Output jpeg looks different than edited RAW image

[rbw68]

I just got CS6 and have been working on some new images in RAW.  Once I finished the editing I wanted to do in RAW, I saved the image as a jpeg, then clicked "open image" at the bottom of the RAW window.  The image that came up in Photoshop looked nothing like my edited RAW image.  It's as if none of the edits ever occurred.  I've looked on the internet and tried figuring it out on my own.  I'm at a loss and would appreciate the help.

[rbw68]

The images in question looked good in my camera display, in Mini-Bridge, and then in RAW.  After making a few adjustments in RAW, I can't get the resulting saved .jpeg or .tif file to look like my RAW image.  Others have complained that they don't understand why a RAW image looks worse than a .jpeg image, because they didn't understand that the RAW image has had no in-camera adjustments made to it.  I seem to be having the opposite scenario.  My RAW images look beautiful, and the resulting out .jpeg or .tif files from that RAW image look terrible.  They look nothing like my camera display, the jpeg preview in Mini-Bridge (I shoot a RAW and jpeg file for each photo I take), or my edited RAW file.  It's like it's not even the same photo.  Any ideas?

[Noel Carboni]

Chances are you're not clear on how color-management works, and Photoshop's default settings aren't a good match to your needs/expectations.

Camera Raw, by default, provides images to Photoshop in the Adobe RGB color space.  I'll wager, without much additional information, that you're saving your JPEGs either without an embedded color profile or you're viewing them with an application that doesn't know how to interpret an embedded color profile.

While it's nigh impossible to teach color-management on a forum, with a little more information about specifically how you're viweing your files when you say they "look terrible" someone here might be able to suggest settings that will more often give you the results you desire.

-Noel

[RBW44]

Noel - first of all, thanks much for taking the time to respond to my question.  You helped me realize (and I should have realized this last night) that my question and problem statement lacked a lot of detail.  I'm new to Photoshop, but I've learned a good lesson.  Here's some more details:  I use a Nikon D700, WIndows XP OS, and CS6.  After taking the images from my memory card directly into Bridge, I can see that the images look "good", meaning they match what I was seeing on my camera display.  The metadata for my photo of interest states that the color profile is RGB, and I assume this is sRGB?  I open the .nef file directly into CS6 RAW.  Once again the image in RAW looks just like it did in Bridge and on my camera display.  I like how it looks in general, but I make the manipulations I want in RAW (removing blemishes, softening skin, etc).  Prior to saving the manipulated image, I click on the Workflow Options link below the image and choose 8-bit, sRGB, then save it as a .jpeg.  Photoshop's color space has also previously been set to sRGB, so the two match.  If I open the image from RAW directly into Photoshop or open the newly created .jpeg from Bridge into Photoshop, the image no longer looks like what I saw in RAW.  The image looks sort of hazy, the black background that was completely black in the RAW image is now visible in the Photoshop image, and the model's skin, which looked nice and smooth in RAW, now looks pixelated. 

You suggestions about color management make sense, and I bet I'm still making some sort of mistake in that regard.  Any ideas?

[Noel Carboni]

Actually, it sounds like you've touched on the places I was worried about (specifically the workflow options in Camera Raw).

So as to reduce the guessing some, Is there a way you could capture your screen, showing both the image in one of the tools in which it looks good to you (e.g., Camera Raw), and ALSO opened in Photoshop showing how it looks bad?  You can post images in threads here using the little "camera" icon above the edit box.  I'm betting that will clear a lot of things up.

-Noel

[Lundberg02]

The OP just doesn't have any understanding of color spaces or RAW. The camera is taking in its own color space far wider than sRGB. Pro Photo is the best approximation. RGB does NOT mean sRGB. RAW should be opened in Pro Photo 16 bit.

[RBW44]

I understand that ProPhoto is the preferred color space if you intend to print your images.  I don't have that capability now, so my images are going straight to the web.  Both Scott Kelby's CS6 book and Adobe's help site recommend using sRGB if you're going to take your images straight to the internet.  That was my logic in using that color profile.

[RBW44]

Noel - the photo on the left is obviously a screen shot from RAW, and the photo on the left is the jpeg.  The problem is, after resizing the jpeg for the requirements of this forum, it no longer shows some of the problems I was talking about - in fact, they both look almost identical.  I tried a screen capture of both together and put them in Paint which generates a bitmap image.  It would not let me post that one.  I don't know if these images help at all.  I'll post them on the chance they may show something, but they may be of no help at all.  Once again, thanks for your input.

Noel

[Guest]

If you take a NEF and edit in ACR and click done do you get an edited version that looks good?  If not, does it generate an XMP file?  (click on View/hidden file).

Where are you viewing image?  If thumbnail it will not show edits if you use embedded.

[RBW44]

Curt - thanks for the response.  When I edit in ACR and open my edited RAW image within Photoshop I don't get a version that retains the edits or look I had in RAW.  I'm really new to CS6, so I coudln't figure out if it generates an XMP file.  Did you mean to click on "View" in Photoshop?  If so, I couldn't find the hidden file option.  Am I looking in the wrong place?  I'm viewing the image in Photoshop, and nothing I've tried related to color management works.  That's not to say color management isn't the problem, I just don't have a mastery of anything on this program yet.

[Guest]

If shooting in RAW I really recommend you keep the origial with edits.  Forgot to mention the View is in Bridge.  When you edit a RAW ACR will generate an XMP file with the same name.  If you want to delete you edits you click on Edit/Develp Settings (Bridge) and you have several choices.

You can convert several RAW images to jpg in Bridge Tools/Photoshop/image processor.

Lots to learn, hope this helps.

[Lundberg02]

OP does not understand that you do RAW in Pro Photo to keep the widest range of colors which are then retained as well as possible by perceptual rendering into sRGB for web.

[Tharakesh]

I had the same problem.

When I flattened all layers and then saved as jpeg, it worked.

Alternatively saving as tiff also solved the problem. Hope this reply helps.

[magicalmaury]

I found that my images that looked great in Raw Edit, were terrible (unusable) when opened in Photoshop. They were very low key, night images. I found I could fix it with the midtone slider in Levels, but I found the real answer when I clicked the "Options" button in the Levels dialog box. I switched "Auto Color Correction Options" from "Enhance Brightness and Contrast" to "Find Dark & Light Colors" and I'd say that my image then looked even better than in Raw Edit.