Color Managment?

[TWO FISHES]

When I open an image in Windows photo viewer it looks fine, but when I open it in Photoshop, it looks vastly different. Why does this happen?

[D Fosse]

Because Windows "Photos" doesn't support color management, and ignores both the embedded document profile and your monitor profile.

But if the Photoshop version is obviously wrong, you most likely have a defective monitor profile, probably distributed through Windows Update. This happens a lot. Only Photoshop will be affected by this.

Can you post a side-by-side screenshot?

[TWO FISHES]

The one on the right is photo viewer and the one on the left is from Photoshop. And when printed, it is A LOT worse! (Canon ink loves me!) Thanks

[Test Screen Name]

Because only Photoshop does colour management (assuming Windows 10). Chances are all your images show wrong but you’ve adjusted so they look ok. It’s also possible you need to calibrate your monitor.

[TWO FISHES]

Nope, it is Windows 7 pro. Thanks

[Omar.Fathy]

In the image viewer you see your image in a color profile but in photoshop you see it in another color profile.

First, If you are using CMYK color mode in photoshop, It is the nature of it so you will see that your image is different.

Second, If your are using RGB color mode and seeing a difference it is beacuse of the color profile, you can change the Photoshop color profile from Edit>Color Setting.

[D Fosse]

It's not about one color profile versus another. It's about a color profile versus no color profile. And you don't change document profile in Color Settings. You do it with Convert to Profile. The document profile will override the working space (or it should if you haven't messed up the policies).

But that's just half the picture. The other half of the equation is the monitor profile. In this case it can be one or the other, or both. That's why I asked for a screenshot. That will establish exactly where the problem is here.

[TWO FISHES]

Okay, I might have messed up the policies (?) because I tried many different things inside the profile compartments of Photoshop and Windows...Thanks!

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

This looks like a broken monitor profile to me.

But first of all, reset all Color Settings to defaults. Just pick one of the "general purpose" presets.

Next, to keep things simple, make sure your document has sRGB embedded. Open "Convert to Profile" and look at source profile. If it's already sRGB, close out. If it's not, convert.

Then replace your current monitor profile with sRGB IEC61966-2.1. That's not entirely accurate, but close enough for most people. It should also ensure consistency with other non-color managed applications (insofar as that's desirable).

Relaunch Photoshop when done, it needs to load the monitor profile at application startup.

If you really want accurate color, you need to buy a calibrator. This will create a custom monitor profile for your specific monitor. Photoshop will use that to correct for the monitor's inaccuracies, and this goes far beyond simple color balance issues.

[TWO FISHES]

WOW! What a huge difference! I did have whatever I could set to ADOBE RGB (1998), so I put the Color Settings: Working Space RGB to sRGB IEC61966-2.1 and switched the Assign Profile to working RGB: sRGB IEC61966-2.1 and finally the Convert To Profile RGB: to sRGB IEC1966-2.1. And finally, I added the said sRGB IEC1966-2.1 profile to my device in Color Management and in the Advanced Tab I clicked on WCS Profile for sRGB Viewing Conditions under the Viewing Conditions Profile tab (?) as it was the only choice that had anything to do with sRGB.  So back to the Color Settings option in Photoshop; under the Color Management Policies RGB: I have it turned off.  Should Preserve Embedded Profiles or Convert to Working RGB be turned on?  Or is this where us rookies get into trouble; read something and just start clicking on things that seem to make sense?  I THANK YOU for your time and just Love you people that help us amateur's out!

[D Fosse]

Don't ever "experiment" with color settings - it will get you nowhere except in deep trouble! Just pick the NA "General Purpose" preset. It will set policies to always preserve embedded profiles, which is what you want.

Also, you need to look at my screenshot again. Go to the Devices tab, not the Advanced tab. Stay away from the Advanced tab altogether. Don't pick the WCS profile, that's for entirely different purposes! It has to be sRGB IEC61966-2.1 specifically.

Don't go overboard - what you want here is in fact default settings all over. No special settings at all. Nothing. Just boring old default, because that works. Even sRGB as monitor profile is the Windows default. Don't ever change any of these settings until you have a clear reason for doing so, and you know what you're doing.

Even if you get a calibrator you don't do anything. The software will set it all up and replace the monitor profile, and that's it.

[TWO FISHES]

Most excellent advice!  I will heed your words of wisdom, but all three of the choices under the Viewing Conditions Profile has WCS in it in some form or another.  I can't remember what they are, and since I'm not going to click on that tab again, I guess it doesn't matter. Thanks again, D Fosse, you are the Boss!