[K-9]

I took a photo of a deep reddish brown colored horse in front of bright green foliage. The colors were very vibrant in the camera's original RAW file. I converted it in camera to a JPG with no adjustments. I opened it in Photoshop and the colors looked the same. I reduced the size to the requirements here, as I was going to post it in a thread, but when I hit "Preview Post" after attaching it, the colors had faded! The horse was now just a light brown color, with no deep, reddish brown and the foliage had gone to a noticeably paler green.

I still had the Photoshop file open and it looked fine there. I closed it, reopened the same file I was going to post here and it still looked fine at this reduced size opened back up in Photoshop. I then imported the reduced size version to IPhoto and opened it there. The colors were the original vibrant ones, matching camera and Photoshop. I then tried just opening the file in the generic Preview program on my MAC, and the colors were dull, just like when I tried to post here.

So, I am left with two different looking colors of the same jpg:

Colors fine in camera
Colors fine in Photoshop
Colors fine in IPhoto
Colors duller trying to post on this site
Colors duller in Preview on my laptop

I'm stumped??

[gazonk]

I took a photo of a deep reddish brown colored horse in front of bright green foliage. The colors were very vibrant in the camera's original RAW file. I converted it in camera to a JPG with no adjustments. I opened it in Photoshop and the colors looked the same. I reduced the size to the requirements here, as I was going to post it in a thread, but when I hit "Preview Post" after attaching it, the colors had faded! The horse was now just a light brown color, with no deep, reddish brown and the foliage had gone to a noticeably paler green.

I still had the Photoshop file open and it looked fine there. I closed it, reopened the same file I was going to post here and it still looked fine at this reduced size opened back up in Photoshop. I then imported the reduced size version to IPhoto and opened it there. The colors were the original vibrant ones, matching camera and Photoshop. I then tried just opening the file in the generic Preview program on my MAC, and the colors were dull, just like when I tried to post here.

So, I am left with two different looking colors of the same jpg:

Colors fine in camera
Colors fine in Photoshop
Colors fine in IPhoto
Colors duller trying to post on this site
Colors duller in Preview on my laptop

I'm stumped??

If the original image has AdobeRGB colorspace, but it's interpreted as sRGB, you may get results like these. I'm a bit confused that they look much duller in Preview, though, as Preview will obey the colorspace given.

Anyway, you should always use sRGB for web, since most browsers (and notably the most used one) don't understand colorspaces and thinks everything is sRGB.

I recently struggled with this myself, and found this page very helpful:
sRGB Correct ColorSpace Tutorial for the Internet The PROOF! www.gballard.net

Recently, I've done the following before publishing (except on Flickr, which will handle this for you): Opened reduced-size images in Preview, sharpened them and changed the colorspace to sRGB (don't remember the english term for the menu item, but it's on the Tools meny) there before saving them.

[K-9]

It's been an SRGB since the shot was taken in the camera, so that's not it. Now, it's getting stranger as I just opened it again in Preview and the colors look fine, however when I tried to just post it in here, the colors were dull.

Now, I have:

Colors fine in camera
Colors fine in Photoshop
Colors fine in IPhoto
Colors fine in Preview on my laptop
Colors duller trying to post on this site

4/5 look fine, and it's just this site now that's off!

[PeteyJ]

It's been an SRGB since the shot was taken in the camera, so that's not it. Now, it's getting stranger as I just opened it again in Preview and the colors look fine, however when I tried to just post it in here, the colors were dull.

Now, I have:

Colors fine in camera
Colors fine in Photoshop
Colors fine in IPhoto
Colors fine in Preview on my laptop
Colors duller trying to post on this site

4/5 look fine, and it's just this site now that's off!

What browser are you using? I know Firefox for OS X has been hit or miss with colors with each minor update that comes out. Safari 4 on the other hand has been showing my colors properly for the most part (Facebook shows faded colors for me no matter what).

Try uploading to Flirckr and see if that changes anything. Better yet, right click the file and select to open it with your web browser. If the colors are faded, it's the browser. If the colors are not faded, it's the site (or wherever the image is hosted at).

[davemdsn]

If you were shooting in RAW then it was neither sRGB nor AdobeRGB as RAW files do not have color space applied to them. If the image looks different on the web than on your computer then it is a color space issue. Where the chain broke I don't know, but it is a color space issue.

What browser are you using? Safari and Firefox both honor color space profiles in images, although in the case of Firefox it is not by default, you have to turn it on manually.

I have only posted images on this site via links from other servers. Is it possible that this site is altering the metadata? I know that no matter what I do when I upload to Facebook the image gets screwed up and looks like crap on their server.

[davemdsn]

PeteyJ is a faster typist than I.

[K-9]

I used both Firefox and Safari, and while Firefox fared better in Gazonk's link where you scrolled over the pics to see if there was a difference, it still was duller posting here. I just calibrated my ibook monitor to 2.2 gamma, as it was set on 1.8, and that seems to make a little difference, but the reds are definitely still lower than the photoshop opened file. The horse's color still looks just brown as opposed to a deep reddish brown. Here, how do you all see this photo: brown horse or reddish brown horse?

***Update if you're reading this from the start*** I've gone back and added a flickr linked photo here for comparison.

Attached Images

 

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Last edited by K-9; 08-09-2009 at 01:31 PM. Reason: adding flickr link of same photo for comparison

[davemdsn]

I see a brown horse with a very dull ground and ordinary foliage behind.

Are you using a monitor calibrator to calibrate and profile your monitor? That can have a huge effect on how colors show up in different places.

[flippedgazelle]

Definitions of "reddish brown" can vary by person.

I see a reddish brown horse, with a "dull ground and ordinary foliage behind".

Viewing with Firefox 3.5.2. Looks the same with IE7.

[davemdsn]

Definitions of "reddish brown" can vary by person.

Very true. They can also vary by monitor, which is why proper calibration is so important.

[Jim Royal]

Here, how do you all see this photo: brown horse or reddish brown horse?

I see a brown horse, but when I open the file in Preview, I see a pronounced difference: a definite reddish-brown horse.

This is a colour space problem. I suspect the file is in Adobe RGB, and is being saved without a profile. Do the following:

1. Determine which colour space your Photoshop file is actually in.
   
2. When you want to save for web, change the image profile to sRGB IEC61966-2.1. Use "Convert to Profile."
   
3. Save the image as JPEG, and include the ICC profile with the image.

If that doesn't solve the issue, then there is something seriously wrong with the PSD file.

[K-9]

It came from the camera as a RAW sRGB, which I converted to a JPG in camera, and then I only opened it in photoshop to resize it. When I saved it after resizing, I checked off the box for sRGB IEC61966-2.1.

To the best of my knowledge, nowhere along the way was it ever Adobe sRGB. The post of the horse here, while "reddish brown" is not the deep reddish brown from my original file, and the foliage is dull here, and not bright green as in the original.

I'm still stumped, I guess, as I said in my preview it was originally dull, but then opening it a second time, it was fine, and the last place it still appeared dull was here. Maybe it's as someone suggested, the site's issue with uploading the files, as this seems to now be the only place for me that it's dull.

I wonder if I should try to upload to flickr, then link it here?

I'm not sure what calibrating the monitor would do, as I can see it looking perfect in all files except after posting here. If the monitor wasn't calibrated right, wouldn't I see it dull everywhere except in camera?

[K-9]

Here's a link to the photo, does it look the same than the attached one above?



This has brighter colors on my screen, so it does seem that pentaxforums uploading process is to blame, as my colors are brighter everywhere but doing it that method. Also, it appears as though the flickr linked photo is sharper on my screen, just by looking at the hairs down the front of his head.

For better comparison, I'm also going to add this to the post above (so I don't upload a duplicate here and lost some of my attachment space).

[K-9]

I just learned from Adam that uploaded photos here are compressed. So, that explains it. The photos linked from the gallery or flickr will be better quality.

[PeteyJ]

yeah, the flickr version is more vibrant. at least the loss of saturation isn't as bad here as it is on facebook though.