10 Replies Latest reply: Aug 21, 2012 4:30 AM by Brad_Trent

CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

Brad_Trent Aug 20, 2012 2:03 PM

I suddenly have an odd problem that I originally thought was monitor-related. I'm using a MacPro, 10.6.8, with a Mac 24"HD monitor for palettes and an NEC PA241W for color. Both monitors were calibrated last week.

I have CS4, but I work in CS3 simply because I like the old interface better. I opened a file I was working on Friday onto the NEC screen and now all of the colors, especially the reds, are muted/shifted to orange. It looks fine on the Mac monitor. It was immediately apparent because the shot is of a red Ferrari that now looks brick-orange. I recalibrated the NEC but no luck. Called NEC and we ran every possible test and scenario, still no good. After over an hour with the NEC guy, since it now doesn't seem to be a monitor issue, we both thought to load the same file into CS4 and bingo...it looks fine! I check every color setting, the proof setup and the profile between both versions and they're the same. So what is making the CS3 version suddenly look off?!! The only thing I can think of is that there must be some setting in CS3 that got overwritten/corrupted/changed between Friday and today that is now preventing the NEC monitor to see some kind of profile that the Mac monitor sees.

Thanks!

BT in NYC

1. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

conroy Aug 20, 2012 2:39 PM (in response to Brad_Trent)

Look in the View menu. Maybe you have Proof Colors enabled and its using a profile which shifts red towards orange.
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2. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

Brad_Trent Aug 20, 2012 2:44 PM (in response to conroy)

Nope...that's not it...Proof Colors are off.

BT
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3. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

conroy Aug 20, 2012 2:48 PM (in response to Brad_Trent)

Look in Edit > Color Settings. Is "desaturate monitor colors" enabled? You may have to click a "more options" button or similar to reveal advanced controls.
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4. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

Brad_Trent Aug 20, 2012 2:58 PM (in response to conroy)

Nope...not that either. Like I said, all of the color setting and profile options between CS3 and CS4 are exactly the same. This isn't a saturation issue...the colors are markedly different, but it's really noticeable in the red channel.
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5. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

Brad_Trent Aug 20, 2012 3:00 PM (in response to Brad_Trent)

...but it does have something to do with the monitor prefs/settings since the Apple monitor next to it look 100% balls-on!

BT
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6. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

wizzerd144 Aug 20, 2012 6:55 PM (in response to Brad_Trent)

If that's the case, it's almost definitely the monitor. The monitor may have changed color temperatures or modes. Try adjusting it to something other than 9300K which sort of looks like that "we're dead" scene from that Bill and Ted #2 movie lol. Also, "presentation" mode is what usually looks the most accurate on monitors that have "scenes" or "modes."
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7. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

Brad_Trent Aug 20, 2012 7:33 PM (in response to wizzerd144)

It's not the monitor...as I said, the same file opened in CS4 looks fine. It's got to be some setting in CS3 that has somehow been changed since the last time I used the program. Since the color settings seem to be where they always have been and everything else is set up exactly as CS4, I'm at a loss to understand what it could be.

BT
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8. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

wizzerd144 Aug 20, 2012 7:45 PM (in response to Brad_Trent)

Oh, I missed that. Is it set to the color scheme of CMYK instead of RGB by default? CS3 has an issue where that setting gets a bit sticky between projects.
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9. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

Brad_Trent Aug 20, 2012 8:02 PM (in response to wizzerd144)

Nope...first thing I checked was if it was set to CYMK because it reall has that dead CYMK look.....but it's RGB.

BT
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10. Re: CS3 Colors Suddenly Muted Compared to CS4

Brad_Trent Aug 21, 2012 4:30 AM (in response to Brad_Trent)

Just a quick update...after waiting over half an hour on hold, of course I was told by Adobe that they would not help me with the problem since they could give a damn about supporting ANYTHING but CS6.....and the worst thing was I just KNEW the guy on the end of the phone had an answer to the problem....

BT
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