Images edited on Mac look like crap on PC (Windows). Why is this?

AJ
Posted By
ARABIA_JOHNSON
Apr 4, 2008
Views
386
Replies
11
Status
Closed
HELLO, ARABIA HERE…

I’M USING A MAC 10.4.11 AND PHOTO SHOP CS TO RETOUCH PHOTOS FOR MY NEW PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS, THE FINISH PHOTOS LOOK BEAUTIFUL ON MY MAC…,BUT WHEN I SAVE THEM TO A DISK AND VIEW THEM ON A PC THAT’S RUNNING WINDOWS,THEY LOOK AWFUL?

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

I SAVE THEM AS JPEG… SO I DON’T REALLY GET WHAT IS HAPPENING TO CHANGE THE PHOTOS SO DRASTICALLY .

IS THERE SOME CONVERSION HAPPENING THAT I’M NOT AWARE OF ?

OR IS THERE A STEP THAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN SAVING TO A CD.

I MEAN IT’S NOT A SUBTLE CHANGE IT’S AS IF SOME ON THE STEPS I TOOK TO GET THE IMAGE THE WAY I WANT IT , ARE DELETED OR SOMETHING.

SO THANKS IN ADVANCE!
Related Tags
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DG
david_gaynor
Apr 4, 2008
Hello Arabia.
Is your Mac calibrated ?
It could be that your Mac is a lot darker than the pc screen. If it is, your images will look washed out and lacking in contrast when viewed on a pc . I use a 24" iMac and edit all my images on that – then I take them to college and have to view them on a pc. They always look dreadfully washed out and flat.

Regards,

David Gaynor.
CP
christoph_pfaffenbichler
Apr 4, 2008
Which rgb-colospace do You work in, Arabia?
Do You embed the Color Profiles in the jpgs?
And in which application do You view the images on the PC?
P
Phosphor
Apr 4, 2008
Arabia,

Posting in all caps is considered shouting and is hard to read.
P
PeterK.
Apr 4, 2008
I soon as I saw I’d have to read the whole message in all caps, I stopped reading it.
JJ
John Joslin
Apr 4, 2008
Ouch!
B
Buko
Apr 4, 2008
I soon as I saw I’d have to read the whole message in all caps, I stopped reading it.

Me too. but from the title I’d have to guess one of the machines monitor profile is bad.
NK
Neil_Keller
Apr 4, 2008
I fixed the all-caps subject line. <g>

That said, I’d say that at least one of the monitors is not properly calibrated. And we don’t know what level of compression was applied to the .jpg files — as .jpg is a lossy format, this could be the issue. But Arabia does not detail what specifically has gone bad.

But no, opening a file on different machines does not in any way change the file on its own.

Neil
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Apr 4, 2008
Arabia:

Make sure that your monitor is calibrated to Gamma 2.2 (and NOT to Apple’s suggested 1.8 ).

Then make sure that you are saving your JPEGs with sRGB Profiles.

And just hope that the Windows-User has calibrated his monitor too — which is unfortunately not the case far too frequently.
NK
Neil_Keller
Apr 4, 2008
Unfortunately, I would say that most computer users will simply develop a glazed look in their eyes if you tell them they need to calibrate their monitors. But, Arabia, it’s the first step to viewing images accurately.

Neil
NT
Nini Tj
Apr 6, 2008
Check which screen resolution and number of colors the machines that are seeing it badly use.
DG
david_gaynor
Apr 7, 2008
Ann’s absolutely right, Arabia.
Save your jpegs to the sRGB colour space. Adobe RGB is best if you are looking to print a faithful, good quality reproduction of what you are seeing on your screen ( provided you have a decently calibrated monitor ). sRGB is commonly used for images that will be most often used on the web. If you haven’t calibrated and want to have some idea of the difference between most uncalibrated screens and a calibrated one, go to System Preferences -> Displays -> Color -> Calibrate and let the Mac lead you through it’s own calibration routine. Use Gamma 2.2 ( 1.8 is no longer widely used for Macs ) and use your own judgement when doing the adjustments. Give your finished calibration a name and then use that one , until such time as you feel you should be using a calibration tool to do it for you.
All things being equal , your monitor should appear darker than at present. Your editing will then be influenced by the darker image that you see. This is a good thing , as most monitors are set way too bright.

Let us know how you get on.

Kind regards,

David.

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