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I have been fighting this problem for over half a year now. I have tried many things but nothing I do seems to fix it. The issue is that when I am working in Photoshop (sRGB proof setup), the image looks great, I check it in IrfanView and it looks just like it does in PS. Then I upload it to DA and Artstation and suddenly everything gets crazy dark. Areas that are about 10% brightness go straight to 0%, you can't make out any details and it looks like somebody set the contrast to +100.
I have tried uploading as a PNG, embedding the sRGB color profile into it, have my monitor set to sRGB and I've brought the brightness up which has not helped at all either. I have looked at it through Chrome and Firefox, they both look the same. But when I look at it in Internet Explorer, it's normal. I have no idea what is going on here. I would really appreciate some help because it's driving me insane.
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What does your image look like in Chrome/Firefox on other computers (library, school lab, friend's house. etc)? What does it look like in browser when you upload the Save For Web (I rarely use that myself tho, but no harm testing things out)? This is strange, and I have never noticed or heard of the problem before.Have you since then figured out what's causing your problem?
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Hey Matthew,
Hmmmmm, I honestly have no idea what's up with it looking normal with IE ._. that's strange af. But I don't think too many people use IE, so your main prob lies in Chrome and Firefox.
I used to have the same problem. Actually, I still tend to have the same problem if my blacks are at 10%; the thing is, you should try to avoid having any colour be at 10% or less, because depending on peoples monitors and how they're calibrated, you illustration may just end up super dark.
What I tend to do before posting anything online now is to adjust the levels so that there aren't any areas that are too dark ~10% and try to get them around 15-20% at the best.
After I've level adjusted and all that, I'd save it as a .PNG and send it to my phone to double check if the values look decent on a different display other than my poorly calibrated PC monitor. If everything looks g, I go ahead and post away.
I hope this helps ya in some way o/
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"Not a single thing in this world isn't in the process of becoming something else."
I'll be back - it's an odyssey, after all
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Mathew: you're sure it's RGB and not CMYK right? (uh, if it's PNG, obviously its RGB, but still)
Have you actually tried saving the JPG through photoshop's Save of Web?
Have you tried converting it to AdobeRGB is sRGB is failing then?
Are you seeing this image, after uploaded, on the same monitor you have been using to paint it?
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It's definitely a colour management/profile issue. I had the same problem...and it still comes up sometimes. It is always colour profile and management :)
Browsers and applications all either do or do not do colour management in different ways and so either respect embedded profiles, or don't and apply their own. This can lead to differences in the same image on the same monitor looking different in different apps and different browsers.
Also different sites will do stupid things (fakeboob for example, converts, compresses and applies their own bloody profile to all images!!! wtf asshats?)
It is hard to troubleshoot like this but it most likely is related to the profiles and/or colour management.
Plan of attack could be to save your image in a few ways with different profiles attached, with no profile attached, and in a couple of different file formats. Then you see which apps and browsers are giving you the anomalies, read up on these to see what they do with colour management. You might be able to narrow down what the culprit is.
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I had this problem when I was making mobile game assets. When I had it, it was because I saved everything as a PNG-24. When I still did PNG, but with a different version, it worked ok. That means I sacrificed transparency, but whatever. Maybe try that, as well as Amit's suggestion? It couldn't hurt. Let us know!
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Thanks for the advice everybody. I'm still having the issue and since I've tried printing the images it's only gotten more confusing.
I have been able to get around the issue a little bit by re-sizing my work to 1024 x 1536 (I paint at 6000 x 9000) and nowhere has had the darkness issue with that size. Any time I increase the size, however, I get the same darkness issue. It has been the same issue for prints too strangely enough. If I print below a 8 x 12 it looks fine. If I print at or above, it comes out crazy dark.
I made a side by side to help show exactly what is happening:
http://orig08.deviantart.net/1e27/f/2015...97wsm1.jpg
What does your image look like in Chrome/Firefox on other computers (library, school lab, friend's house. etc)? What does it look like in browser when you upload the Save For Web?
I've used my painting monitor, TV, phone and now in prints. It looks consistently dark in all of them.
I used to have the same problem. Actually, I still tend to have the same problem if my blacks are at 10%; the thing is, you should try to avoid having any colour be at 10% or less, because depending on peoples monitors and how they're calibrated, you illustration may just end up super dark.
That honestly sounds like what I'll probably have to end up doing. How do you avoid that restricting your values, though?
Mathew: you're sure it's RGB and not CMYK right? (uh, if it's PNG, obviously its RGB, but still)
Have you actually tried saving the JPG through photoshop's Save of Web?
Have you tried converting it to AdobeRGB is sRGB is failing then?
Are you seeing this image, after uploaded, on the same monitor you have been using to paint it?
Yep, I use sRGB for my color profile. I have used the Save For Web option and used both PNG and JPG, same issue. I have not tried AdobeRGB, I'll give that a shot and see how it works out. I use my monitor I paint on to view the images but have viewed my work on other screens and seen the same issue.
Plan of attack could be to save your image in a few ways with different profiles attached, with no profile attached, and in a couple of different file formats. Then you see which apps and browsers are giving you the anomalies, read up on these to see what they do with colour management. You might be able to narrow down what the culprit is.
Sounds like a plan. I'll try running through different profiles and extensions and see if anything comes out different.
When I still did PNG, but with a different version, it worked ok.
I'll give that a shot as well.
Sorry I have replied so late to this thread by the way. I got a bit complacent using the re-sizing workaround but it's definitely come back to bite me now that I actually want to print my work.
Thanks a lot for all of the suggestions you guys. I really do appreciate it, I'll give some of these suggestions a shot and let you know if anything works.
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Alright, so a quick update on this. I've just uploaded the file in:
JPG - sRGB
JPG - AdobeRGB
JPG - BenQ (monitor color profile)
PNG - sRGB
PNG - AdobeRGB
PNG - BenQ
The image did not differ between file type or color profile. sRGB and AdobeRGB looked exactly the same, the BenQ profile looked very close to Photoshop although washed out. From what I read using a monitor color profile for your work doesn't really work between different monitors, though. There was also no difference at all between JPG and PNG for any of the profiles.
At this point it looks like I'll have to do as smrr suggested and restrict my values to 10% at the lowest (or get reaaaaally good at tenebrism). It doesn't feel right that I should have to do that, though. I guess if my 10% is being made a 0% anyway it wouldn't make much of a difference but still. It feels odd painting that way. Any suggestions for calibration or anything to help adjust to that?
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Hey Matthew, can you upload those different files? I'm curious to see them. I still think it has to be some problem with software / colour profiling/ formats
Do you work in 8bit?
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And you definitely tried using sRGB or a different profile for your monitor, rather than the built in BenQ one? It is possible for monitor profiles to become defective and need updating/replacing
http://www.gballard.net/psd/colorlooksbad.html
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(09-01-2015, 12:16 PM)Amit Dutta Wrote: And you definitely tried using sRGB or a different profile for your monitor, rather than the built in BenQ one? It is possible for monitor profiles to become defective and need updating/replacing
http://www.gballard.net/psd/colorlooksbad.html
Yeah, I have it set to sRGB.
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ok, setting to sRGB is good for troubleshooting but it isn't ideal as an ongoing solution. I think you need a custom calibrated profile for your specific monitor or things will always be off. That link I posted has a huge amount of info about this. It is a bit daunting to read, but it seems very legit. Some of his troubleshooting examples are great.
Anyway yeah, once again, it's very hard to do this kind of thing remotely. Good luck!!
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