Why does everything look darker in PS than in other apps??

T
Posted By
Toby
Dec 23, 2004
Views
371
Replies
10
Status
Closed
Hi all,

I’ve asked this before and never received an answer that made any sense. Photoshop CS displays all my photos and graphics files significantly darker than any other app, including ACDSee, viewing my uploaded files on the web, my Epson printer preview, etc. I have not been able to find any way to alter the display gamma of Photoshop alone–is there a way??

The funny thing is that this problem only happens with XP. My work computer using Win 2K and my old home computer with Win2K do not have this problem. I am not using Adobe Gamma; I’ve calibrated my monitor with a Pantone Spyder. This happens only with PS.

Anybody have any ideas what might be going on?

TIA for any light you might be able to shed…

Toby

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W
Waldo
Dec 23, 2004
Toby wrote:
Hi all,

I’ve asked this before and never received an answer that made any sense. Photoshop CS displays all my photos and graphics files significantly darker than any other app, including ACDSee, viewing my uploaded files on the web, my Epson printer preview, etc. I have not been able to find any way to alter the display gamma of Photoshop alone–is there a way??

The funny thing is that this problem only happens with XP. My work computer using Win 2K and my old home computer with Win2K do not have this problem. I am not using Adobe Gamma; I’ve calibrated my monitor with a Pantone Spyder. This happens only with PS.

Anybody have any ideas what might be going on?

TIA for any light you might be able to shed…

Toby

Do you have both the ColorVision/Pantone software and Adobe Gamma active??? In that case, you’ll get wrong colors and you should disable Adobe Gamma loader (remove it from the Startup folder).

Waldo
S
Si
Dec 23, 2004
"Waldo" wrote in message
Toby wrote:
Hi all,

I’ve asked this before and never received an answer that made any sense. Photoshop CS displays all my photos and graphics files significantly darker than any other app, including ACDSee, viewing my uploaded files on the web, my Epson printer preview, etc. I have not been able to find any way to alter the display gamma of Photoshop alone–is there a way??
The funny thing is that this problem only happens with XP. My work computer using Win 2K and my old home computer with Win2K do not have this problem. I am not using Adobe Gamma; I’ve calibrated my monitor with a Pantone Spyder. This happens only with PS.

Anybody have any ideas what might be going on?

TIA for any light you might be able to shed…

Toby

Do you have both the ColorVision/Pantone software and Adobe Gamma active??? In that case, you’ll get wrong colors and you should disable Adobe Gamma loader (remove it from the Startup folder).

Waldo

My thoughts exactly – you may not have calibrated using Adobe Gamma, but if it’s active at startup – then you will get conflicts.

Si.
T
tacitr
Dec 23, 2004
I’ve asked this before and never received an answer that made any sense. Photoshop CS displays all my photos and graphics files significantly darker than any other app, including ACDSee, viewing my uploaded files on the web, my Epson printer preview, etc.

Yes. The explanation is simple:

Photoshop uses something called "color management." Because every computer monitor is different and displays color differently, Photoshop looks at your brand of monitor and other information (like the color profile in the image), then changes the color you see on oyur screen to compensate for your brand of monitor and so on.

With other programs, like ACDSee, if you look at the same picture on three diffeent kinds of monitors you see three different things–the color does not match on all the monitors. Photoshop changes the color it shows on the screen; with Photoshop, if you look at the same picture on three different brands of monitors, they all look the same, assuming they are properly calibrated.

I have not been able to find any way to alter
the display gamma of Photoshop alone–is there a way??

There are TWO ways. One is to use the View->proof Setup->Monitor RGB command. The other is to use the Preferences command to turn color management off.

This is documented quite well. Read the chapter on "Color Management" in your manual. (You do have a manual, right?)


Art, literature, shareware, polyamory, kink, and more:
http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
T
Toby
Dec 24, 2004
I don’t have Gamma active, and even if I did Adobe Gamma is global–it affects the monitor setting for all apps, not just Photoshop, right? So things should appear dark in all the apps, not just Photoshop, as far as I can see.

Toby

"Si" wrote in message
"Waldo" wrote in message
Toby wrote:
Hi all,

I’ve asked this before and never received an answer that made any sense. Photoshop CS displays all my photos and graphics files significantly darker than any other app, including ACDSee, viewing my uploaded files on the web, my Epson printer preview, etc. I have not been able to find any way to alter the display gamma of Photoshop alone–is there a way??
The funny thing is that this problem only happens with XP. My work computer using Win 2K and my old home computer with Win2K do not have this problem. I am not using Adobe Gamma; I’ve calibrated my monitor with a Pantone Spyder. This happens only with PS.

Anybody have any ideas what might be going on?

TIA for any light you might be able to shed…

Toby

Do you have both the ColorVision/Pantone software and Adobe Gamma active??? In that case, you’ll get wrong colors and you should disable Adobe Gamma loader (remove it from the Startup folder).

Waldo

My thoughts exactly – you may not have calibrated using Adobe Gamma, but if it’s active at startup – then you will get conflicts.
Si.
T
Toby
Dec 25, 2004
Thanks for all the help. I will give it a try. Perhaps I should have dug deeper in the manual and books before asking the question, but I don’t understand why this should happen on the new computer using Windows XP and not on the old one using W2K. Same monitor…I’ve also tried different monitors with the same result.

Toby

"Tacit" wrote in message
I’ve asked this before and never received an answer that made any sense. Photoshop CS displays all my photos and graphics files significantly darker
than any other app, including ACDSee, viewing my uploaded files on the web,
my Epson printer preview, etc.

Yes. The explanation is simple:

Photoshop uses something called "color management." Because every computer monitor is different and displays color differently, Photoshop looks at your
brand of monitor and other information (like the color profile in the image),
then changes the color you see on oyur screen to compensate for your brand of
monitor and so on.

With other programs, like ACDSee, if you look at the same picture on three diffeent kinds of monitors you see three different things–the color does not
match on all the monitors. Photoshop changes the color it shows on the screen;
with Photoshop, if you look at the same picture on three different brands of
monitors, they all look the same, assuming they are properly calibrated.
I have not been able to find any way to alter
the display gamma of Photoshop alone–is there a way??

There are TWO ways. One is to use the View->proof Setup->Monitor RGB command.
The other is to use the Preferences command to turn color management off.
This is documented quite well. Read the chapter on "Color Management" in your
manual. (You do have a manual, right?)


Art, literature, shareware, polyamory, kink, and more:
http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
T
Toby
Dec 25, 2004
Spot on. Many thanks. Absolutely clear now that I know where to look. The custom setting is going to be very helpful in setting up some sort of WYSIWYG situation with my printer as well. I must admit that I am not totally clear on color management 🙁

Toby

"Tacit" wrote in message
I’ve asked this before and never received an answer that made any sense. Photoshop CS displays all my photos and graphics files significantly darker
than any other app, including ACDSee, viewing my uploaded files on the web,
my Epson printer preview, etc.

Yes. The explanation is simple:

Photoshop uses something called "color management." Because every computer monitor is different and displays color differently, Photoshop looks at your
brand of monitor and other information (like the color profile in the image),
then changes the color you see on oyur screen to compensate for your brand of
monitor and so on.

With other programs, like ACDSee, if you look at the same picture on three diffeent kinds of monitors you see three different things–the color does not
match on all the monitors. Photoshop changes the color it shows on the screen;
with Photoshop, if you look at the same picture on three different brands of
monitors, they all look the same, assuming they are properly calibrated.
I have not been able to find any way to alter
the display gamma of Photoshop alone–is there a way??

There are TWO ways. One is to use the View->proof Setup->Monitor RGB command.
The other is to use the Preferences command to turn color management off.
This is documented quite well. Read the chapter on "Color Management" in your
manual. (You do have a manual, right?)


Art, literature, shareware, polyamory, kink, and more:
http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
JM
John McWilliams
Dec 25, 2004
Toby wrote:

Spot on. Many thanks. Absolutely clear now that I know where to look. The custom setting is going to be very helpful in setting up some sort of WYSIWYG situation with my printer as well. I must admit that I am not totally clear on color management 🙁
You’d be in the majority, then!

Could you kindly trim your replies? Makes it a lot easier to read the NG when folks do that.

Merry Christmas,


John McWilliams
T
Toby
Dec 29, 2004
"John McWilliams" wrote in message

Could you kindly trim your replies? Makes it a lot easier to read the NG when folks do that.

Can do, but usually I don’t because some news servers lose posts and then one is stuck reading a reply without having the question for reference.

Best,

Toby
JM
John McWilliams
Dec 29, 2004
Toby wrote:

"John McWilliams" wrote in message

Could you kindly trim your replies? Makes it a lot easier to read the NG when folks do that.

Can do, but usually I don’t because some news servers lose posts and then one is stuck reading a reply without having the question for reference.
But I said trim, not maim! <s>

A reply saying thanks needs no "reference".

A reply that retains only the relevant part of the previous post(s) is a beautiful thing.


John McWilliams
T
Toby
Dec 29, 2004
John McWilliams wrote..

A reply that retains only the relevant part of the previous post(s) is a beautiful thing.

Got it. You’re right.

Toby

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