I think I found a problem with my workflow

[KenjiS]

Well I recently started adding in the use of Photoshop to add Unsharp Mask to all my photos (or the ones I think need sharpening)

At first things were good, now it seems like I have a small small problem, it seems like when i then convert the files to JPG (Using identical settings) any of the ones i touched up with USM in photoshop end up a bit..darker...I'm not sure if its unacceptable or not

Heres 3 examples





Versus this one i did not apply USM to



Yes they're all a bit darker to begin with intentionally (I intentionally underexposed them, for the watch ones to replicate the product photography look in some magazines, for the kitty to make it feel "devious" or "evil")

Ok no im not being crazy, the JPGs are definately a lot darker on anything i touched in photoshop...I seem to remember have a similar problem whenever i wanted a more underexposed look...

Ah heres one as it looks in lightroom i got by taking a screenshot..



So what the heck is going on with my jpg export? Although that last one there doesnt look right either..

Experimenting, it seems its underexposing my exports by 1 stop...Weird...

[tim]

I don't see a problem, or you've not described it well (or maybe i'm just tired). Do you have a calibrated monitor? Can you see the brightness shift if you open both images in photoshop?

[KenjiS]

Originally Posted by tim

I don't see a problem, or you've not described it well (or maybe i'm just tired). Do you have a calibrated monitor? Can you see the brightness shift if you open both images in photoshop?

The problem shouldnt have anythign to do with calibration..i dont think

The problem is that images look different in everything i open, and are unacceptably dark in Firefox/IE on Devart and such, they're fine in Photoshop and Lightroom however

Unless that IS a calibration problem (or perhaps if it looks fine to you, then maybe its my monitor)

Heres the first picture edited in lightroom to be a full stop brighter and then exported as a jpg to "emulate" how it looks in lightroom on my screen

http://kenjis9965.deviantart.com/art...Neko-114908252

Thats how it looks in lightroom on my screen...

[tim]

I still don't understand your problem. Is it that images look fine in photoshop and on your PC, but look dark through a web browser on the same machine?

[KenjiS]

Originally Posted by tim

I still don't understand your problem. Is it that images look fine in photoshop and on your PC, but look dark through a web browser on the same machine?

They look fine in photoshop and lightroom

Anything else they're a lot darker

This includes windows picture and fax viewer, IE, Firefox, windows explorer itself and etc all on the same computer, same monitor and everything....

[tim]

That image is hard to diagnose a problem with, since it's way overexposed in some places and underexposed in other places. Post a normally exposed image, processed so it looks good in Photoshop on your machine.

Also make sure proofing is turned off in photoshop. Control-Y toggles it I think, it's on one of the menus.

[KenjiS]

Heres one thats perfect using this new workflow of mine



I think its only on images that i WANT to be a bit darker, for some reason the jpeg export in lightroom seems to make it even darker...Maybe its the ProPhoto colorspace that Photoshop and Lightroom use instead of sRGB or AdobeRGB, so when its converted it doesnt have the same depth..it did it even before i added the USM to some of my images now that I think about it

To clarify, my workflow is the following:

Import RAW to Lightroom using ACR > Weed out images I dont want > Choose the ones that need USM > Righclick and choose "Edit in Photoshop CS3" > Apply USM to the images that need it> Save > Adjust the image for exposure/contrast/etc until its perfect or how I want it > Export to JPG in 2 batches, first batch full res 100% JPEG, second batch 60% JPEG

[cdifoto]

Windows Picture Viewer, Internet Exploder, FireFox before version 3, and Windows Exploder itself are not color-managed applications.

If you don't already have it, get the latest release of FireFox 3 (and check the tutes on how to enabled color-management) to see colors as they should be on the internet.

Use DPP as your image browser to see colors as they should be on your computer.

Also, if things are looking too dark within color managed browsers after you applied USM, you're applying USM with too large of a radius.

[tim]

Originally Posted by KenjiS

Heres one thats perfect using this new workflow of mine

This looks fine on my PC, firefox in color managed browser.

[KenjiS]

Originally Posted by tim

This looks fine on my PC, firefox in color managed browser.

I am running Firefox 3 and i just double checked it is color managed..and that one looked fine across everything...I think i jsut made the first one too darn dark...

...And for some reason now its fixed after restarting Firefox..at least it matches photoshop

Weird..

Ah well problem solved