Images appear too light in Lightroom

[Gellman]

This is an odd problem that I noticed after updating to LR 5.6. When I select an image in LR to edit in Photoshop, and select the option to edit with Lightroom adjustments, it appears about 1/3 of a stop darker in Photoshop than it does in Lightroom. Both Lightroom and Photoshop are working in the same colorspace. My monitor is a high-end NEC with Spectraview II calibration, and it is properly calibrated. And it's not just happening in Photoshop. I can bring an image from Lightroom into Photoshop and make no changes in it other than to create a JPG copy of the image. The JPG also appears a little darker when viewed in Preview on my MacBook, and is identical to how it appears in Photoshop. If I take the same image in Lightroom, and export a JPG  copy, it also matches the JPG image created by Photoshop when viewed in Photoshop or with Preview.

Bottom line is images are appearing a little lighter in Lightroom than they are elsewhere. Adobe tech support was clueless. Does anyone have any ideas what is going on and how to fix it?

[Simon Garrett]

Various possibilities that occur to me (can occur even when one is sure the settings are OK):

• Faulty monitor profile: try recalibrating/profiling.  If the calibration software offers the choice, use "v2" profiles, not "v4", and see if it makes a difference.
• Make sure Photoshop is set to ProPhoto RGB working space (you might not always want this, but it eliminates another variable to help identify the issue).  Check also Photoshop color settings show "Preserve..." for the RGB management policy, and check all the "Mismatch" warnings (so you're warned of issues).
• Make sure the Lightroom, Preferences, External Editing tab shows (for Photoshop) TIFF, ProPhoto RGB and 16 bits

You've probably done all that, but if not this might help locate where the issue lies.  Especially the first one: Lightroom is sensitive to monitor profiles it doesn't like, even when they work elsewhere.  And v4 profiles can sometimes be dodgy. 

[Gellman]

Simon - Thanks for the response. I've double checked everything you suggested and all is in order. It's my standard setup. Don't know about the V2 or V4 profiles tho. Lightroom has never had a problem with my Spectraview II  and NEC/Xrite monitor profiles before. I'm not sure exactly when this started happening, but I'm pretty sure it was when I recently updated from 5.whatever to 5.6. And like I said, the difference is not just with Photoshop, but Preview too. I'm wondering if I can revert to the previous version of Lightroom and see if the problem disappears. Anyone know if that is feasible?

[Simon Garrett]

When you say "don't know abut the V2 or V4 profiles": I'm not familiar with the Sprectraview II software, but if there's any option in the software for "ICC v2 or v4" profiles, and it's set to v4 (or version 4) then try changing it to v2.  If there's no option, it almost certainly creates v2 profiles. 

Some software doesn't work reliably with v4 profiles, and it's the only thing I can think of. 

[Wayne Fox]

Spectraview/NEC displays really don’t use the profile as the main tool to correct the color.  While it does generate a profile, it’s not like one you would generate with something like i1profiler.  The version 2/4 thing isn’t and issue, it generates whatever it needs internally to do it’s thing and the profile generated is attached to the calibration setting creating in spectraview.

[Eyeball]

The v2/v4 thing has caused this kind of problem for some people.  For example:
http://unifiedphoto.com/lightroom-images-do-not-look-same-as-photoshop/

Now what would seem to contra-indicate this as a possible cause in your case is that the problem apparently did not coincide with a new calibration/profiling on your part, which makes one question why now?

Anyway, you still might want to try re-calibrating and profiling and make sure the V4 option is unchecked in the Spectraview software.  I'm not sure if this screenshot corresponds with the latest version but I would expect it to look something like this:

[Geraldo Garcia]

"Images appear too light in Lightroom"

Well... sounds right to me, the name of the program is Lightroom after all! 
Sorry, some jokes are stronger than me.

[Gellman]

Thank you Simon, Wayne, and Eyeball for your input.

My Spectraview screen is different from Eyeball's. There is no v4 box to check or uncheck. One of the things I like about my monitor and Spectraview combo is that I can change between existing profiles on the fly. I loaded some older profiles and the problem I'm having remains the same. I was also due for my monthly calibration, and I did that as well and the problem remains. It seems to me that my monitor profile is not contributing to the problem I'm experiencing.

So why now? Eyeball hit it on the head. Somewhere, a variable has changed. I just don't know what it is. I'm pretty certain it's not the monitor profile or the monitor itself. I think it has to be something in Lightroom. I could have inadvertently changed a setting somewhere. A part of Lightroom may have encountered a glitch or corruption issue bad enough to cause my issue, but not crash the program. Or there may be some other condition on my computer that is not playing well with Lightroom. I do not think the problem is with Photoshop because the same discrepancy appears when I view my images in other programs, such as Preview.

Btw, my Mac OS is 10.9.5 and I updated to it around the same time I updated to LR 5.6 (that's another can of worms).

I'm thinking that perhaps my best course would be to either reinstall Lightroom or revert to the next most recent version before 5.6. I've never had to do that before, and my experience with Adobe technical support has been nothing short of awful (not just about this issue). Can y'all offer any guidance about the best way to revert or reinstall? Reverting to an earlier version of my OS is not a viable option for me. Tho, if the problem is unresolvable any other way, I may need to back up my hard drive, reformat, and reinstall everything from scratch. Oh God....

[Eyeball]

Btw, my Mac OS is 10.9.5 and I updated to it around the same time I updated to LR 5.6 (that's another can of worms).

Well, since you mentioned you are on a Mac, I have seen reports on different photography forums reporting some strange color management behavior on some versions of the Mac OS.  You might want to Google around about it and see what you find.  Here is one example:

http://lagemaat.blogspot.mx/2014/01/serious-color-management-bug-in-mac-os.html

[kirkt]

And here is the discussion of Lightroom in this context, on the Adobe forums:

https://forums.adobe.com/message/6027420

kirk