Datacolor User to User Support Group.

On Jul 4, 2014, at 5:12 PM, lisamarie.savard@... [datacolor_group] <datacolor_group@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

> I haven't changed anything to my "photo-saving routine" in the past months, that's why I'm so puzzled.
> 
> 
> I always use "Save as...", then save them as JPGs or PNGs with the "Baseline (Standard)" box checked.
> 
> My OS is Windows 7.

I think your problem is this:

- When you're editing your images on your calibrated display, you're doing so inside of
color managed applications - Lightroom and Photoshop. These applications will use
your display profile as an additional "tweak" to adjust colors when the image is being
displayed on the screen. From a color management standpoint, this is the correct thing
to do, and this is the most accurate way for you to view the color of the images on your
calibrated display.

- When you're viewing them in other applications under Windows 7: if you don't see
the same color (the less saturated versions are the ones that look wrong, correct?) it's
because these applications aren't color managed. They're simply loading the image
data and displaying it on your screen without taking into account your display profile.

- If you reopen your saved image in Photoshop, it still looks "correct"? (Answer should
be, "yes"). And if you open your saved image in a different application, it looks "wrong",
less saturated, and different than when opened in Photoshop? (answer should be "yes).

- One other question: when you save your image from Photoshop, there's a checkbox
at the bottom of the Save dialog that asks whether or not to embed a color profile
in it (and the profile that's specified there will be your RGB working space, so it'll
say "sRGB" etc etc next to the checkbox. You should be checking that box when you
save it. When you do, a copy of sRGB is saved along with the image data as a "tag"
so that when another application opens it that supports color management, it'll
know what working space you were using when you were editing the image. If you
don't save an embedded profile, then even color managed applications such as
Photoshop will need your help in assigning a working space when they open it
again. To repeat: you need to embed your working space into the image when you
save it, otherwise all bets are off about how applications are going to display it,
either locally or over the web.

- As far as posting images on social media, they're then being viewed in a web
browser. Some web browsers are color management aware; others aren't. And
you also need to make sure that when you save the images, before you upload
them, that you embed (tag) a copy of your RGB working space into them. Here
are some links to sites that explain and demonstrate this in more detail:

http://cameratico.com/tools/web-browser-color-management-test/

http://www.gballard.net/psd/go_live_page_profile/embeddedJPEGprofiles.html

For your images to appear "correctly", you (a) need to save them with embedded
tags for your working space, (b) they need to be viewed in a web browser that
supports tagged profiles in images, and (c) for viewers to see, as closely as
possible, what you see on your own calibrated system, they should also be
working with a calibrated system.

That's how color management works. The idea is for everyone to be able to
"see" the same thing when they view an image, across a variety of computers,
operating systems, and displays with varying characteristics. For this to work
as best and completely as possible: the displays need to be calibrated; the
images need to be tagged with a working space; and the software displaying
the images (whether this is a web browser for viewing images on-line, or
an application for displaying them locally on the computer) needs to be
color-management aware, so that it can make use of the working space
(embedded in the image file) and the display profile (which is saved locally
on the computer when the Spyder calibrates the display) as a final adjustment
for the color.

David Miller