Pics look different in programs

[Willie]

I brought in a picture to work to show my co-workers what my new XT can do. I opened it in Paint Shop Pro 7, and it looked great. I then opened it in Elements 2.0 and PSCS, and it looked dull. After adjusting the levels it looked good. I was wondering if PSP automatically adjusts the photo.

Regards,
Willie

[toddb]

Usually when my pictures look different in PSCS is because my color workspace is Adobe RGB where most other programs default to sRGB.

[scottbergerphoto]

When you open a picture tagged with Adobe RGB in a non color managed application, it looks dull. If you are using Adobe RGB as your workspace in PS CS, convert the file to sRGB before showing it around on the web or non color managed applications.
Image>Mode>Convert to Profile>sRGB

[Willie]

I have my XT set to sRGB, pics are in JPEG. Also, PSCS is set to sRGB

[Jesper]

How is colour management setup in Photoshop?
Have a look at this article about how to set it up correctly: Adobe Photoshop CS Colour Management (http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps8_colour/ps8_1.htm)

[Willie]

Thanks, I will try playing with the color settings.

Regarding Adobe RGB and sRGB, for a relative beginner, which one should I use. I do not currently shoot in RAW, but am looking into it.

[PacAce]

I'll bet you a pretty penny that you don't have your monitor calibrated and profiled but you have color management turned on in both PSCS and PS Elements. That seems to be the case most of the time whenever the images look good in a non-color managed app but looks dull in PSCS.

[RAitch]

I just switched to Adobe RGB. I think I like it better. Like it was said before, you should make sure you edit and save to sRGB before uploading or sharing.

For editing in PS in Adobe RGB, you have more colour information to work with. Make sure you change your default colour space to Adobe RGB and convert any images you load to Adobe RGB.

If you don't want to PS all of your images (that you want to share and use) then I wouldn't recommend using Adobe RGB. You're better off using sRGB.
If you want to digitally enhance any images you want to use, I would go with Adobe.