Seemingly random images turning into a green tint when pasted

[keithh17150473]

Hi - This just started happening this week. It's driving me nuts. I first noticed it when I went into Camera Raw filter, after I had finished with my image and closed the box, the image on my photoshop page changed to a green tint. I mean completely neon green. I now also find it's happening when I paste some images into other pages (still in photoshop). The image is normal, I cut and paste it onto another empty page and it's green. I tried unistalling and reinstalling. No help. I cant find a commonality with what's happening.  - help would be very appreciated.

[Michael Bullo]

1. Preferences
Have you tried resetting the Photoshop preferences?
https://helpx.adobe.com/au/photoshop/using/preferences.html
Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift (Windows) or Option+Command+Shift (Mac OS) as you start Photoshop. You are prompted to delete the current settings. The new preferences files are created the next time you start Photoshop.

2. Color Profiles
Could this have something do with color profiles? Are you using common profiles like sRGB or Adobe RGB 1998 or are you accidentally using some odd color profile?

[keithh17150473]

Hey Michael -  thanks for jumping in and helping. I just tried the first recommendation. I re set the PS prefs. I am still getting the same issue. But I have discovered something significant. When I want to paste from one page to another I am now getting this box (see attached) I guess i wasnt seeing it before becaue the 'dont show me again' box was checked. 
Now I don't pretend to know much about what it's saying. This is a grey area to me. I recently upgraded to the latest PS - could this be a factor?

[Michael Bullo]

Nicely found. I think this might be your issue. You have stumbled into the area of color management which can get crazy complicated very quickly. However, if we keep things simple it shouldn't be an issue.

Photoshop files will generally have a profile which dictate how the color will be handled within that file. If they don't have a profile, Photoshop will use defaults that can be changed by the user if needed. When copying and pasting between files with the same color profile everything is cool. When copying and pasting between files with different color profiles, Photoshop is generally smart enough to convert the information so that it looks the same in the other file. This is what Photoshop is referring to in your image when it mentions converting colours. Upon seeing a dialogue box like this I would just click OK and expect things to look fine. Does this now work for you given that you've reset the preferences?

I notice that your Destination includes the word EPSON which suggests to me that the file you are pasting into may have some color profile built for a printer. Try creating a new document and pay close attention to the Color Profile within the new document dialogue box. Make sure it's set to sRGB IEC61966-2.1. This is a great starting point. If you have further questions please let us know.

[Michael Bullo]

PS. You can find the Color Profile for a document by looking in the lower left corner of the Photoshop interface.

[keithh17150473]

Michael - again I thank you for the time you took to help me -cheers!

I followed what you were saying (I think). 
This is what I now know:
I stepped back to an earlier version of PS (that did not help)
I am also getting other versions of the same window (see attached) and this one doesnt show the epson profile
Speaking of epson - is it just a coincidence that I just brought a new epson scanner 12000XL the same week that the problems started?
I am able to apply a band aid to the problem by converting the problematic file to CMYK and then pasting it and then converting it back to CMYK. Like I said, thats just a bandaid

Following your direction, I noticed that my files are indeed a mixture of RGB and sRGB. That is I am thinking the issue, yes? but how can i convert them to the same profile(would that be sRGB???) and how do I make sure they stay on the same page (metaphorically) in the future? I am getting into waters i am unfamiliar with

[Michael Bullo]

Happy to help. Color management gets crazy really quickly, am I right? 🙂

It is a good idea to try and make sure all of your files have a color profile. However, don't be too concerned if they don't as one can always be assigned at any time in the future.

sRGB is the industry standard default color profile. Indeed, in the absence of a color profile within a file most programs will use sRGB by default.

I would guess that your recent problem is related to the Epson scanner. This doesn't mean that anything is wrong. Could it be that you are making scans which have an Epson color profile attached to them? Are you getting strange color shifts when you, for example, copy from a file with an sRGB profile and paste into a document with an Epson profile?

The "Display P3" that you are seeing is likely the result of you taking a screen capture and creating a file from it.

Note that you can set the color profile when you create a new document.

I think you are getting on top of this issue. Keep doing what you've been doing but pay close attention to the color profile of the documents involved. Good luck.

[keithh17150473]

I think we may be getting to the bottom of this, 

I opened a new file and I saw what is the default. (see screen shot) is that correct or should it be changed? 
One related question - you said i can change a profile of an existing file.....how do I do that? I only see a 'mode' button in the properties window, and it doesnt show sRGB as an option
 

[Michael Bullo]

It looks like when creating a new document Photoshop is defaulting to a color profile of sRGB which is a great default.

If you need to change the color profile having already created the file try one of these two options...

Edit > Assign Profile


Use this option if you want to change the color profile of the file and are ok with the visual appearance of the file changing.
 
Edit > Convert to Profile


Use this option if you want to change the color profile of the file without changing the visual appearance of the file.

[keithh17150473]

ok - so I think im getting this. Next time this happens, I will try a few experiments now that I have these new options.

One final question - I looked in the prefs of the epson scanner and found this (see attached) is this something I should be changing? should ICC profile be checked or not?

[Michael Bullo]

I think embedding a profile when you scan is a good idea. Your current settings appear to be embedding Adobe RGB (1998) which is good. If you are wanting to easily copy and paste between this file and new documents in Photoshop then set the color profile of those new documents to Adobe RGB (1998). Remember that if you need to copy and paste between files in Photoshop with different profiles it's not that big a deal as Photoshop can easily make those conversions. Things can get weird though if you aren't using typical color profiles like sRGB or Adobe RGB (1998).

If you are still getting strange results it could be worth exploring the different options available within the drop down menus in your screen capture. You might want to post back to this forum at that point and some color management experts can offer you some more specific advice.

[keithh17150473]

Thanks for all your help Michael. I don't know if i'm out of this jam yet untill I start using it again today. But regardless, you have helped me identify the greater issue and probably given me the means to trouble shoot it from here. I thank you for that.

[Michael Bullo]

My pleasure. Thank you and best of luck.

[D Fosse]

I'm fairly certain the Epson profile is corrupt/defective/not written to icc spec. Just avoid it and don't use it.

On a general note.

I don't agree that color management is difficult. The basic principles are much simpler than most people think. Left alone, without user interference, it almost always works out of the box (assuming all profiles are good). Most problems happen whenever people start feeling they need to do something.

The problem with the notion that color management is difficult is that people start to look for complicated solutions. That's where it usually goes wrong. Just leave it alone.

The basic principle is extremely simple, and applies everywhere. There's a source profile, and there's a destination profile. The first is converted into the second. That's it. As long as you can tell source and destination apart, and not mix them up, it'll work.

From time to time I just need to get this off my chest 😉

[keithh17150473]

Hi D-Fosse,

I hear you. I think it is probably as simple as you say, but only until it isn't. I personally changed nothing, made no assumptions, or alterations and certainly abide by the 'if it aint broke...." philosophy. But nevertheless, it broke for me. But i'm riding the learning curve now thanks to the help of forum user Michael, so if I come away from this with better knowledge then it's all good.