I'm having some major issues with Flickr tonight where the pictures after upload to Flickr look nothing like the pictures I sent them. The contrast is messed up and the colors are just wrong. I noticed this before, but since it didn't really make a difference, I never cared much. But today, my asparagus is lacking its vibrant color once it's Flickr-ed, and I don't like it. I tried uploading it via different methods, and it still does the same thing. Anyone have any suggestions? The annoying thing is that when I tried to 'over-shoot', taking into the fact that Flickr was going to make its own adjustments, it still looks bad!
I also noticed that when I save a gorgeous picture on Photoshop and open the EXACT same file with another program like iPhoto or Image Browser, it looks different and the colors aren't the same, even though it is the EXACT same file and it is the EXACT same computer. I can even do a side-by-side comparison! What's going on?? Am I losing my mind??? Too much food photography???????
What photo service & photo program does everyone else use? The one that blogger recommends (hello.com?) doesn't support Macs... Are there better services than Flickr that I should consider switching? I'm using Photoshop Elements. Is there some secret to this that I am totally not understanding?
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4 comments:
Hi Alice!
It might be that your monitor is not optimized for photos so those web-based programs aren't showing you the actual photo. What you may want to try doing is printing a copy (or having one printed through an online suervice like Shutterfly - they give you 15 free photos when you first signup with them...) and then compare it to what you see on your screen.
If the printed photo looks like you expected but does not match up to your screen then there's nothing wrong with the photo but you should try to optimize your monitor so what you see is representative of the actual file.
I don't use Photoshop but I suspect that it may have some correction built in since it's primary purpose is photo editing and that would explain the difference you see when viewing a photo within the program.
Instructions for optimizing your monitor should be in your monitor manual or Photoshop may even have a section in it's manual. I primarily use Digital Image Suite and it has a whole chapter on Optimizing.
I recently started using Flickr and have been happy so far but maybe I just have not yet uploaded on a bad day. :-)
~ B
You might want to check the images in a program, other than Photoshop, before you upload them to flickr. Just drag your Photoshop jpgs to your browser or open them in the Apple Preview application. If you find that your images look fine in those other applications, then it might be your Photoshop color settings (Photoshop menu > color settings). In which case you might want to adjust your color management settings to accurately reflect how you are working with your photos. Depending on how anal you are about your photography, it would be wise to calibrate your monitor as well. If you find that your photos look great in other applications, your should create a calibrated profile for your monitor.
Here is a link, which may help you out.
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshopcolormanagement/
Also, check in the Photoshop help menu: Photoshop help > “working with color” & “producing consistent color”
If you don’t haven’t calibrated profile for your monitor you can do so pretty easily here: system preferences > displays > color > calibrate
Sounds like you need to set your Photoshop color management - Under Color Settings set your RGB working space on sRGB and your gray gamma on 2.2. These settings should give you WYSIWYG color when the image is in a browser.
Also, if Photoshop Elements has a "Save For Web" command, use it. It has a preview menu that let's you see what the image will look like in windows, mac or uncompensated color. The preview menu is a small triangular arrow above the image preview to the right.
Also "Save for Web" does an awesome job of optimizing jpgs, making them very small without comprimising much quality, very important for those free Flickr upload limits.
Paul
kiplog.com/food
WOOOOOOOOOWWW, thank you so much for all your comments. This was super helpful. Honestly, I didn't know about this Color Management setting on Photoshop. I'll have to take a good look.
Thank you again,
Alice
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