Display Colors Terrible in PSE5

[Rodney Duke]

When I open an image in PSE5 the colors aren't even close to being correct. I can print the image and colors are correct in the print preview pane. I think it has to be a PSE5 issue because I use Canon DPP also with no problems. I removed DPP thinking there might a conflict between DPP and PSE5 but problem still exists in PSE5. Computer OS is Windows XP Pro and PSE5 version is 5.0 Checked the Adobe site and found nothing.
Thanks for any help

[genevh]

The main reason you are probably seeing the colors like that in PSE is because PSE is a color managed program, and most likely the only color managed program on your PC. On a non-calibrated monitor, this can do some really strange things to the colors you are seeing.

For more information on color management, you might try searching the forums for the username Codebreaker and reading his posts. He is probably the most knowledgeable person posting in regards to this topic. It can be a confusing topic, so be prepared to spend some time on it.

The first suggestion I would make is to check the color settings your PSE5 is set to at this time. Go to Edit -> Color Settings and see which setting is being used. At the minimum, if yours is set to No Color Management, you need to select one of the others. Most cameras (unless you've reset it) default to the sRGB color space, so you may want to reset yours to Optimize for Computer Screens. Whichever you choose, though, is much better than No Color Management. As you read through the posts in the forums, there is a lot of debate on this topic.

The next thing is to calibrate your monitor. There are a couple of ways you can do this. If you are serious about your photography and want to get the best out of your PC and the editing tools you are using, you will want to invest in a colorimeter. This is a tool that measures and helps set up a color profile for your monitor that will get loaded when you boot up your PC. I use the Spyder2 Suite which is currently selling on Amazon for $109. Do a search there on colorimeter and they have several types available at a wide range of prices. Gretag MacBeth is a favorite also of users on these forums.

Or...you can try to calibrate manually using Adobe Gamma. If you have the PSE5 disk, it is on the disc. Instructions for how to do it can be found on the Adobe website here (http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=333356). It is not nearly as accurate as using a colorimeter since you do it visually, but it is better than nothing and a good start.

I can tell you that the first time I calibrated my monitor it made a huge difference, and my monitor was brand new at the time.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it works out for you. :)

FYI: I just read through the instructions on using Adobe Gamma and it recommends using a colorimeter if you have an LCD monitor.

[Rodney Duke]

Forgot to mention that monitor is calibrated using Spyder2Express and color management is set to "Optimize for printing" per Mr. Kelby's instructions in one of his books.

[genevh]

Hmmm....well gee.....knowing that would have saved a lot of typing.....:)

Are your video drivers and directx drivers up to date? And when you installed PSE5 did you shut down your antivirus?

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Ae all your images like this ... ones out of you camera, scanned ones, downloaded ones ?


Wendy

[Rodney Duke]

Sorry for the typing Gene, but frustration sometimes leads to a senior moment.

Wendy, all images brought into PSE5 have bad colors regardless of the source.

Thanks all
Rodney

[genevh]

Not a problem...I'm starting to have plenty of those myself.....;)

[Codebreaker]

If you've been using DPP then I'm guessing these are Raw images we're talking about.

Where do you see the poor colour images - is it the Organiser? This uses a default Camera Raw rendering and can sometimes be over the top in terms of saturation. Is this what you are seeing or is the problem somewhere else?

Colin

[Rodney Duke]

Here's the path that led me to the fix. DisplayProperties>Settings>Advanced>Color Management. Under Color profiles currently associated with this device the setting was Spyder2Express and I changed it to sRGB Color Space Profile. Colors are correct in PSE5 and DPP. I stumbled across this just searching for a fix. As the saying goes "A blind hog finds an acorn now and then".

Many thanks to all!
Rodney

[Codebreaker]

Rodney.....


You may appear to have fixed your problem if you are happy with the result but your solution isn't correct. What you are now doing is using the standard sRGB profile for you monitor and not the one created by your Spyder.

If the results are better then it suggests to me that the Profile created by the Spyder was not correct.

Colin

[Rodney Duke]

Colin, any suggestions on how to get the Spyder profile to work.
Thanks,
Rodney

[Codebreaker]

You should just be able to re-run the Spyder S/W to re-create the Profile. If the S/W runs like my Gretag then it creates the Profile and causes it to be loaded when you power on or reset the machine.

I'd like to understand though, more about your problem.

Are these RAW images?
Where are you seeing the 'poor' colours? Organiser or Editor?
In what way are they wrong?

Are you by any chance running Vista? It can have a habit of 'killing' the profile if it pops up one of it's security warnings that causes the screen background to 'dim'.

Colin

[Rodney Duke]

Colin,
I set the color profile back to Spyder2Express and restarted the computer and still bad colors. I tried recalibrating the monitor and the colors were still bad. So I calibrated a second time and covered the monitor and spyder with a sheet of black poster board and now the colors are displayed as they should be. The room where the computer is located is dimly lit by ambient light through a window blind. The window faces north and is covered by a white blind so there are no dramatic changes in light. So I don't understand the poster board helping if indeed it did.
Answers to your questions:
OS is XP Pro
Images are raw
I use editor only
Reds are very orange, greens have a strong yellow cast.
Thanks for your help
Rodney

[Codebreaker]

Rodney.....

I'm glad you managed to get the profile correct.

The reason for asking about the RAW is that I've found that the ACR Auto Settings to be way out for my liking and that tends to be the initial setting (Auto) unless you turn it off.

Colin