Color Mgt. -- Help Needed!

[amanda_bennett]

Hi, Everyone,

 

I'm going to try to do my best to explain the predicament that I find myself

in. I'm going to try to provide all relevant inforation...but some of it may

not be relevant to my problem.

 

I shot a wedding last weekend with my camera (mistakenly) set to Adobe RGB.

Everything was shot in RAW. I've used Lightroom to go through my photos and

make some tweaks to exposure, etc., etc. The photos look great in Lightroom

and they look great in Photoshop. When I convert the photos to JPG and export

them to a folder, they looks SIGNIFICANTLY darker (read, horrible) in Windows

Explorer (and any other Windows product) than they do in any Adobe product.

I've tried exporting them as Adobe RGB, sRGB, ProPhoto RGB...you name it, I

think I've tried it. I've also used Adobe Camera Raw and find that I have the

exact same issue...photos look great in said program but dark photos in any

program/application that isn't Adobe branded. My monitor is NOT calibrated (I

know, I know...), but if that's an issue it seems like it's secondary, since I

see the same photo in two very different ways on the same screen.

 

Has anyone else encountered a similar problem and, if so, do you have any

recommendations? Admittedly, I'm quite new to the digital arena and Photoshop

in particular. I have tried to research this problem, figuring it was quite

common, to no avail, so any advice that you can give me will be greatly

appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

[kosta_cherry]

1. When you export, do you check "Include ICC profile"? If you didn't, that's your problem.

<br>

2. Web programs are set to use sRGB color profile. I don't know if Windows <b>by default</b> uses ICM or not, but if yes, it uses color profile of the monitor (if set), or something else (if not set). Sorry, can't help you on latter as I never had my monitor non-calibrated.

<br><br>

SY-

Kosta.

[amanda_bennett]

Thanks, Kosta. I did just check that "include ICC profile" is checked, and it is. Any other suggestions? It HAS to be something obvious --- I've spent too long trying to figure it out for it to actually be as complicated as I've made it! ;)

[iskandar_azaman___kuala_lu]

Since you shot in RAW there shouldn't be any problems. It doesn't matter 'cos the colour space is chosen later. Try using ACR and edit in sRGB. Then just save as JPEG. It shouldn't look any different.

 

Also, try calibrating with Adobe Gamma. It's better than nothing.

[fotografz]

Hi Amanda. If you don't mind I'll walk you through a few "double checks".

 

1) with an image opened in PS, go to the top menu strip and click on "Edit" ... scroll to

"Color Settings" ... at the top of the dialog box that opens there is a circle with colors and

a blurb of copy next to it. That copy should say "Synchronized: your Creative Suite

applications are synchronized using the same color settings for consistent color

management."

 

 

If it doesn't say that on yours, what does it say?

 

 

2) What does it say in the box next to the word "Settings"

 

 

3) What does it say in the RGB box under "Working Spaces"?

 

 

Now also double check this:

 

1) with the image open in PS, go to the top menu and click on "View" ... then place your

curser over "Proof Set Up" ... what selection has a check mark next to it?

 

2) if the check mark is next to "Custom", then go to the next box under "Proof Set Up"

named "Proof Colors" ... does it have a check mark next to it? If it doesn't, click on it ... it

will then place a color indication on the top of the image itself ... like (RGB, adobe 1998).

 

Many PS books recommend synchronizing everything (all color settings ) to Adobe 1998 ...

and leaving it that way. Conversion to sRGB, which is a smaller color space, can be done as

the last batch step for web posting and exported printing. If you print images yourself the

conversion is not necessary as the printer will do the conversion.

[amanda_bennett]

Thanks, Marc.

 

1. There is a circle with an "i" inside it on the color settings box. Next to that box, the text says "for more information on color settings, search "setting up color management in Help"..."

 

2. Next to "settings," it says "North America General Purpose 2"

 

3. In the RGB box under "working spaces," it says "preserve embedded profiles".

 

Second set of checks...

 

1. "Working RGB" is checked.

 

2. Even though "custom" wasn't checked in step 1, I did select proof colors. Doing this seems to make the image look darker, much more like what I see in Windows Explorer. (It's not quite as dark, but it's close enough that I could live with it.) Is there any way to see the color this way in Bridge or Lightroom, since that is where I'll be tweaking exposure and white balance?

 

Any recommendations for how I should set the areas you referenced above? It sounds like I should stick to Adobe RGB, but could any of the settings above also be throwing me?

 

Thanks so much for your help with this frustrating problem! I appreciate the advice!

[amanda_bennett]

Oh, and for what it's worth, under proof setup "monitor RGB" is selected.

[sandy_labana]

Hi Amanda: What you see is exactly what you should see. Beware that the computer

monitor always displays the image in your monitor profile. When your computer reads a

file, it reads the color numbers, then it asks how do to interpret those and for that it

checks what color space the color numbers are for. Combining the color space name and

color numbers, the computer converts (for display only, no change in file) to the color for

monitor display. In PS3, you can go to Edit menu, click assign profile and select differet

profiles. You will see huge changes in colors on your display by assigning different

profiles. The original does not change, just the interpretation for display. The computer

thinks the color space (called profile here) has changed. If you are not using ink jet printer

yourself, you can save lot of trouble by setting your working space to sRGB IEC61966 and

opening Raw file in this space, edit your files and save in jpg. If your monitor is

caliberated, the prints by lab will be close to your monitor colors. If your monitor much off

from caliberation, you will get better prints by using all auto commands of PS for edit and

ignoring the colors of your monitor. Hope this helps. Sandy