2 Replies Latest reply: Oct 21, 2009 11:04 AM by Scooby007 RSS

    monitor calibration and photoshop

    avpromedia Community Member

      After I run a monitor calibration software, I thought all the photos would look correct on my computer no matter what app I use to display them.

       

      But photos in photoshop looks slightly different from the same photo displayed by the browser or by other applets in windows. So slightly different that you wouldn't normally notice unless you do a side by side compare.

       

      Apparently photoshop is applying additional color correction on top of what the monitor calibration software has already done. Is this necessary? If this step is necessary, then why doesn't the monitor calibration software do that, so that photoshop doesn't have to, and so that the photo would look the same in the browser as in photoshop?

        • 1. Re: monitor calibration and photoshop
          John Joslin Community Member

          This is not unexpected. Only colour-managed applications will be correct.


          http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps10_colour/ps10_1.htm

          • 2. Re: monitor calibration and photoshop
            Scooby007 Community Member
            Apparently photoshop is applying additional color correction on top of what the monitor calibration software has already done. Is this necessary? If this step is necessary, then why doesn't the monitor calibration software do that, so that photoshop doesn't have to,

            Photoshop doesn't apply any color correction to the images per se, it just operates in a selected color space, and takes into account your monitor profile.

             

            The monitor calibration tells your video card - or the monitor itself for some high end monitors, how it should be set to meet chosen targets, and generates a profile for the monitor.

             

            1. Caibrate your monitor and generate a profile

            2. Tell your OS that that it your monitor profile

            3. Set Photoshop to work in the space of your choice - sRGB, Adobe RGB, or ProPhoto 99% of the time

             

            That takes you to a state where everything is in order more or less. If at this point your images look out of whack, it's almost certainly because they are, perhaps because they were previously corrected on a non-calibrated setup.

             

            Photoshop and other color managed application should display them all more or less exactly the same, provided the files themselves have a color profile .