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shifuimam · May 29, 2009, 10:02 AM

I've got a bizarro color problem with Photoshop CS3.

I'm seeing color discrepancies between Photoshop and other image viewing and editing apps, like in the screenshot below:

The right half is how the blue looks everywhere BUT Photoshop. It's distinctly grayer and duller in Photoshop. I only see this problem on two of my four monitors - the two Dell UltraSharp 1680x1050s. The two UltraSharp 1280x1024 seem to show the color accurately, but the color is accurate on all four monitors in apps other than Photoshop.

Anyone see this before? How might I fix it?

andi*pandi · May 29, 2009, 10:07 AM

Assuming your color mode is RGB....

what profiles are you using, do you have sRGB turned on in the export panel, and is the preview set by mistake to CMYK not RGB?

That said, color calibration is a huge PITA.

shifuimam · May 29, 2009, 10:58 AM

I know I have it set to 8-bit RGB. I didn't have sRGB turned on - I checked the box and saved the image again, and it didn't change anything.

The two widescreens do have slightly different color than the two 4:3 displays in my setup, but the color is identical across all four in any app other than Photoshop - Paint, Windows Image & Fax Viewer (I'm running XP Pro)...it even shows up fine in Fireworks CS3. The colors are off in Illustrator CS3, though.

It looks fine in Photoshop CS3 on my TiBook.

shifuimam · May 29, 2009, 11:06 AM

Okay, my color profile in Photoshop was set to "north america general purpose 2", which did have the RGB set to sRGB.

If I set it to "monitor color", the colors seem much more accurate - at least, what I'm assuming is accurate.

I suppose there's no real way to know how it's going to look on others' monitors, though...

Thorzdad · May 29, 2009, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by shifuimam

I suppose there's no real way to know how it's going to look on others' monitors, though...

Absolutely, true.
However, you need to make sure your system is as color-accurate as possible to begin with. This requires you to calibrate the monitor. If you don't want to spring for a hardware solution, I suggest you download SuperCal and use that. It's a free software-based calibration tool. It does a pretty good job for what it is.

Now, as for your color settings in Photoshop...
Unless there is a specific setting asking for a monitor profile, you should never use a monitor profile for any of the work spaces in Photoshop. That monitor profile you make in SuperCal should only be used in the Displays>Color setting in your Mac's System Preferences.

For the most flexible image editing in Photoshop, your Working RGB space should be Adobe RGB. Once you have completed your work on the image/graphics, THEN you convert it to sRGB using the Image>Mode>Convert to Profile selection. Then save the image (i.e. "Save for Web" or however you wish)

If you are working back-and-forth between Adobe apps (creating graphics in Illustrator then importing them into Photoshop, for instance) it's very important to make sure the color setting in the other Adobe app (like Illustrator) match the Photoshop settings. Adobe apps are made to work together and it's important that they are all speaking the same color language to each other. This way, a 236-169-9 orange in Photoshop is a 236-169-9 orange in Illustrator and they match exactly.

At the end of the day, you are correct in saying that you have no control how your graphics are going to look on other's monitors. The point is that YOU, as the artist, take pains to make sure the colors are correct on YOUR system. This way, you serve as the accurate baseline if/when anyone complains about the color. You can point to the efforts you took to ensure color accuracy and politely suggest that THEIR system is at fault and not correctly set-up. Which, 99.999% of the time will be the honest truth.

shifuimam · May 29, 2009, 05:12 PM

I've tried calibrating my four LCDs at work as much as possible (I'm in Windows, so I've been using WYSIWG XP to do software calibration). My efforts have generally been futile.

I've only noticed it to be a problem with blues - other colors may have minor discrepancies, but it hasn't been enough to warrant my noticing it.

The person who had my two widescreens (the offending displays here) before me had the color and contrast settings tuned very oddly. I still haven't figured out the best settings for getting all four monitors to look identical. However, I don't do enough graphic work on a day-to-day basis to justify the effort of trying to fix it...

Thorzdad · May 29, 2009, 05:41 PM

Yeah...Color management in Windows can be it's own special kind of hell. My condolences.

Originally Posted by shifuimam

The person who had my two widescreens (the offending displays here) before me had the color and contrast settings tuned very oddly. I still haven't figured out the best settings for getting all four monitors to look identical. However, I don't do enough graphic work on a day-to-day basis to justify the effort of trying to fix it...

Most non-graphics people tend to adjust their monitors so that they are over bright, over contrasted, and over saturated in color. Our eyes tend to wander to such things. This is why TVs in a store are almost always adjusted that way. But, it's not good for graphics production (and suicide if you work with photos.)

You really aren't going to get the monitors close to identical until you create a custom color profile for each one. THe whole point of calibration is to get the monitors to display color as accurately as possible. Even then, it's still a trick for a layman to get four monitors to match exactly (even more so if the monitors are of different manufacturers.)

But, I understand the time and effort involved.

shifuimam · May 29, 2009, 11:15 PM

IIRC, color profiles can be exported in a universal format and then imported elsewhere - might it be possible for me to calibrate each monitor individually on my PowerBook with SuperCal, export the resulting color profile, and import it in for that specific monitor in Windows?

One of the biggest differences between the two SXGA and WSGXA+ displays is the color saturation - colors are much brighter on the SXGA displays, but I can't seem to get them adjusted to where they match the widescreens.

Thorzdad · May 30, 2009, 07:13 AM

That would only sort of work. The reason being that the video card would be different on each system. You would be calibrating each monitor as they would work with your PowerBook. Once you move the monitors to their respective systems, the profiles from the PowerBook wouldn't, strictly, be correct.

Calibrating the monitors while connected to their respective systems will give you the best accuracy. It should also correct the over-saturation/brightness you're seeing on the SXGA displays.

shifuimam · May 30, 2009, 11:56 AM

Well, crap. I need something as good as SuperCal - I ran it on my TiBook, and it made a huge difference (the default color profile added a slight brownish tinge to the OS X interface, so it wasn't just silver-metal looking). Do you know of anything similar for Windows?

WYSIWYG XP is all right, but it doesn't have near the detailed calibration of SuperCal.

Thorzdad · May 30, 2009, 12:05 PM

Unfortunately, I don't. I've been a Mac guy since almost forever. Googling "Windows monitor calibration free" brings up some options, but I can't say what actually works and what's just virus-packed junk.

And, yeah, SuperCal is great. Did you do the calibration in a nearly dark room? That will give you the best results (so your eyes aren't thrown off by glare or ambient light)

Spheric Harlot · May 30, 2009, 12:42 PM

Wow.

I'd never tried SuperCal.

What a difference!

(thanks!)

shifuimam · Jun 6, 2009, 08:52 PM

Well, FWIW, I'm still having problems.

This is really driving me nuts. I found a fairly decent calibration program, but it doesn't seem to save .ics profiles anywhere that I can find, so I'm not sure how to export them (I have two monitors, so I need to be able to export the two profiles separately).

I'm getting more into doing semi-professional design work on the side, so I really need to get this to a point where I'm at least seeing realistic color between my exported files (GIF, PNG, JPG, etc) and my PSDs.

Thorzdad · Jun 7, 2009, 07:43 AM

Honestly, I'm out of my comfort zone when it comes to Windows color management...especially with dual monitors. I did a quick Google on "windows color management" but found a lot of developer mumbo-jumbo but not anything practical or helpful for the consumer.
I'm really not sure what to advise you on this. Sorry.

Veltliner · Jun 10, 2009, 05:32 AM

Originally Posted by shifuimam

Well, FWIW, I'm still having problems.

This is really driving me nuts. I found a fairly decent calibration program, but it doesn't seem to save .ics profiles anywhere that I can find, so I'm not sure how to export them (I have two monitors, so I need to be able to export the two profiles separately).

I'm getting more into doing semi-professional design work on the side, so I really need to get this to a point where I'm at least seeing realistic color between my exported files (GIF, PNG, JPG, etc) and my PSDs.

You need a calibration device like iOne Display 2. Maybe you can find someone who owns one and lends it to you.

Also: are those two bad montors older monitors? CRTs? They lose their color accuracy with age and sometimes even cannot be calibrated.

shifuimam · Jun 18, 2009, 02:35 PM

They're all LCDs. I'm close to just giving up on finding a solution - I don't know anyone who has a physical calibrator I can borrow, unfortunately.

Big Mac · Jun 23, 2009, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by Thorzdad

Absolutely, true.
This requires you to calibrate the monitor. If you don't want to spring for a hardware solution, I suggest you download SuperCal and use that. It's a free software-based calibration tool. It does a pretty good job for what it is.

Small point: SuperCal is Shareware.

Thorzdad · Jun 23, 2009, 02:29 PM

True. But, it's not nag-ware or cripple-ware, either. It works as advertised regardless of payment. Of course, if you can afford it, one should definitely buy it, especially if you are going to rely on it to do regular re-calibrations. On the other hand, if it's a one-time thing, or a trial, I see no problem with DLing it, using it, then deleting it if you are never going to use it again.