Last two color submissions transformed - puzzled and perplexed!

[corkman]

I've have a mystery I hope someone can help me solve. The last two color photos I uploaded this past week have

looked entirely different than the image on my computer. Basically, they have been darkened and the colors

desaturated. I am not new at this, I have put about 350 photos into my portfolio over the past 3 years and this

problem is a first for me. My first assumption was that I was doing something wrong, something different. I

checked each image for differences in submission format. Size (always use 1040 for the largest measurement), bits

(always 8 bits), PPI (240 or 300), Color (RGB). Editing software (Photoshop starting with 7 through upgrades to

current CS3). Viewing monitor (unchanged from 2 year old calibrated HD Samsung), which is non-issue anyway

because what it looks like on the same screen, is noticeably different from what it looks like on PN. The two

photos in question are in my Recent Work folder - one closeup of a merry-go-round horse - the other of a deer and

her fawn. The only editing on the horse was replacing the fake eye with a real one. And only minor tweaks in the

deer photo. No sharpening or saturation necessary in either. Has anyone any clue about what's gone wrong? I'd

really appreciate your input. Regards, Bill

[corkman]

Oh, forgot this. I did go back and upload a duplicate image (budding beauty) from my recent work folder and this proved to be the same image without the problems I had with the other two, so in effect eliminating Photo.net as the problem.

[mark_sirota1]

Probably has something to do with Adobe RGB vs. sRGB. I'm betting the two problem images were in Adobe RGB.

[lex_jenkins]

Can you provide links to the specific photos in which you see problems? That will help.

 

Also, what computer, browser, etc., are you using? Some recent incarnations of familiar browsers now offer color management options.

 

Also, are you seeing these problems on the direct views via your portfolio, or via the various critique/ratings queues? (I've noticed a few problems with the way some photos from some members are rendered via the anonymous ratings queue, such as excessive compression and sharpening artifacts.)

[corkman]

Thanks guys for getting back so quickly. Mark, you're right about those images being Adobe RGB, but that's true of all my images because my D200 is to record as Adobe RGB, not sRGB. In the photoshop mode menu RGB is checked, but it is also the case with all the images that haven't been altered. But in my investigation I thought there might be a problem there, but haven't seen a difference yet between those that worked and those that didn't. Maybe I don't know where to look.

 

Lex. Aside from what you can see in my recent work folder, I don't have another link to let you see what they look like in my computer. If I had an email address I could do that. Let's just say it isn't a subtle difference. The deer's coats for example, to the naked eye as well in the image that came out of the camera, had a strong red cast, especially in the fawn. And, in fact, I actually cut back on red saturation a little bit in processing. Also, I never use the camera's photo enhancements. The computer hasn't changed. My browser is Mozilla firefox, but have used it for all my photos on the site. I saw the problem immediately in the first viewing in the singles folder after I uploaded. In fact I knew it was wrong when I saw the thumbnail.

 

I really appreciate the time you've taken to give me your input. I'm going to chew over what you've said because I know that settings in computers can mysteriously change without the operators knowledge or input.

 

Thanks again, Bill.

[mark_sirota1]

The embedded color profile on your deer picture is ProPhoto RGB. It needs to be sRGB if you want it to look good on the web.

[lex_jenkins]

Yup, I see the problem with the deer and fawn when I download the photo and change the color space options in my viewer. But it appears normal via my copy of Firefox 2.x online.

[corkman]

Damn, thanks Mark and Lex. I've still got the problem of how to convert the file to RGBs. No place I can find to do that in photoshop. And I don't understand how the past images weren't Adobe RGB, since they came out of the camera that way. But I've learned over the years I don't always have to understand the complexities of computer digital images as long as I know what to do to make them right. I have since remembered one difference between these two images and all previous ones. I got LightRoom 2 a couple of weeks ago, and have been slowly loading all my folders into it. And the two latest entries were uploaded from a folder stored in LightRoom and no submissions in the past were. Could the new software have modified the file structure simply by virtue of being stored by it? But while I'm asking questions, I'd sure like to know more about hedge funds and short selling. Just kidding! I can't think both of you enough for taking an interest and lending a helping hand. Regards, Bill

[corkman]

Thanks to you all pinpointing the problem, I finally uploaded the file I intended into my Recent Work folder side by side with the corrupted one. I opened a TIF file of the original image, dropped the photoshop menu to Scripts/Image Processor, opened it, saw for the first time ever the box "convert profile to sRGB, checked it, uploaded that file into PN and VOILA! This was a different crop, and there may be those who liked the darkened image better, but that's not the point is it? Thank you so much. I know this was an unorthodox approach to this problem, but proved that the RGB-RGBs profiles were the problem and I can sort it out from here. Everything that's been said about the true benefit of being a PN member has been reaffirmed to me in the persons of Mark and Lex. Gratefully, Bill.

[lex_jenkins]

Yee-haw! That's three things I did right today. The other two involved food.

[gordonjb]

William;

 

If you choose " save for web" from the drop down menu under file in photoshop ( CS2 at any rate ) it

automatically converts all other colour spaces to s RGB for web viewing. Alt + Shft + Ctrl + S takes you to the

same page on a PC.

[corkman]

Now that's funny - tough to compete with food! If it were me, bacon would be involved. If you're a fan of irony you'll enjoy this. Even though I got the right file in the loop, decided on the "bad" file to submit for critiques and it's gotten two 7/7 ratings to date. Go figure. Thanks again, Bill.

[corkman]

Thanks for the tip. I figured there must be a simpler way to accomplish this, though I'm still left with the question of how I got it right more than 350 times when I wasn't even aware of this issue. Another of life's little (computer related) mysteries! Appreciate your input, Bill.