Image Brightness in Photoshop

[net24_7]

Images (jpg's) consistently look brighter in the version of Photoshop I use than in any other viewer including browsers, Adobe Photdeluxe, etc.

Using Photoshop 5.5

Sure would appreciate some help in understanding/fixing this - thanks!

[minnapple]

In Photoshop you can try adjusting the File>Color Settings>RGB set up.

[mivox]

Try using PhotoShop's monitor calibration utility ('Color Management' in the 'Help' menu). It sounds like your copy of PS isn't 'synced' to your monitor settings the same as the rest of your software.

Keep in mind though: Virtually every computer you view a file on will show it at a slightly different brightness, color tone, etc... Sometimes, the differences can be quite striking.

When you're designing web graphics, never assume anyone will see your images *quite* the same way you do...

[Robert Charlton]

There's the whole color profiles thing, which is one of the trickiest areas to understand I've ever looked into. I gave it up, but I'm sure there are still pages and pages of postings on the Adobe User Forums.

Another possibility might be that you're inadvertently using the setting that shows you on a PC what pages would look like on a Mac. Mac view is much lighter... in fact, on photos, I find it impossible to find a setting that will look good on both systems.

[net24_7]

Thanks everyone - I'll begin experimenting... and learning!

[typophile]

>Mac view is much lighter

Yes, the gamma on Macs is different. As far as the settings, Fireworks lets you toggle between Mac and Win gamma settings but photoshop does not (at least not v5.5).

[mivox]

I've currently got two main color profiles I use in PhotoShop... a Windows machine emulator setting (for web work) and the printer-output profile for the laser printer we get most of our color brochures printed on.

I've gotten some *really* screwed up batches of brochures in the past, when I forget to change my profile settings. However, if you're regularly designing for more than one output source (print and web, etc.), the hassle of remembering your profiles is more than worth it when you consider the improvements to output quality.