Re: JPEG colors off on calibrated system using LR 2.5

[sirrino]

JPEG colors off on calibrated system using LR 2.5

I installed LR on an existing system which is calibrated using Spyder2. I can view and print both RAW and JPEG files from my 5DMk2 with accurate colors using Photoshop. When I view the same RAW files in LR 2.5 (trial version) the reds are rendered way off from what I see in Photoshop/DPP.

Now I understand LR may not be able to emulate Canon perfectly for RAW but the reds are so much towards magenta that I suspect theres something wrong (I can correct it somewhat by playing around in Develop panel but thats not something I want in my workflow). Also the interesting thing is that even JPEG files look significantly off in the reds (but not as much as RAW). The same sRGB JPEG file looks identical in DPP, windows picture viewer, IE and Photoshop (with Monitor RGB proofing) but looks different only in LR. I've tried in both XP and 7 with similar results.

The help for LR says that the default color space is ProPhoto RGB and as far as I can see thats the only option. So if thats the case then how can LR possibly render accurate colors? Am I missing something here or is it not possible to get color accuracy in LR?

 

[Replytoken]

Welcome to the forum, neighbor. You might want to have a quick read of this "Starter Kit" post: http://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/index.php?topic=6393.' , especially the link to "Why did LR 'ruin' my photo?". This may help explain a bit about how the file is handled when it is imported into LR. I suspect that you may need to adjust the default profile upon import, but cannot say for certain as I shoot with a Nikon, convert to DNG, and have not experienced your problem.

--Ken

 

[Denis Pagé]

Welcome to Lightroom Forums sirrino!

Do not confuse color profiles and color spaces... Totally ignore IE and Windows Picture Viewer as they can't manage colors. Then adjust Photoshop as per the explanations given here.

 

[Replytoken]

Thank you, Denis. I forgot about Victoria's article.

--Ken

 

[sirrino]

Thanks for the replies!

A clarification - I dont have a problem with Photoshop. I can do everything in it and have colors match exactly with DPP and print perfectly off it.

The problem is only with lightroom. I understand that RAW conversion happens using the camera profiles and that a third party app like lightroom cannot be expected to match DPP however the surprising part is that the colors are so way off initially that it appears like they have not even attempted to get the software to match. If I shoot Adobe RGB, skin tones look terrible at first import in lightroom. If I can dial in a few adjustments in Camera calibration and get it closer to DPP why has Adobe not done that already?

Leaving aside RAW files, even jpegs look different in lightroom. The same sRGB jpeg file which looks essentially identical in picture viewer, IE, DPP and Photoshop looks different in lightroom.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Ok, let's stick to jpegs for the minute, as that takes one variable out of the equation. Raw files are a different story, but we'll come back to those.

First thing to do is to recalibrate the monitor - corrupted monitor profiles cause these kind of symptoms, because PS and LR use the profile differently, so the problem may not appear in other programs. Give that a shot and let us know what happens... and if that doesn't do the trick, it's screenshot time, showing a jpeg in LR and the same jpeg open in PS.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Oh, one other thing - if you're actually using Windows 7, as per your profile, check the Spyder website for a software update.

 

[sirrino]

Thanks! It was indeed the profile which was the problem. Turns out spyder2 software has issues with windows 7. I installed spyder2express and now I'm getting almost identical colors in LR compared to DPP (still slightly more saturated but thats easy to control).