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Inspiring
March 1, 2019
Answered

Why am I always having to convert color when I use a different image editor?

  • March 1, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 2371 views

I'm using PE 2019. I am transitioning from using GIMP 2.8 so I still like to do somethings there. Every time I open a .psd file there it asks me if I will

convert the file to a different color scheme (or something to do with color anyway--I'm not on GIMP right now). What is that about and does it substantively

affect the image quality? Thanks.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Jeff Arola

    In the basic version of gimp from gimp.org it's best to convert the profile to use gimp's default sRGB.

    According to what i've read gimp works best when editing an image if the image uses gimps default sRGB profile.

    https://docs.gimp.org/2.8/en/gimp-imaging-color-management.html

    https://ninedegreesbelow.com/photography/patched-gimp-compared-to-default-gimp.html

    Photoshop elements is different in that it's generally recommended to edit an image in it's own color profile

    then convert later if needed, depending on the intended destination of the finished image.

    Pse 2019 opens the images with the embedded profile instead of converting, except in the case of camera

    raw images that don't have embedded profiles. Then pse 2019 uses the profile set under Edit>Color Settings.

    Also pse 2019 gives you a choice of assigning a profile if the image opened other than a camera raw image has

    no profile (untagged) and Edit>Color Settings is set to Allow me to Chose.

    For example, images posted on the web should always have an sRGB profile embedded.

    https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/using/setting-color-management.html

    1 reply

    Jeff Arola
    Community Expert
    Jeff ArolaCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    March 1, 2019

    In the basic version of gimp from gimp.org it's best to convert the profile to use gimp's default sRGB.

    According to what i've read gimp works best when editing an image if the image uses gimps default sRGB profile.

    https://docs.gimp.org/2.8/en/gimp-imaging-color-management.html

    https://ninedegreesbelow.com/photography/patched-gimp-compared-to-default-gimp.html

    Photoshop elements is different in that it's generally recommended to edit an image in it's own color profile

    then convert later if needed, depending on the intended destination of the finished image.

    Pse 2019 opens the images with the embedded profile instead of converting, except in the case of camera

    raw images that don't have embedded profiles. Then pse 2019 uses the profile set under Edit>Color Settings.

    Also pse 2019 gives you a choice of assigning a profile if the image opened other than a camera raw image has

    no profile (untagged) and Edit>Color Settings is set to Allow me to Chose.

    For example, images posted on the web should always have an sRGB profile embedded.

    https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/using/setting-color-management.html

    B
    BadStarAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 2, 2019

    Hi Jeff. Thanks for the really great answer. A fair amount of it went over my head, but I got the basics. I don't like the idea of losing color quality if I don't choose to convert to RGB in GIMP. (I am almost entirely concerned with making ebook covers, which will of course be displayed online. I just buy digital photos online at Deposit Photo and then make them into ebooks. No photography at all.) But what I'm wondering is if I shuttle back and forth between PE and GIMP (assuming I do convert at GIMP) am I going to be losing color and image quality?

    But if I just resize in GIMP (or anything not colored related) I can just choose to keep the PE color info when I open a PE image in GIMP, right?

    And I'm gathering (I'd never even heard of it) sRGB is really important for someone like me. So do all the images made exclusively in PE have sRGB? And so if I convert the PE files to RGB in GIMP I will lose sRGB, right? So maybe that's a good argument for staying in PE?

    Jeff Arola
    Community Expert
    Jeff ArolaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 2, 2019

    What profile are your images in photoshop elements?

    (before you open them in Gimp)

    You can tell by going to the bottom left of the Document Window, clicking on the small sideways arrow and selecting

    Document Profile.

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