Proof Setup Question

TA
Posted By
Tyler_A._Bob
Oct 19, 2008
Views
538
Replies
18
Status
Closed
To get my Proof Setup to display properly I have to set it to Monitor RGB, this works almost perfectly, only just now when I set Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended to open when I choose edit from the context menu did the proof not apply properly. I had to go under the proof setup screen and click Monitor RGB again even though it was already selected. Should this be considered a bug and/or is there a workaround?

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TA
Tyler_A._Bob
Oct 19, 2008
Bump
TA
Tyler_A._Bob
Oct 19, 2008
Bumpity Bumpity bump.
TA
Tyler_A._Bob
Oct 20, 2008
Another bump…?
DM
dave_milbut
Oct 20, 2008
it’s almost never a good idea to set your profile to monitor rgb… that’s about all i got, so … bump. 🙂
TA
Tyler_A._Bob
Oct 20, 2008
The problem is, that’s the only way all the colors display properly.
DM
dave_milbut
Oct 20, 2008
then you need to recalibrate your monitor, to start. how are you calibrating now? (software? hardware? brands?)
PF
Peter_Figen
Oct 20, 2008
Display correctly is which application? It sounds like you’re trying to force PS to display images the same as your non color managed apps. Is this the case?
DM
dave_milbut
Oct 20, 2008
<wipes forehead>whew! help has arrived! 🙂
TA
Tyler_A._Bob
Oct 20, 2008
I’m trying to make it look the same as it does when I view it on my computer or the internet or anything else.
ME
Mark_Everett
Oct 24, 2008
Hi Tyler, if you’re still watching this thread in hope then I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’m not here with a solution, I’m just posting to say that this is exactly the same issue I’m experiencing.
Just like you, once I re-select "monitorRGB" all the rest of my colors behave nice and predictably across applications, and I get exactly what I expect when I print. I share your frustration that this simple thing is seemingly not working as it should.
Personally what I’m really after here is a direct response to the issue/problem rather than a workaround, simply because just clicking "monitorRGB" is always going to be quicker than any workaround. Just to be clear, the big issue for me is that I sometimes forget to reselect it, and I end up hours later when I go to Save For Web having to redo all the colours. It’s actually costing me time and therefore money, so I really do want to find a real solution.
The thing is smart enough to remember to keep the option selected. All I want now is for it to actually work 🙂 Any suggestions gratefully received.
M
Martin
Oct 24, 2008
Mark and Tyler, I am on the same boat as you guys. Personally, I’ve setup a key shortcut to change my proofing to Monitor RGB. This way, when I work on an image that I know is for web, I press on that key (F4 for me) and then I start working on the image. This way, I know the image will look the same on the web when I export for web.

And yes, my monitor is properly calibrated with a color spider. But the truth is, if I don’t put PS in Monitor RGB proofing mode, then when I export for web, my images appear 10% darker and more saturated. Although most people on forums seem to not care about the difference, I personally do, which is why I’ll always use Monitor RGBn proofing when working on web images. so far, the keyboard shortcut has helped me save a lot of time. no need to go in the menu anymore.

Note, I’ve also set a shortcut to Windows Monitor so I can switch back and forth between the two profiles if I want to see the difference.
ME
Mark_Everett
Oct 25, 2008
Martin, thanks for your response. Thankfully you proved me wrong, this is a workaround that will actually save time. Remembering to initiate it is still an issue, but I already have actions I use for creating a couple of the specific types of web document that I author, and I’m going to try inserting it into those.
If there’s an actual solution I’d still very much like to hear about it. In the meantime this has been really helpful to me, so thank you.
M
Martin
Oct 26, 2008
Glad I could help Mark.
Don’t worry, pressing F4 will come naturally every time you work on a web document. It took me about 2 days to get this into my routine. So far, this is the only solution I have found to this problem.
WE
Wolf_Eilers
Oct 26, 2008
I re-select "monitorRGB" all the rest of my colors behave nice and predictably across applications, and I get exactly what I expect when I print.

But the truth is, if I don’t put PS in Monitor RGB proofing mode, then when I export for web, my images appear 10% darker and more saturated.

Wow. There is so much misunderstanding in these postings it is difficult to know where to start. Can I guess some of you are using wide gamut monitors (perhaps one of the new Dell widescreens)? Displaying an sRGB tagged image on a wide gamut monitor (close to Adobe RGB) using a non-colour managed application will indeed show increased saturation.

Please read an excellent summary at this http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&me ssage=28355538 <link>

By the way FastPictureViewer is a fully colour managed image viewer for Windows.
ME
Mark_Everett
Oct 26, 2008
Wolf, I’m using a professionally calibrated, top-end Samsung syncmaster. I do not use sRGB tagged images, and 95% of the images I deal with are created by me. All of my image editing applications are colour-managed.
If you can suggest a different solution or you think I’ve misunderstood something I’d be happy for you to set me straight, but the link you’ve supplied seems to deal with workflows where colour management is inconsistent or doesn’t work. To restate, when I set proof preview to monitorRGB all of my applications display the same color onscreen and in print, and the print colour matches the screen colour. That’s exactly what I need. If I’m going the wrong way about achieving this then, again, please set me straight. I have no problem with being told I’m wrong if there’s some indication given of how to do it right.
WE
Wolf_Eilers
Oct 26, 2008
Hello Mark.

Your statement "… set proof preview to monitorRGB all of my applications display the same color onscreen and in print …" requires some more clarification. What applications? Windows applications have varying degrees of colour management. Most have no management; others have partial management (e.g. Irfanview); while others have full management (e.g. Adobe apps). The popular Firefox 3 browser has full colour management but only if the obscure gfx.color_management.enabled setting is set to true.

Also, if you want a chance of "colour consistency" on yours and others monitor then you must tag the images as sRGB; do not leave them untagged. The vast majority of users have sRGB gamut monitors. However, monitors with a wider gamut (close to AdobeRGB gamut) are increasingly becoming popular. An untagged or sRGB tagged image displayed on a wide gamut monitor with a non colour managed app will appear satruated. Display the same image on the same monitor with a fully managed app and you will see something different.

Mix all the variables together and you can get different results when viewing an image. Everything unfortunately needs to be in place: hardware calibrated monitor, tagged images, fully colour managed apps.

Finally, proofing with MonitorRGB to get consistent prints is more of luck than anything else. Ideally you want to proof prints with an accurate ICC paper profile specific for your printer and ink.
ME
Mark_Everett
Oct 26, 2008
Wolf, thanks for your message.
To clarify, my workflow is entirely within CS3 Extended, and the only image viewer I use is Bridge. There are no issues with any of those applications.
The single issue I have, and the only thing I’m trying to address, is the situation where the colours change when I go Save For Web. Everything else, in all other CS3 apps, is working consistently.
WE
Wolf_Eilers
Oct 26, 2008
Bamboo baby. Sweet.

Mark, please, please, please tag your images with the sRGB profile. Bridge will render any untagged images according to the Photoshop colour settings. Do not leave them untagged. I believe the CS3 Save for Web can convert to sRGB. I cannot confirm that since I only have CS2 (but will soon upgrade to CS4.)

I can replicate the over-saturation in Bridge CS2 using one of your images but when I bring them to Photoshop I assign the sRGB profile to the untagged image and then they appear less saturated (presumably the way you want).

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