I've been meaning to start posting over in this forum and meet some people from my own neck of the woods. Now I have a question that needs images to explain the problem. Since I can't post images in the other discussion forums, I've taken this as a sign that it's finally time to get involved in PNWNP! I just hope I can find the time to contribute regular-like.
I'm having a strange issue in Photoshop--hopefully someone out there knows what's going on! When I open up a file in PS, it is given an orange cast. It is easily identifiable in a black and white file (so I've included a couple b&w images to illustrate).
When working in photoshop, the second image is what I see. When I save, the resulting jpg opened in another program, looks like the first image (true b&w). Even the "white square" on my tool window is tainted orange when photoshop is open (as seen in the second image here).
If it helps, I had to do a double screen capture in order to display the second image below. Since the saved image returns to the accurate color, I screen captured a screen capture to show what you see below.
I'm a little confused by my own description of the problem above, so if it doesn't make sense, please ask for a clarification.
Posted by Bryan Corey on December 1, 2007 at 6:47 PM
Sounds to me like it may be a color-profile issue. Do you have any proofing profiles set and enabled that would be showing you a digital color proof? Try under the View menu to see if "Proof Colors" is enabled. If so, either un-toggle that (which can also be done without menus with cmd/ctrl + y) or change your proof settings, also in the View menu.
Posted by Adrian Klein on December 2, 2007 at 1:55 AM
I too think it's a color profile problem as Bryan mentioned. I am not sure what else it would be. I tried to play with your good b&w image and see if I could get any of the color profiles that are in PS to show your orange tinted version but I can't. I still think it's the color profile though. Sorry I can't help much more on this. Good luck!
The above view shows "proof colors" unchecked. I played with this some more and found that if I checked "proof colors" with "proof settings" set to "Monitor RGB", I got image colors near that of the actual image (there is still a slight tint to it). The white box on my toolbar still looks tinted though... and I know I've never had to check the "proof colors" box before--now, when I open any image, I'd have to enable that before starting to process any image. Something else has changed somewhere.
I got frustrated and decided to uninstall all of my CS2 applications and reinstall them... that didn't fix the problem! What in the world is going on? I'm blown away...
I have monkeyed around with the color profiles and color settings in the edit menu as well, but haven't had any luck.
I'm gonna' get back at it, but I'm really feeling my lack of knowledge with this program and what's really going on with the color settings... so if anyone has any ideas, please to tell!
Thanks.
Posted by John Williams on December 2, 2007 at 9:50 AM
This exact problem is a new one for me Brian. Reinstalling the program should give you default settings, so that makes me suspect a color setting difference between your monitor profile and Photoshop. Can you post your Color Settings from Photoshop (on the Edit menu in CS3)? Is your monitor calibrated?
If you place your cursor over something white, what numbers does Photoshop show on the Info tab of the Info palette? I like to set my Second Color in the Palette Options to LAB color, and you can immediately see if you are looking at a neutral or not; the color of a true neutral should be at, or very near, 0 in the a and b channels. If whites are showing as a0 and b0 in the palette, then your monitor profile is off. In this case, I would invest in a calibrator (not to expensive these days).
If the colors on the info tab are off (for example the colors that should be neutral in your second photo above read ~a8b16), then the photo is not black and white to begin with, or Photoshop is doing a conversion when it opens the file. In this case, I would send the photo to another PNWNPer and see what numbers they get in Photoshop to see if the numbers are off in the original, or if your Photoshop is converting it upon opening.
I'll include a screen capture of my Color Settings below. As far as reinstalling PS, I've now realized that all my settings are not default. Even my actions were not deleted when I uninstalled/installed (I didn't "reinstall" so I assumed I was good). I told the program not to save my preferences, but it appears to have saved them anyway. Is there a way to restore ALL defaults in PS without uninstalling/installing?
I did as you suggested John and checked out the colors using the info palette. The colors are right there. Turns out I added a tiny blue tone to the image above, but when I brought up a true b&w the lab colors turned out 0's for the a and b channels.
I don't think the monitor profile is off because the images are correctly colored in Adobe Bridge. Also, when I "save for web...", the colors appear correctly in the Image Ready preview. The setting appears to be in PS itself.
I did mess with some printer settings recently, but I didn't notice any color change at that time, and that shouldn't change what what has changed in the workspace bg.
I'm looking at this with fresh eyes again but no luck yet!
I appreciate the time you guys have taken to help. Thanks--I owe you a
Posted by Bryan Corey on December 2, 2007 at 10:43 PM
Try resetting the prefs in PS. Hold down Alt, Ctrl, and Shift keys (Mac: Command, Option, Shift) while starting Photoshop. A dialog box will appear asking if you wish to delete the preferences file. After that go ahead and re-do your color profile stuff. I'm still thinking it's got to be some color setting.
Bryan: When I reset the preferences as you advised, I also got a message that said "LG monitor profile appears to be defective" ... given the option to "use anyway" or "ignore profile", I said "use anyway". That didn't change anything, so I did it again and ignored profile and my PS was back!
Discussion
8 repliesI'm having a strange issue in Photoshop--hopefully someone out there knows what's going on! When I open up a file in PS, it is given an orange cast. It is easily identifiable in a black and white file (so I've included a couple b&w images to illustrate).
When working in photoshop, the second image is what I see. When I save, the resulting jpg opened in another program, looks like the first image (true b&w). Even the "white square" on my tool window is tainted orange when photoshop is open (as seen in the second image here).
If it helps, I had to do a double screen capture in order to display the second image below. Since the saved image returns to the accurate color, I screen captured a screen capture to show what you see below.
I'm a little confused by my own description of the problem above, so if it doesn't make sense, please ask for a clarification.
Thank for any help you can offer!
The above view shows "proof colors" unchecked. I played with this some more and found that if I checked "proof colors" with "proof settings" set to "Monitor RGB", I got image colors near that of the actual image (there is still a slight tint to it). The white box on my toolbar still looks tinted though... and I know I've never had to check the "proof colors" box before--now, when I open any image, I'd have to enable that before starting to process any image. Something else has changed somewhere.
I got frustrated and decided to uninstall all of my CS2 applications and reinstall them... that didn't fix the problem! What in the world is going on? I'm blown away...
I have monkeyed around with the color profiles and color settings in the edit menu as well, but haven't had any luck.
I'm gonna' get back at it, but I'm really feeling my lack of knowledge with this program and what's really going on with the color settings... so if anyone has any ideas, please to tell!
Thanks.
If you place your cursor over something white, what numbers does Photoshop show on the Info tab of the Info palette? I like to set my Second Color in the Palette Options to LAB color, and you can immediately see if you are looking at a neutral or not; the color of a true neutral should be at, or very near, 0 in the a and b channels. If whites are showing as a0 and b0 in the palette, then your monitor profile is off. In this case, I would invest in a calibrator (not to expensive these days).
If the colors on the info tab are off (for example the colors that should be neutral in your second photo above read ~a8b16), then the photo is not black and white to begin with, or Photoshop is doing a conversion when it opens the file. In this case, I would send the photo to another PNWNPer and see what numbers they get in Photoshop to see if the numbers are off in the original, or if your Photoshop is converting it upon opening.
I'll include a screen capture of my Color Settings below. As far as reinstalling PS, I've now realized that all my settings are not default. Even my actions were not deleted when I uninstalled/installed (I didn't "reinstall" so I assumed I was good). I told the program not to save my preferences, but it appears to have saved them anyway. Is there a way to restore ALL defaults in PS without uninstalling/installing?
I did as you suggested John and checked out the colors using the info palette. The colors are right there. Turns out I added a tiny blue tone to the image above, but when I brought up a true b&w the lab colors turned out 0's for the a and b channels.
I don't think the monitor profile is off because the images are correctly colored in Adobe Bridge. Also, when I "save for web...", the colors appear correctly in the Image Ready preview. The setting appears to be in PS itself.
I did mess with some printer settings recently, but I didn't notice any color change at that time, and that shouldn't change what what has changed in the workspace bg.
I'm looking at this with fresh eyes again but no luck yet!
I appreciate the time you guys have taken to help. Thanks--I owe you a
Bryan: When I reset the preferences as you advised, I also got a message that said "LG monitor profile appears to be defective" ... given the option to "use anyway" or "ignore profile", I said "use anyway". That didn't change anything, so I did it again and ignored profile and my PS was back!
Thanks so much--oh, it's time for bed!