up many different solutions for my problem, but none of them work.

 

Here are my color settings:

Any information on this issue would be amazing. Thank you!

Correct answer D Fosse

That means you have a broken monitor profile.

 

Proof to Monitor RGB disables all color management in Photoshop, and bypasses the broken profile. IOW you're not solving anything, you're just sweeping it under the carpet. The profile is still broken.

 

The proper fix for this is to use a calibrator to make a new profile. If you don't have one, use sRGB IEC61966-2.1 until you get one. See above for details on how.

4 replies

Per Berntsen
Community Expert
Per BerntsenCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 23, 2019

Photoshop is color managed, and uses the monitor profile to display correct colors.

The Photos app is not color managed, and can not be expected to display correct colors. (no native Windows applications are color managed)

If you have a wide gamut monitor (which I suspect that you do), applications without color management will display over saturated.

 

The solution is to use only color managed applications to view your work. You can use Bridge, or a third party viewer.

I recommend the FastStone image viewer, which is free for personal use.

You have to enable color management under Settings > CMS. Both boxes must be checked.

Restart the application after changing the settings.

It will now display identically to Photoshop.

 

 

If colors in Photoshop have changed all of a sudden, the cause is most likely a defective monitor profile.

As troubleshooting, and as a possible temporary fix, try setting the monitor profile to sRGB.

If your monitor is wide gamut, use Adobe RGB.

 

Close Photoshop.

Press the Windows key + R, type colorcpl in the box and press Enter.

Add the sRGB profile and set it as default.

If this fixes the issue, it is recommended that you calibrate the monitor with a hardware calibrator.

This will also create and install a custom monitor profile that accurately describes your monitor.

Depending on your monitor, sRGB may (or may not) be be close enough, so for best results, use a calibrator.

 

 

    T
    timn16767077
    Participant
    September 20, 2022

    With the document open, use the "view" menu and select "proof colors"

    I'm no expert but this works for me. 

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    September 20, 2022

    That means you have a broken monitor profile.

     

    Proof to Monitor RGB disables all color management in Photoshop, and bypasses the broken profile. IOW you're not solving anything, you're just sweeping it under the carpet. The profile is still broken.

     

    The proper fix for this is to use a calibrator to make a new profile. If you don't have one, use sRGB IEC61966-2.1 until you get one. See above for details on how.

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 23, 2019

      It looks like a defective monitor profile.

       

      If you are using the Windows "Photos" app to compare, it is not color managed and does not use the monitor profile.

       

      There will always be a difference between applications that are color managed (Photoshop), and applications that are not (Photos). A lift in the shadow values is in itself normal, because the profile corrects for a shadow dip that almost all LCD panels have natively. But hardly as much as this, suggesting a problem with the profile.

       

      Are you using a calibrator to make your monitor profile? If not, you probably got a bad manufacturer profile distributed through Windows Update.

       

      Replace your current profile with sRGB IEC61966-2.1 as a temporary workaround until you get a calibrator. Relaunch Photoshop when done, it needs to load the new profile at startup.

       

       

       

        isaacs28345972
        isaacs28345972Author
        Participant
        December 26, 2019

        Thank you! This fixed the problem!

        lambiloon
        Community Expert
        lambiloonCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 23, 2019

        hi try to reset your preferences hope that helps...Regards

        Ali Sajjad / Graphic Design Trainer / Freelancer / Adobe Certified Professional
        JJMack
        Community Expert
        JJMackCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 23, 2019

        What mode are you editing in. Do the Image files you are editing have a color profile so Photoshop will edit then in the correct color space. Why guess why not look?

        JJMack
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