2
\$\begingroup\$

I currently have

  • Dell U2711 monitor with Dell U2711 ICC profile (Adobe RGB preset mode)
  • Windows 10
  • Adobe Lightroom 6 CC
  • Image from Fujifilm X100 in both RAW (RAF) and JPEG
  • Done very little else to calibrate the screen

The steps I've taken

  1. I load the RAF into Lightroom and edit it. It now looks better than the out-of-camera JPEG.
  2. I export it to file (either JPEG @ 100% quality or TIFF), using the sRGB ICC profile.
  3. I view it using the color managed windows photo viewer or chrome (which I believe is now color managed)

The issue is that

  1. It does not look like it does in Lightroom - the colors are different and it has gained contrast and appears to have lost detail - specifically, I am looking at a photo of my black cat - in Lightroom, I could see the detail of his fur - in the exported image, a lot of this is lost and I just see black - it is significantly worse!
  2. It does not look as good as the out of camera image when viewed with the same color managed programs.
  3. However, if I use the windows screen grab tool and grab the image off the preview in Lightroom and save it as a JPEG/PNG, it looks just the same as Lightroom(i.e. a lot better).

I have been Googling hard and have seen various people suggest various things, but I really don't understand why Lightroom should do such a bad job of exporting my photos.

Other Steps I've Taken Include

I downloaded ExifTool and dumped out the ICC profile of the JPEG. The Windows captured image doesn't have an embedded profile, whereas (as expected) the Lightroom one does have an sRGB profile.

The Fuji out of camera image doesn't have a profile either - am I doing something wrong?

exiftool -icc_profile -b image.jpg > profile.icc

Interestingly, when I choose the Dell U2711 profile on the Lightroom export, it then displays as expected on my screen - however I am worried if I do this, it will not look good on other displays, or am I wrong?

Is there some way I can get Lightroom just not to use an ICC profile at all when it exports? Although people all seem to recommend using the sRGB profile?

I emailed these photos to my Macbook Air which cannot display as many colors as the DELL u2711:

  1. The Fuji JPEG
  2. The Lightroom JPEG with sSGB profile
  3. The Lightroom JPEG with U2711 profile
  4. The screen capture from Lightroom

Results:

  1. The Fuji and the screen capture look fine.
  2. The images with profiles look the same as each other
  3. Both of the images exported from LR with embedded profiles look worse than the Fuji/Capture images with no embedded profile

Further update

So, I now take the image exported from LR with the U2711 ICC profile (which looks good on the U2711 monitor but bad on a non-U2711 monitor) and strip out the ICC profile using:

exiftool -all= image.jpg

This image still looks good on the U2711 monitor and it looks good on a non-U2711 monitor.

However, if I take the image exported with sRGB profile (which looks bad on my U2711 and on my macbook air) and strip the profile out of that, it looks bad on both still.

As per the question below - I am seeing the acceptable image both in Develop and Library mode in LR (I can see there is a small difference between the two, but they are both acceptable to my eyes)

Here is an example image - I hope that it is clear enough that the top two and bottom right are pretty much identical, but the bottom left has slightly different colours and also has more visible details in the fur especially on the right hand side and the top of the head. As the text says, this is the image which was exported with my monitor's ICC profile but then had it removed via exiftool - and this is the way it appears in lightroom and also when I use screen capture.

enter image description here

\$\endgroup\$
2
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ It is important to note which module/tab of Lightroom you are seeing the image as "acceptable". Is it Develop or Library? In the Develop module, by default Lightroom displays previews using the ProPhoto RGB color space for example. Please expand. \$\endgroup\$
    – dpollitt
    Dec 12, 2015 at 17:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ This answer that I wrote a while back might help you understand what's going on with the colour spaces, specifically in your browser. photo.stackexchange.com/a/16825/3644 \$\endgroup\$ Jul 26, 2016 at 10:15

1 Answer 1

1
\$\begingroup\$

If your monitor is setup for AdobeRGB input it means that you will see pale image if you input sRGB data - like your screenshots depict.

It is very unreliable to assume that Chrome is colour managed. Last time I checked it there were bugs about colour management still opened.

The image viewer in Windows 7 does colour conversion bad too.

The Lightroom is your benchmark. If any other program has incorrect colour image and you have correct profile associated with display in Windows settings it means that this program is managing colour incorrectly.

\$\endgroup\$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.