Save for web boosts contrast and saturation?

[arildh13222549]

Hi!

I am experiencing a weird problem when using "save for web". The preview in the save for web is different than the original. My entire workflow is sRGB. I have no proofing checked or anything.

Heres a screenshot showing the difference in saturation and contrast.

Any idea whats wrong?? They should match 100%.

[Jeff Arola · Accepted solution]

In Save for Web where is says Preview set it to Use Document Profile.

[arildh13222549]

Yeah, i know that takes care of the mismatch shown. But the resulting saved image does not match up, so i end up having a mismatch between what i save in photoshop and the final image. On the right is the saved file shown in windows:

[D Fosse]

Windows "Photos" is not color managed. That's the difference. The document profile is ignored, your monitor profile is ignored.

To get a visual preview of what this looks like inside Photoshop, turn on Proof to Monitor RGB. As long as you understand that this is no indication whatsoever of how the file will look like on any other system than your own.

Assuming your monitor profile is good, the Photoshop version is the correct one, Windows Photos will never be entirely correct.

[NB, colourmanagement net]

Hi arildh13222549

are you using a large (wide) gamut monitor?

If you are - when colourmanagement is not part of the display process an image will look oversaturated on that display.

I expect that what you are seeing is that the "save for web" image display is non colourmanaged - why?  to simulate what would happen in a non colourmanaged web display of that image.

I see above that checking document profile in save for web makes the images match.

Also that Windows viewer isn't doing colourmanagament properly either.

If you save for web then reopen the image in Photoshop how does it look?

Do you have the sRGB profile embedded, I presume so - then in Photoshop it looks right I imagine?

So, what I think you are seeing here is why it is inadvisable to view images in a non colourmanaged way on a large (wide) gamut display.

I hope this helps

if so, please do mark my reply as "helpful" and if you're OK now, please mark it as "correct" below, so others who have similar issues can see the solution

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement

[arildh13222549]

Thanks a lot. So when i reopen the saved file in photoshop it looks fine.

However, when i upload the file to look on my website, or any other website, the image looks exactly like the windows version. And this is in Chrome, IE, Firefox etc... These browsers should all be colourprofiled now, right?

This is driving me nuts. Why isnt the browsers showing me the photoshop version?

[D Fosse]

arildh13222549  wrote

These browsers should all be colourprofiled now, right?

Yes and no...but only as long as you embed the profile - which Save For Web for some reason does not do at default settings. You have to go in and check the "embed color profile" box.

Firefox handles everything with an embedded profile correctly - but it can also be set to assign sRGB to all untagged material. This is the "mode 1 setting" (google it)  - which in fact means that everything you see in Firefox is fully color managed in all scenarios.

IE reads the document profile correctly, but not the monitor profile (using sRGB instead). That makes it useless for people with wide gamut displays, and merely inaccurate for everybody else.

I don't use Chrome and don't know the current color management status.

In short - Firefox in mode 1 should always display identically to Photoshop. If you embed the profile, that should also be the case in the default mode 2.

[arildh13222549]

Thx! So it seems that only Firefox shows the "correct" colours. The others display it wrong.

So its Firefox from now on then.

Thx.

[bellevue scott]

This is a problem with Windows, as is mentioned some above. Windows does not manage colors on a global basis, as does the MAC. So things can change on an application by application basis. But it's particularly important to always make sure when saving that your file is save with the working ICC profile, also mentioned above. My day job is giclee printing for artists and photographers, and I cannot tell you how many professionals save out files for print, web and other reproduction without their working profile embedded.

But even in the best scenario, saving for web will give you a reduced color pallet that can sometimes lead to color being over saturated or changing somewhat. You just can't count on your high resolution files and your web files having the exact same look, and even if they do on your monitor. there's no telling what others might see on different systems.

[D Fosse]

It's not a "problem" with Windows, just how it's supposed to work. The Windows hands-off policy regarding color management is IMO a very sound one. Leaving it to the application improves reliability and makes troubleshooting much easier. It also removes a whole layer where bugs can (and do) happen.

And functionally it's not all that different in Mac. All color management is still called by the application, it's just that the actual execution is handed over to the OS. The biggest difference is that more of the native Mac OS apps are color managed.

You just can't count on your high resolution files and your web files having the exact same look, and even if they do on your monitor. there's no telling what others might see on different systems.

You can if you use a color managed web browser and embed the profile. There's no reason they should be different (keeping resoluiton out of it). If you use Firefox, set to mode 1, it will always display identically to Photoshop.

And as I've said before: How other people set up their systems is their problem, not yours. Color management is there and available for those who care about accuracy. Make the file right - that's your responsibility. Convert to sRGB, embed the profile, done.