Problem with colors?

sfd101 · 11-13-2008, 03:09 PM

So, I just picked up a K10d and I think I have color problems on my computer. I use a Mac and when I open pictures in Xee and Preview, the colors in Xee look dull while the colors in Preview look darker and more saturated.

Here is a comparison. The same file straight from the camera is opened using Xee (left) and Preview.app (right). What can I do?

*heliphoto* · 11-13-2008, 03:42 PM

First a disclaimer... I know very little about technical color issues so this may be waaaay off

.

I'd guess your camera's set to use the AdobeRGB colorspace, and is embedding this info in the file. I would then guess that preview can read this embeded color profile, whereas xee can't (or vice versa - though my money's on preview having more advanced color management). A quick test would be to set your camera to use sRGB which both programs should handle easily (it's the default colorspace of the web), and see if you still see a difference.

This is a total guess, so please let me know if I guessed right (and hope someone more knowledgeable responds as well).

*X Man* · 11-13-2008, 04:00 PM

You are 100% correct. Preview, along with a lot of MacOS itself is color profile aware and color managed. Of course, "the rest of the world" isn't, for the most part so...

Exactly as you say, I'd recommend editing with output set to a "standard" sRGB for the web.

Color Management and calibration is a true "dark art" and has caused insanity in many an amateur and pro attempting to get color "right" from the camera or scanner, to the monitor, across multiple viewers into and out of your printer or the shop's printer.... etc...etc...etc...

Regards,
Mike

Originally Posted by heliphoto

First a disclaimer... I know very little about technical color issues so this may be waaaay off .

I'd guess your camera's set to use the AdobeRGB colorspace, and is embedding this info in the file. I would then guess that preview can read this embeded color profile, whereas xee can't (or vice versa - though my money's on preview having more advanced color management). A quick test would be to set your camera to use sRGB which both programs should handle easily (it's the default colorspace of the web), and see if you still see a difference.

This is a total guess, so please let me know if I guessed right (and hope someone more knowledgeable responds as well).

sfd101 · 11-13-2008, 04:05 PM

I just checked, my camera is set to sRGB color space. I guess there's not much I can do except not just Xee, it's such a great program though.

*Wheatfield* · 11-13-2008, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by sfd101

I just checked, my camera is set to sRGB color space.

You have a colour management issue to resolve.

What it boils down to is that the image has an assigned colour profile that is recognized by one application, but not the other.

I don't know enough about Macs to help you more than that.

*X Man* · 11-13-2008, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by sfd101

I just checked, my camera is set to sRGB color space. I guess there's not much I can do except not just Xee, it's such a great program though.

Well, no. Xee isn't really at fault here. What Xee is doing, which is ignoring the color profile is the way a lot of say, Windows programs do it including IE [at least IE 6 and maybe 7]. So, it's tricky to say the least...

If you edit the image in whatever program be it Photoshop or Gimp or whatever and you edit it in a managed color space and export it with a color profile it will look rich and right, but if that exported file is viewed in say, IE 6 it's going to be flat. Conversely, if you edit said file in a non-managed environment and export it without a profile... Safari, or some other managed app may very well assign one of it's own making the resulting image garish.

Eventually, all apps including all browsers and all Operating Systems will be color managed and profile aware right out of the box. Unfortunately we just aren't quite there yet so this problem will keep popping up until it happens.

Sorry,
Mike