Wrong colours only in Adobe programs

[aniceamy]

Hey,

a year ago, I had the same problem and here it is again...

(Last time it tried so much, that I didn´t know what solved the problem in the end.)

When I open my photos in Photoshop/Lightroom/Bridge they look very different to what they look like in the Windows Photo Preview or on the camera.

(left: photoshop / right: Windows Preview)

The colour is very different, and especially the shadows are looking a little yellow/green.

And it isn´t possible to edit it in an easy way.

This photo is in Adobe RGB, but I want to edit it in sRGB like always.

These are my settings ( I did not change them - the problem appeared with no reason)

I´ve updatet photoshop and all my graphic drivers. I tried to change the colour profile of my monitor (BenQ RL2450H) and I emptied the caches in all of the Adobe Programs. Nothing helped.

Hope you have an Idea ...

[Per Berntsen · Accepted solution]

First of all, Photoshop, Lightroom and Bridge are color managed, and will display correct colors.

The viewer you're using (is it the Windows 10 Photos app?) is probably not color managed, and will display wrong colors.

In many non-color managed applications, files in Adobe RGB will be desaturated, like your example above. sRGB files will display more correctly.

Are you shooting RAW files? If so, the image you see on the back of the camera is a jpg preview that's embedded in the raw file. Any settings you have used in the camera - like Picture styles, Active D-lighting, saturation, etc, will be applied to the jpg, but not to the raw file. These settings may be included in the raw file, but Adobe applications cannot understand them, and ignore them.

So I suggest that you turn off any special settings in the camera, (or set them to Neutral) which will give you a preview closer to what you see in Adobe applications.

If you always want to edit in sRGB, set up Ligthroom to send files to Photoshop in sRGB under Edit > Preferences > External editing.

If you use Camera Raw, set the color space to sRGB under Workflow settings. (clck the link at the bottom of the Camera Raw window)

In the PS Color settings, the default for RGB Color management policies (Farbmanagement-Richtlinien) is Preserve embedded profiles (Eingebettete Profile beibehalten). This is also the recommended setting, and I suggest that you set it back to default.

When you convert from Adobe RGB or ProPhoto to sRGB, some color information is lost, and although you may not see it on screen, this information cannot be retrieved. When working with raw files, it's a different story, since the original is never changed - all the edits are applied to a new file - leaving the original untouched.

[Samijune]

I am having this issue suddenly after an Adobe update.

I don't understand how you (and so many others) can simply say that Adobe colors are right and everything else is wrong when across all programs, devices (apple and pc, phones, tablets, desktops, laptops) and web browsers, my photos are showing the same colors except for when I open them in my CC desktop programs (mobile programs are fine)? On top of this the files suddenly displaying wrong colors are files that I created only days before in the same program that is suddenly malfunctioning. When I was previously editing or creating the files in the same program, they were "accurate" and now, though the rgb codes indicate the colors are the same, they are displaying completely off in the very same working file but look "normal" when I export and view elsewhere. All the while my settings have not changed. 

Clearly if I am entering a HEX# or RGB code for a specific shade of yellow but it is displaying as a dark orange in program but is the accurate shade of yellow when I export, something is wrong with my adobe program settings, not the viewer. My monitor profile has been calibrated and has not changed. I've tried other profiles to no avail and yes I am in RGB mode, not cmyk. Even if I was in cmyk, the difference would not be this drastic. I've tried disabling my graphics processor and updating drivers. I've seen no change whatsoever. I've had to resort to using Canva and Lightroom Mobile. The only program that hasn't had an issue is Premiere. 

Any suggestions? 

[Samijune]

Update: of course as soon as I decide to come accost the forums, the issue resolves its self. 

It turned out to be a faulty nvidia driver update. After updating again today, all the programs have reverted to color accuracy after simply restarting. 

[D Fosse]

That sounds very much like a broken/defective/corrupt monitor profile, distributed through Windows Update. The monitor/laptop manufacturers do this all the time and it's a common problem.

The only way to have control over the monitor profile is to use a calibrator. All advanced Photoshop users will have one. Without a valid monitor profile Photoshop can't display correctly. Other applications without color management support don't use the profile and are unaffected.

Simple test: Turn on Proof to Monitor RGB (Ctrl+Y). This bypasses the monitor profile and makes Photoshop behave like any other non-color managed application. If this looks more correct, the profile is bad. That's not a fix, just diagnostic. The profile is still bad.

[Samijune]

I was worried this was the issue since I recently did a windows update. I have calibrated my screen in the past year but I don't have a calibrator on hand atm.

It turned out to be a faulty GPU update which was fixed when I updated nvidia drivers again today.

All is well. Thank you for your response!

[Theresa J]

The short answer is that Adobe colors are correct and Windows Photo Preview is incorrect. Per Berntsen​ put a lot of effort into explaining why.

[D Fosse]

Ah, thank you, Theresa. I was trying to say exactly that, but it didn't occur to me to just say it, in so many words

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Under »Farbmanagement Richtlinien« you set »In RGB-Arbeitsfarbraum konvertieren« for RGB.

You set »Beim Öffnen wählen« so it should not automatically damage your image on opening without your input but why did you do that?

To convert a image to another Color Space it would seem more prudent to use Edit > Convert to Profile.

As for meaningful screenshots: Please set the Status Bar to »Document Profile« before taking and posting screenshots concerning Color Management issues in Photoshop and don’t clip the images to such an extent.

[aniceamy]

it may be true, that Adobe colors are correct and Windows Photo Preview is incorrect BUT the colours in Photoshop changed from one day to the other. Means: The same photo looked different in Photoshop a day before. The Photoshop colors and Windows colors were the same. They were always the same.

As I said, I had the same problem a year ago, and I tried everything. I uninstalled the programs and so on. And one of all these actions helped but I dont know which of them. But then all my photos looked the same in Windows and Photoshop again.

So this is why I know, that the reason ist not as simple as "windows colors are incorrect".

And it changed without changing camera or Photoshop stettings, it changed after the Windows Update.

[Per Berntsen]

it changed after the Windows Update.

I assume that you are on Windows 10, which is known to install low quality/defective monitor profiles when doing updates. The profiles from BenQ are probably no good.

Try setting the monitor profile to sRGB, and if that fixes the issue, you should ideally calibrate your monitor with a hardware calibrator, which will create and install a new monitor profile that accurately describes your monitor.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

While you stated

This photo is in Adobe RGB, but I want to edit it in sRGB like always.

We don’t actually know what the Color Space of the image opened in Photoshop is.

Your Coior Settings are set to convert to the RGB Working Space (generally a bad idea) but not without user input, so please set the Status Bar to »Document Profile« and post a meaningful screenshot.

[D Fosse]

The monitor profile is an absolutely crucial component in the whole Photoshop ecosystem. The application relies on it to display correctly.

That's why we all have calibrators, so that this is always under full control. If there's a problem with the profile, if it doesn't exactly fit the current conditions - make a new one. I make new profiles several times a month.