I am seeing a difference in colors from the built-in image viewer compared to Photoshop. The difference is quite significant.
Why would I see such a big difference in the display of color?
I am seeing a difference in colors from the built-in image viewer compared to Photoshop. The difference is quite significant.
Why would I see such a big difference in the display of color?
Presumably you've told Photoshop to use a color profile. You can do the same with Opus using the Preferences / Miscellaneous / Advanced [Image Formats]: use_color_management setting.
I checked Photoshop's color setup, and it is set for default. My LCD panel is color calibrated for Photoshop by default. Photoshop is not using a standard ICC file.
I did try to use many different ICC files I see listed under C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color within Directory Opus settings. There is even an ICC file installed with my LCD panel drivers. I saw no changes to the color displayed at all with different ICC files in the image viewer.
@Jamil
Could I suggest as a starting point that you set both Photoshop and Opus to use the SRGB ICC profile. It is a good starting point. Unless you are converting images to CMYK for commercial printing, the CMYK values in Photoshop should not matter. Use the defaults.
To get full advantage of an ICC workflow, however, you will need to profile your monitor regularly with a device like an i1 Display Pro.
I can vouch with that done you will be able to bring an image up in Photoshop and the Opus viewer and they will look identical.
Thank you for your suggestion.
I am skeptical of the ICC changes to Directory Opus only because I went through many ICC files within C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color to see zero change from the Image Viewer.
I would choose ProPhoto.icm that is available by default in my WIndows 10 install.
I will give this a try in Photoshop. I can easily restore it back to its default configuration.
@Jamil
The changes made by ICC profiles are generally quite subtle - unless there is something radically wrong with the profile - and so I would not expect to see huge differences by changing profiles.
Personally, I would not use ProPhoto.icm, unless there is some over-riding need to do so. Concentrate on SRGB - at least for the setup and testing. And don 't forget to have Photoshop change incoming images to the SRGB profile.
But to get a worthwhile workflow with ICC you need to profile your monitor to the ambient light conditions. That is an absolute essential.
I found the difference. It's that Photoshop uses the Adobe Color Engine by default that shows more accurate colors. Microsoft ICM is the weak link and the cause of the difference. Once I revert Photoshop to the weaker Windows coloring, it matches Directory Opus.
@Jamil
Not sure why changing the color rendering engine should sort it out. As far as I am aware this the engine that actually interprets the differences between ICC profiles and changes profiles internally in Photoshop.
Certainly on my system I can change engines without it affecting the the look between Opus and Photoshop. Some people say Microsoft ICM is technically superior to Adobe Ace, but that argument is way above my pay grade.
There are my settings for Photoshop
And For Opus
in case it helps
Thanks for sharing your Photoshop settings.
I now understand why it is happening, and I will unfortunately have to live with it. Photoshop is the standard. I would prefer if the Opus image viewer could show colors as Photoshop does, but I see this is not possible due to the Microsoft's implementation. If you were to change Engine to Microsoft ICM then select the same ICC files as Directory Opus, the colors would look identical then.
It appears you modified Photoshop's settings to match Microsoft's default colors that may be okay for you, but it's worse for me. If you open JPGs in Google Chrome or even the newer Microsoft Edge, you will even see colors close to Photoshop's default (not Microsoft's own ICM implementation at all).
The reason is Photoshop sets the standard.
That just sounds like the color profiles aren't set up properly to me. I doubt that Chrome is using Photoshop's engine, and Opus doesn't use Microsoft's engine, it uses lcms.
Chrome is not using Photoshop's engine. What I wrote is that Chrome is following Photoshop's colors.
I will attach the JPG to allow you to check this for yourself. If you have either Google Chrome or the latest Microsoft Edge that uses the chrome engine, open of this attached JPG in either. It matches Photoshop's color definition and not Microsoft's ICM implementation. You will see an image that look very much like the Photoshop screenshot from my original post. It will look very different from Microsoft's ICM implementation.
I zipped this up to avoid your current browser from skewing the results.
Folder.zip (60.9 KB)
If you did use the Chromium engine to render this JPG, the image viewer would show correct colors.
I do not think you have the hang of color management at all. I have made no reference to Microsoft's default colors, whatever they may be. As Leo points out Opus goes nowhere near Microsoft rendering engine. Only Photoshop does this when you change profiles on a picture.
I think you are making it much more complex than it is. Look at my settings and use them as an experiment. If I open an image in Opus and Microsoft edge (I do not use Chrome) they look absolutely identical.
Have you calibrated your monitor? Just seen your last post. What is Microsoft's ICM implementation. Is it an ICC profile from Microsoft?
Auden, from your screenshot that shows Engine: Adobe (ACE), click that drop down. Do you also see Microsoft ICM? Can you also then choose an ICM definition to associate with it?
This was what I did to then change the colors to identically match what Opus displays in the image viewer.
My LCD panel is professionally calibrated. I did not do it myself. It was done for me.
Let's get back to basics. Will you tell me the color profile you think is attached to the image you sent me?
When it opens in Photoshop a box should pop up telling you the profile it is using and offering you the chance to change it.
This happened on my system, indicating that your image is not using the sRGB IEC61966-21 that I use. (See my Photoshop settings). When I attached the sRGB profile the image looks identical in Opus, Photoshop and Edge, just as it should in an ICC managed system.
BTW: You need to calibrate your monitor every 6 or 8 weeks and be assured that you are using settings for an LCD Panel. It is a pain, but it is the price you pay for good color management.
I would also try some experiments with images that do not have vignettes, like yours. Try some pictures of people in your experiments. It is easier to subjectively review the results
As I already wrote, I will simply stop using Image Viewer built into Opus.
I will use Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Photoshop instead.
No need to continue here.