Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Adobe Lightroom Q&A => Topic started by: dmerger on October 13, 2012, 05:41:11 pm

Title: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: dmerger on October 13, 2012, 05:41:11 pm
I have CS4 and just got Lightroom 4.2.  When I open a photo (16 bit, pro photo, tiff) in LR and CS, it looks very different.  The LR version is brighter and more saturated.  All settings in the LR Develop module are at zero.  The difference is even in the LR Library view before I even click on the Develop module. 

Shouldn’t the photo look identical?  What am I doing wrong? 

(I get the same results with an 8 bit, sRGB, jpeg.)
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: MarkH2 on October 13, 2012, 06:09:41 pm
Possibly some confusion over Process Versions (PV).  LR 4.x includes PV version 2012, as well as PV 2010 and PV 2003.  PS CS4 has just PV 2010 and PV 2003.  Some images look very different with PV 2012.

So, you may be looking at an image in LR with PV 2012.  If you open that same image as a smart object in PS, then ACR will be using PV 2010 to render it.  It could look very different.

In the LR Camera Calibration panel change the PV to 2010.  It should now look like the PS image.

If you use PV 2012 in LR and then render the file before opening in PS (edit with LR adjustments), then they should look the same.

I assume you're working with flat tiffs (no layers).  Not sure why you would want to make LR adjustments to a layered tiff and then take the result to PS.  If you tried to apply LR adjusments to a layered tiff and then open it in PS with the LR adjustments, LR would flatten it.

You will likely want to work in PV 2012, as it has many enhancements over 2010.
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: dmerger on October 13, 2012, 07:06:07 pm
My problem was caused by how I had my monitor profiles configured. 

I have two monitors, an Acer and an NEC PA271.  I use my Acer for web surfing and non-color critical work and my NEC for photo work. 

With PS, the photo looked the same on both monitors (except for the relatively small difference due to the different monitors).  With LR, however, the photo changed significantly between monitors.   I don’t understand why PS worked fine but not LR, but in Vista Color Management (I run Vista 64 bit) I reset my NEC profile as the default profile for both monitors, and now LR and CS look the same.  (LR now looks and works like CS did.)
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: MarkH2 on October 13, 2012, 09:25:32 pm
Dean,

The problem you initially described was that images display differently in LR4 and CS4.  So the problem was actually that LR displayed the same image differently on two different monitors, if I follow you.  On the NEC, LR actually would have displayed the image the same as PS.  So LR was using the NEC profile for the NEC but some other profile for the Acer.

What I don't understand: why would you use the NEC profile for the Acer?  If you take the trouble to profile the NEC, why don't you also profile the Acer?  The Acer may not be as good as the NEC, but you would have a much better shot at getting them both correct with good profiles of their own.  And if you do happen to use LR or PS on the Acer (as happened earlier :) ) they may not be too far off.

Mark
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: dmerger on October 14, 2012, 10:55:18 am
Mark, when I noticed the problem, LR and my PS photo were on my NEC (with my PS tools pallets on my Acer). The photos (both on my NEC) looked very different. 

For some reason I don’t remember, I moved LR to my Acer and noticed that the photo changed significantly (more than just due to different monitors).  That change alerted me to the nature of my problem.  It appears that at that time, with LR, my NEC profile was not being used on my NEC.  However, with PS, my NEC profile was being used on my NEC.  Strange, and I can’t explain how my set up worked fine with PS but not LR.  Moreover, LR is the only case where I’ve seen this behavior.  PS, web pages, and all other applications seemed to work fine. 

I haven’t bothered to profile my Acer because it looks very good using my NEC profile and looks remarkably similar to my profiled (SpectraView) NEC.  For non-color critical work, my Acer is working fine.  Also, I thought that Vista (using my NVIDIA GT430 graphics card) wasn’t capable of using separate profiles for each monitor.  Maybe I’m wrong about that?  In any case, I haven’t investigated the possibility of separate profiles since I haven’t had a real need to do so.

By the way, I normally open PS on my Acer and then drag my photos to my NEC.  I just got LR so I don’t yet know how I’ll set it up.  Maybe I can do something similar to PS, or maybe I’ll just open LR on my NEC.  I’m starting to work my way through Martin Evening’s 700 page LR4 tome.  He has a section on using dual monitors, but I haven’t gotten that far yet.     
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: MarkH2 on October 15, 2012, 01:53:51 am
Dean,

PS is supposed to work correctly with two monitors, using the appropriate icc profile for each.  I presume LR does too.  I run two monitors (Windows 7) and it appears to work.  Don't know about Vista, but I think it should work.

"Also, I thought that Vista (using my NVIDIA GT430 graphics card) wasn’t capable of using separate profiles for each monitor."

The operating system should only be making the display profiles available to software that is designed to use them.  Color-aware applications, such as PS and LR, use the display's profile to convert pixel colors from the internal working space to the display's device space.  The graphics card does not do this.  The graphics card might load calibration information for the monitor, such as a color temperature setting which it may then implement in the look-up table, but they do not do the image color conversion.  The GT430 supports multiple displays, so that should be fine.

"I’m starting to work my way through Martin Evening’s 700 page LR4 tome."

Tome is right.  I have his LR2, just 600 pages.  But what a thorough and helpful reference!  Adobe's Julieanne Kost has some free video tutorials that can get you started pretty fast ( http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos ).  You are no doubt aware that there are wonderful LR videos and books by LULA luminaries Reichmann and Schewe.

Mark
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: claudio19 on December 13, 2012, 05:57:18 pm
hi,

searching thru google I hit this 3d that explains exactly my same problem. I have a Lr4.3 and cs6 , 2 monitors ( lcd macbook pro with adi radeon 6750) and a spectraview PA241w...well opening the same raw image first in LR and then in PS I have 2 different ...pics. I have noticed that forst exactly how you Dean were doing, i.e shifting an image from the mac lcd to the Nec for working...anyhow to make a long story short it is all on the profile...if I choose original profile (not corrected) both on mac's lcd and NEC then I hjave identical images...have you found out the reason?
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: dmerger on December 13, 2012, 06:15:03 pm
No, but the way I have my monitor color management configured in Vista has solved the problem for me. 

Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: claudio19 on December 13, 2012, 06:18:30 pm
Thanx for answering...what sw have you used to profile your monitor? Any specific setting ?
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: dmerger on December 13, 2012, 06:23:05 pm
I use SpectraView.  (It came with my monitor.)  Settings are: D65, Gamma 2.2, 140 cd/m2, monitor default contrast ratio, native color gamut.

EDIT:  I use 120 cd/m2, not 140.
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: digitaldog on December 13, 2012, 06:43:15 pm
Make sure the profile for the display is a version 2 NOT version 4 which LR doesn't deal with too well.

You also MUST compare Photoshop and LR where both are providing you a 1:1 preview (100%) and with LR, that means viewing in Develop module.
Title: Re: Photo Looks Different in LR and CS
Post by: dmerger on December 13, 2012, 10:44:36 pm
Since I solved my problem, I haven’t pursued this issue further, but here’s my guess of what was happening.  (I’m going by memory from some time ago, and haven’t done any subsequent tests, so don’t put too much reliance on my guess.)

My Acer is my primary display.  My NEC is my secondary display.  If in Vista Color Management I set my Acer profile for my Acer, and my NEC profile for my NEC, when I open PS on my Acer and drag my photo to my NEC, PS uses the Acer profile for both my tools pallet on my Acer and for the photo I dragged to my NEC.  Not good.  On the other hand, if I set my NEC profile for my Acer, when I drag my photo to my NEC it looks fine since PS is now using the NEC profile for both the PS tools pallet on my Acer and for the photo on my NEC.  Problem solved.

I discovered that whenever I create a new profile for my NEC, SpectraView deletes the old NEC profile and, in Vista Color Management, sets the new NEC profile as the default profile for my primary monitor (my Acer), but not for my secondary monitor (my NEC), so my NEC no longer has any profile assigned to it.  No problem with PS.  (See the prior paragraph.)  When I open LR on my NEC, however, -- big problem.  LR doesn’t have a profile assigned to my NEC to use. 

My speculation is that for LR I could use my Acer profile for my Acer, and my NEC profile for my NEC, in Vista Color Management, especially if I always open LR on my NEC.  This setting doesn’t work for PS, however, as described above.  So, to get both LR and PS to work properly, in Vista Color Management I set my NEC profile as the default profile for both monitors, and every time I update my NEC profile I manually set that new profile as the default profile for my secondary monitor (my NEC). 

I’m not sure if you can follow this rather convoluted explanation, nor how relevant it would be for anyone not using my same configuration.  In any event, for what it’s worth, this is my speculation for the cause of my problem.