PS, ACDSee, Windows and gamma

J
Posted By
Jim
Nov 18, 2003
Views
446
Replies
4
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Closed
I scan colour negative film into Photoshop, then use ACDSee to index my pix, but sometimes show them using Filmstrip in Windows.

The problem I have is that PS, ACDSee and Windows all seem to have different gamma settings, so what is right in PS is wrong in a Windows XP "filmstrip" slideshow.

I use a Sony 200GS monitor and have use Adobe Gamme to set it up for "correct" gamma (though changing the gamma slider doesn’t seem to set the "Now choose gamma" which defaults to Windows 2.2) I have absolutely no idea which whitepoint to use and leave by default it a 9300 although my monitor is set to 6500!

I suppose I am just making the usual rookie error of
thinking that there is a "right" setting, when in fact the setting will be changing all the time as a result of ambient light etc. Consistency is what I am really after, so does it make sense to make a print on my Canon i950 then use that print to set the screen? Then try to get all the packages loking the same too?

Is it possible to change the screen display gamma in PS
5.0LE? It seems noticeably brighter than Windows XP
"filmstrip".

Thanks
Jim
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T
Toby
Nov 18, 2003
Color management is a tricky thing, and I don’t know what is possible when moving between different programs. Later versions of PS allow you much better control of the RGB in your working space. The problem is that different RGBs are suited to different uses. For monitor viewing you are probably best off with Monitor RGB. Printing is a different matter.

Windows was never designed for graphic applications and has notoriously poor color management. I am not a Mac user but I hear things are much better on that side of the fence.

I don’t know what gammas the different apps you mention use. I would be surprised if they weren’t Windows standard, but who knows…

By getting your printer involved you open up another whole can of worms. For prints you should set your monitor white point to 6500 K or D65. For web viewing the preferred white point is somewhat higher. For real consistency you should use external calibration hardware/software like Colorvision or Monaco–that is the only way you have any real objective control. Once your monitor is set with a colorimeter then you can adjust your printer to match, taking into account the differences between images viewed transmissively and reflectively (monitor and print) and the vagaries of inkjet dyes.

Unfortunately it may not be possible to do much color management in PS 5.0 LE. As I remember it wasn’t until version 6.0 that Adobe really started to take CM seriously.

Toby

"Jim" wrote in message
I scan colour negative film into Photoshop, then use ACDSee to index my pix, but sometimes show them using Filmstrip in Windows.

The problem I have is that PS, ACDSee and Windows all seem to have different gamma settings, so what is right in PS is wrong in a Windows XP "filmstrip" slideshow.

I use a Sony 200GS monitor and have use Adobe Gamme to set it up for "correct" gamma (though changing the gamma slider doesn’t seem to set the "Now choose gamma" which defaults to Windows 2.2) I have absolutely no idea which whitepoint to use and leave by default it a 9300 although my monitor is set to 6500!

I suppose I am just making the usual rookie error of
thinking that there is a "right" setting, when in fact the setting will be changing all the time as a result of ambient light etc. Consistency is what I am really after, so does it make sense to make a print on my Canon i950 then use that print to set the screen? Then try to get all the packages loking the same too?

Is it possible to change the screen display gamma in PS
5.0LE? It seems noticeably brighter than Windows XP
"filmstrip".

Thanks
Jim
H
howldog
Nov 18, 2003
On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 01:44:21 GMT, Jim
wrote:

I scan colour negative film into Photoshop, then use ACDSee to index my pix, but sometimes show them using Filmstrip in Windows.

Here’s what I do in a similar situation. Often i do work in photoshop that ends up being viewed in ACDC and then converted to windoze wallpaper, and i want it to look identical in all three viewers.

Go into photoshop, color settings, and choose "monitor rgb".

that should change photoshop’s color display, to match that of your other programs, especially the windows ones.

you could also try to prevent the Adobe Gamma from loading at all, go into your start programs folder and take out the shortcut that loads at startup. see if that makes any difference.

all these changes are things you can easily put back if they dont work.
J
Jim
Nov 21, 2003
howldog wrote:

Go into photoshop, color settings, and choose "monitor rgb".
that should change photoshop’s color display, to match that of your other programs, especially the windows ones.

Thanks guys.

I don’t think I can do that in PS 5LE (Yes, my copy was free with a scanner, but PS7 is one costly package – I might move to Elements given the limited range of use that I have).

Anyway, I’ve now discovered that PS5 has a gamma setting about 1.2 higher than ACDSee or Windows. And there’s really nothing I can see to change that in my version.

I’ll check out Elements. If I can bring the gamma of PS
Elements down to the same as Windows/ACDSee then my problem is probably solved.

Jim
J
Jim
Nov 21, 2003
Rates, my evaluation version of Elements has timed out. Does anyone know if it’s possible to change the gamma setting in Elements to bring it down to the same level as XP or ACDSee?

Thanks,
Jim

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