Develop and Library look completely different

[gregorcinema]

LR 3 beta 2.
I've read other posts on this topic but I still cant get to the bottom of it, any help would be really appreciated as it's driving me mad. When I switch between library and develop in fit or fill the images look different, no sharpening and colour is not the same in the library version. It seems to be right in 1:1 and even when I zoomed to 1:3, but when I export I get the not so good library version. What am I doing wrong, can I just export the image the way it looks in develop.
aaaarrrghh

 

[Mark Sirota]

There are two different explanations -- one for sharpening, one for color.

Sharpening: Library shows you JPEG previews, while Develop is rendering directly every time. In the name of performance, sharpening is not applied to Library previews except when rendering 1:1 previews. In that case, the smaller previews are downsized from the 1:1 preview, so they have some sharpening applied as well (though it is somewhat masked by the resizing).

The exported file should always have sharpening applied, though. And optionally, export sharpening as well. Are you sure the sharpening appears to be missing on export, or is it only missing in Library?

Color: In Develop, LR is showing you a file rendered in its own internal color space (ProPhoto RGB with an sRGB gamma curve, also known as Melissa RGB). In Library, the previews are in Adobe RGB. It is possible that at the outer edges of the gamut you're seeing color differences. The previews are JPEGs, and in extreme cases there can be color artifacts from the JPEG compression. These artifacts won't be seen in Develop.

On Export, you get to select the color space, and then you need to view the file in a color-managed application if you want to see proper color. And if you're exporting a JPEG, the same concern about compression artifacts applies.

Did that help?

 

[Souwalker]

[quote author=Mark Sirota link=topic=9767.msg66147#msg66147 date=1273178595]
There are two different explanations -- one for sharpening, one for color.

Sharpening: Library shows you JPEG previews, while Develop is rendering directly every time. In the name of performance, sharpening is not applied to Library previews except when rendering 1:1 previews. In that case, the smaller previews are downsized from the 1:1 preview, so they have some sharpening applied as well (though it is somewhat masked by the resizing).

The exported file should always have sharpening applied, though. And optionally, export sharpening as well. Are you sure the sharpening appears to be missing on export, or is it only missing in Library?

Color: In Develop, LR is showing you a file rendered in its own internal color space (ProPhoto RGB with an sRGB gamma curve, also known as Melissa RGB). In Library, the previews are in Adobe RGB. It is possible that at the outer edges of the gamut you're seeing color differences. The previews are JPEGs, and in extreme cases there can be color artifacts from the JPEG compression. These artifacts won't be seen in Develop.

On Export, you get to select the color space, and then you need to view the file in a color-managed application if you want to see proper color. And if you're exporting a JPEG, the same concern about compression artifacts applies.

Did that help?
[/quote]

Wow, didn't know that.
Thanks Mark.
Rgds
Patrick

 

[Jim Miller]

Mark

I thought LR *always* worked in ProPhoto and rendered to the various output devices (monitor, printer) through the appropriate color management transformations. Failure to do so would mean that I would always have to be in a specific module before comparing print to screen.

Are you certain of the color issues?

This certainly hasn't been described anywhere I've seen before.

regards

jim

 

[Mark Sirota]

Jim, yes, I'm certain. But you're right.

LR does always work in ProPhoto, then renders into other spaces as needed. One of those transformations (to Adobe RGB) happens when rendering previews. (Some versions use ProPhoto for previews if your previews are set to High Quality. I can't remember which off the top of my head.)

Still, whatever you're viewing in LR is further transformed by the monitor profile, so you should always be able to compare screen to print (ignoring edge-of-gamut issues and the differences between a backlit screen and a reflective print).

 

[Jim Miller]

Just to clarify further: it makes no difference what module you are in when comparing screen to print, i.e. if you perceive a perfect match in Develop it should appear to be a perfect match in Library or Print. Is that what you are saying?

tnx
jim

 

[Mark Sirota]

No. In Library and Print you're looking at compressed JPEGs, so in addition to the edge-of-gamut issues you also risk JPEG compression artifacts.

To address edge-of-gamut issues you need soft proofing, which Lightroom doesn't provide in any module.

I should stress -- these differences are incredibly minor except in the most extreme of cases. Unless you're a hopeless perfectionist, they're probably minor enough to ignore.