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kswezy
Participant
October 2, 2015
Question

Why are colors on computer screen different than phone screen?

  • October 2, 2015
  • 7 replies
  • 34792 views

This is not technically a Photoshop issue, but it's related to images, so I hope that someone can help. I created a pdf document that was subsequently turned into a Google doc. When I shared the document, it looked fine on my computer screen, but on the phone screen it had a fluorescent look to it. The original pdf was RGB, so it's not that I saved it as CMYK because I know that would cause this issue. Does anyone know how I can avoid this problem in the future?

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    7 replies

    NB, colourmanagement
    Community Expert
    NB, colourmanagementCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 3, 2020

    Herbery2001 wrote:

    "one thing is clear: if you fail to colour calibrate your own screen, you have no foundation to build upon. Anyone as a self-respecting (semi-professional) creative owes it to him/herself to hardware colour calibrate their screen(s) they work on. And get the hardware which can actually handle a reasonable colour gamut. I am often amazed by students of mine who insist on designing on cheap uncalibrated laptop screens, and then complain about their colours being all wrong when the work is viewed on other screens!

     

    D Fosse is correct in his estimation: if you want good colour, you start by investing a bit of money, purchase a Spyder, x-Rite, etc., and you adapt to a colour managed workflow in your work. You should be able to trust the colours you see on your screen while you design at the very least."

    absolutely right about the need for screen calibration (I'm actually finding phone screens seem pretty consistently P3 colourspace now which would account for some increase in saturation when sRGB image are sent). As to devices -  I'd go for the Xrite i1 display Pro, seems better than Spyder according to those I trust who have tested. And as a serious user, I'd add basICColor display 6 too (it works with Spyder or i1) , but, then, that’s just me. 

     

    I hope this helps
    neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer
    google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
    [please only use the blue reply button at the top of the page, this maintains the original thread title and chronological order of posts]

     

    K
    Kaviya029
    Participant
    December 3, 2020

    I too have the same problem but in adobe illustrator. That whenever I export a file in JPEG/PDF format and send to others via any medium(Whatsapp/mail) I get an which is very bright (fluorescent look).Can anyone help me with it...Searching for answer for a long time but couldn't find any. Anyone having the answer?

     

    Ussnorway7605025
    Ussnorway7605025
    Legend
    December 3, 2020

    Pdf is not a good standard for images and Jpeg is just crappy... ime you are much better off placing your artwork in Adobe Lightroom cloud then share that as a link or there are other 3rd party options around if you don't want to use Adobe

    K
    Kaviya029
    Participant
    December 3, 2020
    Thanks for your answer..but I am not Having Lightroom...and I am a basic
    designer...So can you pleaseee say some other option
    KShinabery212
    Community Expert
    KShinabery212Community Expert
    Community Expert
    July 13, 2018

    I guess you have received good answers already.  So this is more of a comment.

    Almost every screen may be a little different.  As monitors are can be calibrated.... 

    Example I was working in an agency and my monitor was using the truest colors and then I spoke with one of our web designers and he had this bright neon stuff going on with his screen.  I asked him why and he said he liked it.  I almost shook my head and laughed.  How can you be a web designer and work on a screen where it is calibrated to show the colors in this bright neon fashion!  Gag...  My eyes were bleeding.

    The best thing to do in my opinion is to calibrate your monitor the best you can.  Granted at times there may be noticeable differences.... but hopefully not as drastic as the neon stuff my co-worker had going on (honestly that really blew my mind as I am not sure how he could design a website and choose colors for it with having that big mess).

    If anything I hope that my story made you smile.

    Let's connect on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kshinabery/
    kenl27075531
    kenl27075531
    Participant
    July 12, 2018

    what laptop are you using ? i had the same problem before and solved by this How to calibrate your laptop screen without any physical calibrator(Lenovo Y50) [NEW] - YouTube . It's work. Your welcome

    Herbert2001
    Herbert2001
    Inspiring
    October 2, 2015

    What a funny conversation.

    Unless the mobile device is color calibrated, no matter even if the viewing app supports color management (most do not on mobile), this discussion is a bit up in the air. Mobile devices' screens are all over the place in terms of colours, saturation, brightness, and quality. And as far as I am aware, Google Drive (docs) are not color managed either - and Android kernels are not suited for color calibration either, I believe?

    And my first question to the OP would be: is your computer screen color calibrated? If not, then the discussion sort-of stops right there. You would have no baseline to compare with: the device's colours might actually be closer to "true". You cannot know for certain.

    Terri Stevens
    Terri Stevens
    Legend
    October 3, 2015

    Herbert,

    I think you are going to confuse the OP here.

    First you say the mobile device needs to be calibrated and then you say Android devices are not suited to color calibration. So what is the OP supposed to make of that except be bemused. In fact Android kernels can now be calibrated but unless you are ultra fussy there is no need .

    Android color management is finally possible, thanks to new Datacolor app

    Mobile devices support sRGB out of the box. I'm not saying a three year old device will still support its full calibration and if the default screen settings are altered it most certainly will not. But new devices do and you have to approach this problem as if that is your target device.

    iOS and color management: why your pictures sometimes look weird on mobile devices (and how to fix them) - Analog Senses

    The above is an excellent article of this very topic

    You say if the OP's screen is not calibrated he is wasting his time and that's simply not true. Not everyone is like you and I and fork out for a 300 dollar X-Rite. The reality is most new computer monitors are setup to cover the sRGB color space and provided they are used at their default settings, even with a factory icc , most do a pretty good job of it. You surely don't think that everyone surfin the web has a calibrated screen? So according to your argument web designers should be wasting their time designing with the sRGB colors in mind. I fully concur that this is not currently the perfect solution but its all we have at this point in the game and if you disagree technically, rather that theoretically  with what Gene and I have suggested post your alternative and we can debate it.

    Terri

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 3, 2015

    I think Herbert makes a valid point. Let's not overthink this.

    If people wish to see correct colors, they need to take steps to ensure that they do.Some scenarios and configurations just cannot be trusted, and there's nothing wrong in pointing that out.

    I keep hearing the argument that most people have systems that are all over the map anyway, so why bother. My position is that's their problem, and it's not my obligation to accommodate their lack of a proper setup.

    But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be helped along the way if they need it. And then they need to be told what the real situation is.

      Terri Stevens
      Terri Stevens
      Legend
      October 2, 2015

      As Gene said your not using color management so your image will look different. The color space best suited to the web is sRGB. What you need to do is set the save for web dialog up something like this

      Terri

      Terri Stevens
      Terri Stevens
      Legend
      October 2, 2015

      To Save as PDF its much the same, use low or no compression and check the embed profile in the save dialog

      Here layers is checked but that's not necessary

      Terri

      gener7
      Community Expert
      gener7Community Expert
      Community Expert
      October 2, 2015

      If it's PDF he wants, then the file format should be "Photoshop PDF".  Odd enough, Acrobat will not directly convert a PSD to PDF, Terri.

      I forgot the screenshot for the Photoshop PDF setting, here it is.

      Photoshop PDF's "smallest size" optimizes for web and converts to sRGB.

      gener7
      Community Expert
      gener7Community Expert
      Community Expert
      October 2, 2015

      It's not the color mode (RGB), but the color space that matters. sRGB is a common color space. So if you save a PDF, use the "Smallest File Size" setting. It's optimized for Web and Phone where bandwidth matters, and will save in that most common color space for devices.

      Gary Ballard has some excellent tutorials on Color Management.

      DOWNLOAD PDI TEST IMAGE Photodisc Color Management Calibration Target Reference Image Baby Faces How To Achieve True Pri…

      Gene

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