Monitor Profile in Elements 6 (MAC).

[sharant11]

Hi, does anyone know if there is a way to check which monitor profile Elements is using? Any help is appreciated. This is the third forum I've posted this question with no responses so far.

BACKGROUND.

I just recently bought an external LCD monitor for my laptop and calibrated it using Eye One Display 2. My workflow involves using Canon's (http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00SU9J) Digital Photo (http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00SU9J) Professional (DPP v3.5) for RAW conversion. Typically I export a 16-bit tiff and use Photoshop Elements 6 to further tweak the file if needed.

If I open the 16-bit tiff on the calibrated monitor with DPP, the colors are different than when the same file is opened in PSE6 with Bridge CS3. The file displayed with PSE6 is flatter and less saturated. I'm more inclined to believe the DPP display, since DPP allows me to select the exact monitor profile generated by Eye One.

Notes: DPP and elements are both set up with the same working color space - Adobe RGB (1998), and the correct monitor profile is selected in the Display menu of the laptop (http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00SU9J).

The only explanation I can think of is that PSE6 is using the wrong monitor profile, so I would like to verify what it is using.

Thanks in advance.

[Codebreaker]

I'm not a Mac person but on a PC Elements will use whatever the default monitor profile has been set to. This is usually loaded by the Profile Loader that comes with the Eye-one Match S/W.

Of course you must have Elements Colour Settings to be anything but No Colour Management.

If your image appears flatter then this is usually a sign of an AdobeRGB image being viewed in a non colour managed programs. Which would indicate that Elements is not doing any colour management or your display profile is blown.

On the PC version of the Eye-one disk there is a program called DisplayProfile.EXE. This will show what the current display profile is being used. You could try that and see what it says.

Alternately you could re-calibrate your display and also try reseting Elements preferences, which sometimes fixes all sorts of odd things.

Colin

[sharant11]

Thanks Colin,

I will check later if DisplayProfile.EXE is included in the MAC software. I'm not at my workstation now. A few other things I didn't mention.

Elements is set up to "Manage colors for printing". I understand this means aRGB workspace, so I should be color managed.

I'm using the LCD in a dual display set up and all my palettes are on the laptop (Elements is opened in the laptop window). I generated a different profile for the laptop display and verified that the laptop display is using this profile and the LCD is using it's profile (verified in System Preferences on the laptop, not in the software). I also see a color change if I drap the photo window from the LCD to the laptop display (this might be related to the poor laptop display or viewing angle, but maybe not).

Is it possible Elements is confused by the two profiles?

Thanks.

[ljameso1]

On my mac I have PSE6 set to no color management so it uses the profile I have created. Find this under edit>color management in PSE6.

[Codebreaker]

Linda...

If you have Elements set to No Colour Management it wont use any profiles at all. I would strongly advise against this setting.

Colin

[Codebreaker]

SharantII....

The descriptions that Adobe have given for their Colour Settings are very misleading.

Optimise for Print means that images that do not have a colour profile tagged in them will be assigned an AdobeRGB colour space. This could be very wrong. If the source file is sRGB without a tag then Elements will assume its AdobeRGB. Images created from scratch in Elements will also be assigned an AdobeRGB colour space.

Optimise for Screen is the same but the other way around - sRGB is assigned.

No Colour Management means just that - all profiles are ignored.

If you have two screens on your laptop you need to check that you have generated an individual profile for each screen - laptop and external. You can do this using the DisplayProfile.exe I mentioned. Just drag it from one screen to the other and you'll see the profile being used in the window.

If you are seeing different colours between the screens this could be due to a few things.

1. Laptops don't always have the same colour range as a seperate monitor.

2. Some laptops video cards don't support dual profiles for monitors but I think Macs are OK in this respect.

3. The profiles for each are incorrect.

BTW: Are your screens cloned (both show the same picture ) or is the external display a true independent second screen.

Colin

[sharant11]

Colin,

I seem to have solved the problem, but let me clarify a few things for the record. I am using the external monitor as an independent second screen (laptop used for viewing pallettes and applications, external is used only for viewing open photo window). I do have separate profiles for both monitors. I re-calibrated both monitors and now I get very close results between DPP and PSE6 when viewing the same file on the same monitor. I'm not sure what happened the first time. I think either there was a problem with the original profiles or PSE6 and DPP mixed up the laptop and external monitor profiles and each app was using a different profile on the same monitor.

My working space is always aRGB and my own working files always have aRGB profile embedded. Post-edit, the profile depends on what I am doing with the file - typically I will convert to sRGB for web or digital frame. My print flow is complicated as I use an external print shop. That is a topic for another discussion.

Thanks for taking the time to disuss.

[Codebreaker]

I'm glad you seem to have cured your problem.

Good Luck

Colin

[ljameso1]

Linda...

If you have Elements set to No Colour Management it wont use any profiles at all. I would strongly advise against this setting.

Colin

SHHH Don't tell my printers; it's been working for 6 yrs now. Seriously, I think it's a difference between pc's and mac's. I picked up this technique from a local pro who uses macs.

[Codebreaker]

Linda....

No, there is no difference in this respect between any type of machine.

Because each device - different screens, different scanners, different printers - all interpret the colour data differently because they have different colour ranges, you need colour profiles to achieve consistency and a Colour Managed program.

Some print shops and labs will tell you not to include a profile in the image but that's because they expect the image to be already made in a specific colour space. Send them the wrong type and you get the wrong results.

Colin

[Wendy]

My personal view is that if you find a way that works for you ... then stick to it :)

Wendy

[Codebreaker]

Wendy....

I don't disagree with the principle of 'if it ain't broke, dont' fix it'. However, its useful to be aware that in this case there's no guarantee it will always work for every image you may come across or create.

Colin