Monitor Calibration Problems + RGB Color Issues For D810 Images

kanuck

Recently I have been noticing that my images appear too dark or underexposed in their appearance on Flickr, Facebook, this forum, my smart phone and tablets in particular. Yet on my home computer and monitors at work they look fine. My question is this: In Lightroom 5.7 under edit>preferences what are people's settings for external editing? I have the file format as a TIFF color space sRGB, 8 bits for bit depth and resolution 300. Compression is ZIP. I use these same settings for additional external editor option as well. If this is not the problem then when I export out of Lightroom perhaps the file setting is wrong in terms of color space. I export to my desktop as an Adobe RGB and not a sRGB or ProPhoto RGB. Is this a problem?

In Adobe Photoshop CC under edit >color settings I have selected these settings: Custom, working spaces RGB: Adobe RGB (1998). The other options are Monitor RGB data, Apple RGB, Color Match RGB, ProPhoto RGB, and sRBG IECG 61966-2.1. Under Color Management Policies I have the preserve embedded profiles selected for all 3 tabs.

Is this correct for processing RAW D810 files? I generally go Lightroom 5.7 to Photoshop CC then save JPEG to my desktop. Pretty frustrated as the images look flat, lacking contrast and are underexposed even in appearance 1~2 stops at times it looks like. I always thought Apple had the best monitors but my ipad mini renders my images from webpages the worst! Thanks for any input here. Frustrated...

PS my computer monitor has been calibrated to Photoshop so I have a feeling its a color space problem either in Photoshop or Lightroom..

spraynpray

I expect you will find your monitor is too bright kanuk.

WestEndFoto

I always look on my smartphone after I upload to Flickr to nail this.

Ironheart

I expect you will find your monitor is too bright kanuk.

I'll add "for the environment you edit in". The monitor should only be at 50% brightness under normal ambient light. If the room is exceptionally bright, you might go up to 75-80%. In a dark room, you need to go the other way, less than half, way less than half.

MaxBerlin

The voodoo that online sites do to your photos is criminal.

It's as if you need 2 export options - one for your archiving and another for sites like Flickr that destroy your midsized images. The full size are not but your friends and fans don't know to go look there unless they are experienced photographers themselves. And even then not that many people care or care deeply enough.

In the end - do it for yourself and don't worry about it. As soon as you're dialed in some VP will request a new algorithm compression scheme to save Yahoo 1.2 cents per terabyte.

Vipmediastar_JZ

why are you not using LR CC if you are using PS CC? Also LR CC affected D810 files. There is a workaround but if you are not using LR CC this shouldn't affect you.
In another thread I was asking about the WB. It turns out that even though I calibrated my mac with the Xrite somehow It dropped the profile. After I re-calibrated the WB was more pleasing but that is a diffrent subject.

Do you have a monitor calibration tool like an xrite that measures the ambient as well?

kanuck

No, unfortunately I do not have a monitor calibration tool. Does anybody use the ProPhoto RGB color space from Lightroom and Photoshop CC? Still trying to get to the bottom of the problem. My monitor is likely too bright as spraynpray suggests although its hard to tell as it looks normal under my regular lighting to me. Hummm

wmscyclone

How are you exporting the JPEGs, as sRGB or AdobeRGB?

Most websites expect sRGB and if you upload AdobeRGB you'll get poor results:

http://earthboundlight.com/phototips/srgb-versus-adobe-rgb-debate.html

"What this ends up meaning is that if one takes a file full of Adobe RGB data and mistakenly displays it as if it were sRGB, it would look somewhat unsaturated and washed out."

kanuck

Hi thanks for your input. Yes I think this is the culprit actually its an sRGB problem. I suspect my files have been uploading as JPeg adobeRGB files. Transfering RAW files from Lightroom to Photoshop CC they go from sRGB 16 bit but then in Photoshop they were saving as AdobeRGB and getting put up on Flickr this way.

So here is the settings I would like to work with now: Lightroom external editing TIFF Color Space ProPhoto RGB 16 bits, 300 resolution and zip compression. Sent into Photoshop CC edited with a workspace custom setting of ProPhoto RGB. I save the file to my desktop then put it back into Lightroom finished and export it again to my desktop as a JPEG sRGB for Flickr, Facebook, on here and my website. What do you think of this workflow wmscyclone?

WestEndFoto

Ther is a setting in Lightroom that will ensure that when you upload it, it will be sRGB. You can continue to work until the last possible moment in RGB Adobe 1998 and your files should be saved in that. Only change to sRGB when you upload it to the Internet.

Note that Lightroom can automate this proces of uploading to Flickr (and other websites) and you don't need to think about it.

Don't bother with the Prophoto colour space. That is the largest colour space, but is only applicable in a few specific circumstances that you are extremely unlikely to encounter.

kanuck

Thanks WestEndFoto that's good information to know. It looks as though I have solved the problem now. It sure was frustrating, for some reason my settings on my Adobe products got changed without me even knowing it. Thanks everyone for your input!