Why are my images lighter in photoshop than everything else?

[The Edge]

As title.

I'm using PS elements 2 and this is really starting to annoy me. I get it just right in PS, look at it on the web and it's darker :evil:

 

[silkstone]

Aha! You're on the edge of being another Paint Shop Pro convert, methinks.

 

[The Edge]

Que??

I never had this problem with PS7.

 

[Matt]

is there some kind of option for image defaults on there? it might be set to a lower gamma or some such sillyness

 

[Marcel]

The Adobe Gamma Loader? You can set your the Gamma level for Adobe, independantly of windows.
Try looking in your startup folder, see if it's in there.

Also, which colour space / monitor profile do you have set in your Photoshop settings?

 

[The Edge]

the monitor is a Mitsu 930SB set to SRGB mode so i can't alter any settings on the monitor itself.

PS is exactly as it was when installed on tuesday.

 

[Steve]

This most likely down to a conflict of colour profiles between your camera shooting settings and the settings in Elements. What profile have you got your 10D set to and how do the pictures look when viewed in windows or through other software packages? Do you print out your own photographs or have them done elsewhere?

If you can give some more info I will do my best to help you out.

 

[The Edge]

I haven't changed the 10D colour space from default, or the elements 2 setting from default. I assumed the camera would be on sRGB by default, and haven't figured out the Elements 2 package just yet.

With the D1 i had to assign the colour space to NTSC and then convert the convert it to SRGB with every shot to lose the infamous magenta cast. I assumed with the 10D i'd not have to do this.

I've not done any printouts yet, but all photos look lighter in PS than any other nethod of viewing them.

Adobe Gamma loadup is in my startup group - should it be?

Thanks guys

 

[Steve]

I haven't changed the 10D colour space from default, or the elements 2 setting from default. I assumed the camera would be on sRGB by default, and haven't figured out the Elements 2 package just yet.

Check that the 10D is set to sRGB in the menu and also check Elements2 to see that you have it set to either sRGB (preferable) or to do not assign a profile. The second option should use the EXIF data for the working space and on saving it use sRGB which should show up correctly for web and everywhere else that does not read colour profiles. Your problem definitely lies with a colour profiling mismatch but Elements is not to blame, it is the only item in your post processing work flow that is behaving correctly.

With the D1 i had to assign the colour space to NTSC and then convert the convert it to SRGB with every shot to lose the infamous magenta cast. I assumed with the 10D i'd not have to do this.

I can’t coment on the D1 but the only colour casts that you should see with the 10D are from incorrect white balance settings

I've not done any printouts yet, but all photos look lighter in PS than any other nethod of viewing them.

This again tells me that it is purly down to colour profile mismatch.

Adobe Gamma loadup is in my startup group - should it be?

Thanks guys

Yes, run the application from within the control panel and set up your gamma and colour to match it, it will guide you through several simple screens and instruct you to make slight alterations on the way. Once done it should give you a fairly good base line standard from which you can work or if you prefer you can tweek it slightly.

 

[The Edge]

Check that the 10D is set to sRGB in the menu and also check Elements2 to see that you have it set to either sRGB (preferable) or to do not assign a profile. The second option should use the EXIF data for the working space and on saving it use sRGB which should show up correctly for web and everywhere else that does not read colour profiles. Your problem definitely lies with a colour profiling mismatch but Elements is not to blame, it is the only item in your post processing work flow that is behaving correctly.

The 10D is set to standard in the parameters bit of the menu. This I assume is SRGB?

What do i need to look for in elements to tell it to do what you suggest?

Yes, run the application from within the control panel and set up your gamma and colour to match it, it will guide you through several simple screens and instruct you to make slight alterations on the way. Once done it should give you a fairly good base line standard from which you can work or if you prefer you can tweek it slightly.

The monitor locks the brigtness etc when you put it into SRGB mode so i can't really do anything with that. Once elements is sorted i shouldn't need to though should i?

 

[Steve]

The 10D is set to standard in the parameters bit of the menu. This I assume is SRGB?

What do i need to look for in elements to tell it to do what you suggest?

No the parameters are setting applied to the pictures like contrast, sharpness, colour etc and can be manually set and adjusted by the user. Usually these should be set to normal though as many people prefer to control and adjust these during post processing. You need to look for colour space in the menu and select sRGB from the submenu.

For Elements I am not sure as I use Photoshop CS but I would assume it to be similar so check under EDIT>COLOUR SETTINGS or EDIT >PREFERENCES..you may find something in there. if you find more than the obvious report back and I will try to assist more.

Yes, run the application from within the control panel and set up your gamma and colour to match it, it will guide you through several simple screens and instruct you to make slight alterations on the way. Once done it should give you a fairly good base line standard from which you can work or if you prefer you can tweek it slightly.

The monitor locks the brigtness etc when you put it into SRGB mode so i can't really do anything with that. Once elements is sorted i shouldn't need to though should i?

In theory no, but if you cant adjust the settings to match the adobe gamma loader then I would remove it from your startup group and ensure that it is not active for now. this too could currently be adding to the confusion slightly, although it won't be the cause of the pictures being bright only in Elements.

 

[The Edge]

Colour settings gives 3 options.

1) No Colour management (Selected)

2) Limited Colour managment

3) Full Colour management

In preferances the only thimg of interest is the colour picker option which was set to adobe, with an option for windows. I've tried changing ot with no result.

As long as the paramaters in the camera are not set to Adobe RGB the colour space images are tagged with is SRGB according to the manual.

 

[Steve]

You have got me stumped now sir, my knowledge has been exhausted and I have just spent a few hours trawling the various Adobe and other forums for more information. The general theme seems to be that Elements doesn't colour manage too well with it retuning unpredictable results at best, this has cropped up time and time again through the web. Photoshop on the other hand seems to be great at this so I cant understand why the same company can get it so right for one product and so wrong for another, after all it is a very basic but essential part I would have thought.

Honestly I am afraid I am stuck now other than to suggest playing with the same picture using the various different colour settings in Elements till you find a useable one. The only other thing I would suggest is that when saving your pictures for use on the web, use the "save for web" option rather than save as. This should not only minimise the file sizes but also make the colours best suited to what can be seen on the web.


Hopefully someone else might be able to suggest something else for you to try.

 

[The Edge]

I think the easiest method is to revert to the tried and trusted PS7 i was using before

Thanks for your time Steve, and the others have a vitual beer on me

 

[Steve]

I think the easiest method is to revert to the tried and trusted PS7 i was using before

Thanks for your time Steve, and the others have a vitual beer on me

If you have been using PS before then switching to Elements is not the right thing to do. Use PS for your editing and if you shoot RAW have a look at Canon Digital Photo Professional for the conversion. It works fine with the 10D and is a free download from Canon. Run that along side PS and you are on a winner for no outlay.

 

[Pook]

Have you run Adobe Gama to set up your monitor? Are you using Adove RGB1998 as your default colourspace in PS? Should have no problems if you are doing. Adobe gamma loader may well be running every time you boot, but it's set wrong. Run it again, follow the on screen prompts, and get your monitor set up correctly. I've used PS5,6,7 and now CS with no such problem.

 

[The Edge]

I think the easiest method is to revert to the tried and trusted PS7 i was using before

Thanks for your time Steve, and the others have a vitual beer on me

If you have been using PS before then switching to Elements is not the right thing to do. Use PS for your editing and if you shoot RAW have a look at Canon Digital Photo Professional for the conversion. It works fine with the 10D and is a free download from Canon. Run that along side PS and you are on a winner for no outlay.

I reinstalled windows last week and put elements 2 on instead of PS 7 on the basis it was newer and would probably do all i wanted it to. I haven't been using both packages together. I'm shooting Jpegs atm, but will be tryin RAW out next week.

Have you run Adobe Gama to set up your monitor?

My monitor is locked to sRGB. I can't alter any settings, so Adobe Gamma won't help i don't think.

 

[The Edge]

Right, it is something to do with the gamma level. I thought the editor just told you to play wityh brightness/contrast.

However i don't understand the sliding bar thing. It says to move until the the centre pattern fades in. I can't seem to get it to fade in at all! What should i look for?

Cheers again!

 

[The Edge]

Right, i've got it close now

I'd still appreciate tips on setting the gamma level as the instructions on the wizard are not really working for me as the centre pattern never seems to fade in.