Need help with color management in psp.

[robertj298]

Ever since I had to reload my psp9 to a new computer running vista I can't seem to get my photos quite right in psp9. Right now my problem is I import photos from lightroom 2.1 and when I open them in psp the colors are dull. I've tried changing settings in color management and the best setting is to uncheck color management alltogether but my photos still look dull compared to how they look in lightroom. The same photo opened in windows picture viewer matches what I see in lightroom.....Bob

[steve.ledger]

Right now my problem is I import photos from lightroom 2.1 and when I open them in psp the colors are dull.

I'm not sure what you mean by "import from Lightroom" ??
Lightroom is your RAW workflow application, so I take it you are developing your RAW in Lightroom then exporting as JPG to a folder on your HDD?

In the Lightroom export dialog you can choose which color space to use.
These are: AdobeRGB (1998), sRGB and ProPhoto RGB

Adobe RGB and sRGB are two different absolute color spaces, both based on the RGB model.

The Adobe RGB color space is an RGB color space developed by Adobe Systems in 1998. It was designed to encompass most of the colors achievable on CMYK color printers, but by using RGB primary colors on a device such as the computer display.

sRGB is a standard RGB (Red Green Blue) color space created cooperatively by HP and Microsoft for use on monitors, printers, and the Internet.

ProPhoto RGB color space, also known as ROMM RGB, is an output referred RGB color space, developed by Kodak, that offers an especially large gamut designed for use with photographic output in mind.

sRGB is supported by almost all image applications for display on your monitor and will look identical when shown and practically every printer available today. The other CS's will look dull when viewed in an application which has no internal support for that color space.

This is a setting in LR that is chosen when you export you work.

*Some information used here was taken from Wikipedia

[robertj298]

Yes you are right I work on my raw image in lightroom then export as a jpeg to my hard drive. I use the srgb setting when I export so I don't understand why the image looks dull when I open it in psp9. It looks fine in lightroom and fine in windows picture viewer....Bob

[steve.ledger]

As I don't have PSP9 so I can't really check for you. Though PSP 6 and PSP X2 work fine for me with sRGB.
As both my versions have colour management colours/space settings which are configurable via the program preferences, I'd assume that version 9 has the same thing?
If you have checked this and set it to sRGB, then it appears to be a mystery.
Can you take a screen shot of LR and PSP9 open with the same image displaying for comparison?

I use Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit.

[robertj298]

ok heres a screen shot of psp first. Also the psp pic my setting in color management the enable color management is unchecked which gave me this result which was the best of the other settings I tried...Bob

[robertj298]

heres the lr version..Bob

[robertj298]

oops sorry the first image is the lightroom image the second one is the psp image...Bob

[steve.ledger]

Well yes the lower image is less saturated, but it's also very much less sharp which makes me wonder if it's the 'very same exported LR image' at all?

[robertj298]

I had to compress the second image more due the the file limitations here. Some how the screen capture of the lightroom image was a lot smaller than the capture of the psp image so I had to compress it more. One thing I did notice is when I open up psp I get a message my screens color scheme has been changed to windows vista basic the program isn't compatible with certail elements of windows...Maybe this is the problem...Bob

[steve.ledger]

One thing I did notice is when I open up psp I get a message my screens color scheme has been changed to windows vista basic the program isn't compatible with certail elements of windows....Maybe this is the problem

Bob this only means that PSP9 does not support skinning via Vista styles (such as Aero)
It doesn't affect anything but the window furniture.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of a typical result I get using Lightroom and exporting with the sRGB color space. Opening the image in PSP (set to sRGB CS also)
LR to the left and PSP to the right.
All the adjustments made in Lightroom (clarity/sharpen/saturation) are present in the exported JPG and show just as expected in all applications, even PSP 6.
Maybe something quirky with PSP9 I can't say as I don't know it.