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I need photo help - browsers handling image colors.

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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
Im stumped. Shoot Nikon Raw, Import to LR, those that need touched up I send from LR to PS. They always come in as 16bit, and I always have to change them to 8bit to save as .jpg.
The problem comes up when I host anywhere online. Im not sure if the problem is on my end, or what. I host to flickr, then link to their in any NS post. My Firefox used to not display colors correctly, they were very bland and desaturated vs what I thought I was uploading. I would open that same Flickr link in safari, and the colors would be true. So I thought it was just a Firefox cache issue.
Now I have another problem. They are uploading very bland and desaturated, yet displaying to me as true colors. So on my machine the pictures look how I want them to, yet to you guys they look like shit. I recently uploaded something to flickr, looked good, posted on NS and then it was desaturated. Everyone else has told me that both NS and Flickr are desaturated. However, this is what I see (left - flickr, right - ns)
Click for larger image

What is this color shift, and where is it coming from. Does anyone see a problem in my workflow? I almost assume it has to do with changing from 16bit to 8bit but I don't know.

Yeah sorry this is my least thought out post in awhile.. Ignore the redundancy.
Oct 3 2010 12:59AM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
You have discovered why every photo contest thread on NS says to click on the photos. Try clicking on you photo on NS, it should pop up bigger and better.

In general, the internet leeches quality from your photos. Flickr tends to do it very little compared to other places, but it will always be a problem unless you upload full-res to a private website where people view the file without any upload compression.
Oct 3 2010 1:06AM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
No no, I am aware of what sites like NS and facebook do to pictures.. a little color desaturation. But this is just a straight up color robbing. There is actually something wrong with these. I have pictures that work fine, then I have ones like the one pictured above where its a complete color shift, yet I process using the exact same work flow?

Side note - Those pictures are only viewed brown, if they are viewed in NS first. If you view them from Flickr, they still appear the true red, which makes me wonder if NS is fucking them up, and then just caching them so you see the same image when you go to Flickr. (I'm linking directly from Flickr.)
Oct 3 2010 1:14AM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
When you copy the image location URL and post it on NS with the nice little [img][/img] dealio, it robs your photos of color in the post. The only possible explanation I can think of is to make the page load faster, but I can't be sure if that's right.

If they're looking good on Flickr and then when you post them on NS they look bad, it's because that's what NS does. It annoys me, and everyone else, to no end.

On the other hand, if it is just straight up inconsistencies between pages, then it's something on your end.

It could be your monitor being calibrated incorrectly if you use a different one for post than you do for web browsing, as unlikely as that is. You're clearly on a mac (safari told me) so try calibrating your screen for good measure. Everyone should do it on a fairly regular basis.

If there are inconsistencies between browsers, though (IE v. firefox v. chrome v. safari) then you've got a problem I don't know how to deal with. The best I can suggest is to update or reinstall your browser... but I can't do better than that.
Oct 3 2010 1:49AM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
I get what you are saying, but I just cannot possible believe that embedding strips an image of that much color. Look at the color shift, not a single photo remotely hosted would look good on NS. Everyone would be bitching, not just me.

My monitor was calibrated a few months ago, Ive been behind, but that's not the issue.

I used to have inconsistency's in browsers, which is a relatively large problem as I would have to copy any link of my pictures in safari to see it true.  (**only mine, it doesn't color strip other peoples photos)

As much I would love to just say oh NS hosting blows, I can't. There has to be something else at play here.
Oct 3 2010 3:15AM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
despite, everyone does bitch about how the color drains. That's why we click on photos in the contest thread.

I can't help you other than what I've already said though, good luck
Oct 3 2010 3:42AM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
Dude seriously, go do a little testing yourself, you will see that there is minimal if even noticable difference between how NS and Flickr show colors.
Kids always say click, because they heard theres a difference once, and because every picture looks better larger.

Seriously go test it and see if you see that large of a color theft.
Click for larger image


I don't think how NS handles every picture is the problem, but I appreciate you at least trying..
Oct 3 2010 12:38PM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
Click for larger image
Oct 3 2010 12:41PM
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RileySnyderPhoto
Posts: 688 - Karma: 1,451
It also could be how you prep your images for web, if you even do. Web always has loss of color no matter what and as it was said earlier every site handles hosting differently. i.e. an image hosting site will care a lot more about color than a skiing forum. I suggest you attempt to account for color loss when uploading to NS which might help
Oct 3 2010 1:34PM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
By doing what? Over saturate my images?
Oct 3 2010 1:51PM
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mnjib
Posts: 5592 - Karma: 357
Themost likely reason for this issue is your color space. Most browsers only support SRGB so if you are shooing in Adobe98 there will be some shift in color when uploading to sites. When saving a file for web make sure its in SRGB, this should help with the problem.
Oct 3 2010 2:16PM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
No I have it set to sRGB, and not Adobe 98.. But I did find that sometimes LR to PS opens them as ProPhoto Color Profile, but sometimes doesn't. I'm finding that if I touch the photos up at all in LR then send them to PS, it opens as sRGB, yet if I import straight shots from LR it comes as ProPhoto. Obviously I don't know why, but I think I've at least found the problem.

Can Flickr handle the ProPhoto fine then? If so, that doesnt explain why the photos look true if you visit Flickr before you view the picture on NS. Can someone look at my recent red leaf upload and tell me if it is red or muddy brown to you?
Oct 3 2010 3:11PM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
Someone who hasn't seen the red leaf shot in the fall photo thread.. Can't have NS caching the file first..
Oct 3 2010 3:16PM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
It looks red to me on your flickr.
Oct 3 2010 3:18PM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
So Flickr can handle a ProPhoto color profile, but NS cant..? Can do you me a another favor powderbro..

What color is this?
Click for larger image

Now if that is showing a muddy brown, check back my flickr, is that still red? Or did NS override the cache.
Oct 3 2010 3:26PM
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.jr
Posts: 5313 - Karma: 356
And while your at it, click that. Does it still appear muddy brown?
Oct 3 2010 3:27PM
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MANDER
Posts: 4017 - Karma: 2,038
Its brown on NS, but it is a vibrant red when I click it.
Oct 3 2010 3:30PM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
Muddy brown on NS.

When you click on it, though, it's full color the way it should be.

This is why we click in the photo threads, but I can't explain why it does that. I think it's the same for everyone, roughly, though...
Oct 3 2010 3:31PM
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