Images appear lighter by 20% when opened in photoshop cs3

GS
Posted By
Grant_Suzann
Dec 18, 2007
Views
252
Replies
8
Status
Closed
I have made no changes to my photoshop settings, however, when I open up an image in photoshop cs3 (windows), the image is lighter.

When I see the original image in the Viewer and compare it to the exact image in photoshop, there is a notable difference in brightness, roughly 20% or so.
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DM
dave_milbut
Dec 19, 2007
calibrate your monitor.
GS
Grant_Suzann
Dec 19, 2007
It’s not a monitor issue. The image appears lighter only in photoshop and no other programs.
DM
dave_milbut
Dec 19, 2007
that’s why it’s a monitor issue. 🙂

got 10 minutes for a decent read?

<http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps10_colour/ps10_1.htm>
PF
Peter_Figen
Dec 19, 2007
What ARE your Photoshop settings, specifically your RGB working space settings? Exactly how have you calibrated your monitor, what device and software and are you sure you’re using the correct monitor profile? Are your files tagged with the working space profile?

Remember that Photoshop is color managed and your other apps are not. Photoshop uses both the working space profile (sRGB, AdobeRGB, etc) and your monitor profile to correctly display your image. You other apps can only assume that the images are in "MonitorRGB". Any difference between your "MonitorRGB" and your working space will be shown up in your non color managed applications.

FWIW, there have been many threads regarding this and variations thereof, including one thread with over 600 posts on the Mac side. Principles are exactly the same.
GS
Grant_Suzann
Dec 19, 2007
Color settings: North American General Purpose 2

Working Spaces: RGB: sRGB IEC61966-2.1, CMYK: US Web Coated (SWOP)v2, Gray: Dot Gain 20%, Spot: Dot Gain 20%

Color Management Policies: RGB, CMYK, and Gray: Preserve Embedded Profiles

I am unsure on how to check my calibration for my monitor. And I am unsure if my files are tagged with a working space profile. Frankly, I recently got photoshop cs3 and all the settings are at *default*.

Can you please provide some links to the other threads with this same issue? I tried the search but was unable to find what I am looking for as I was not sure how to define it. (Thanks so much all for your assistance :))
JJ
John_Joslin
Dec 19, 2007
Go to the site Dave linked to and do some reading. You really need to have a basic grasp of colour management if you are to use PS successfully!
PF
Peter_Figen
Dec 19, 2007
You need to use a hardware device called a colorimeter to calibrate you screen. It sounds like you may be "calibrated" to something other than gamma 2.2, probably higher than 2.2 gamma, which would definitely give you darker images in non color managed apps.
DM
dave_milbut
Dec 19, 2007
is it a crt or lcd monitor? if it’s crt and not for professional use, you may be able to use a software calibration util like the (now dead) adobe gamma.

i’ve been testing the free "monitor calibration wizard" from hex2bit software on one machine for a couple of weeks and it seems ok … <http://www.hex2bit.com/products/product_mcw_dl.asp>

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