Color res on web

[AxisOfBeagles]

When I browse many of the photos that are posted on these forums, I'm struck by how vivid the colors are. Which my photos have when viewed locally thru iPhoto, CS2, or whatever. But when I upload to the web, they invariably lose some of that vivid color.

Are you folks pushing color saturation beyond what looks appropriate on your local display before you post to the web - or is there some other trick I need to learn?

 

[thr33face]

maybe your images have a color space that is not suitable for web viewing.

try to use sRGB.
you might also research thr web

 

[nburwell]

When you save your web-sized images, are you clicking "save for web?" If so, then I would try "save as" next time. I noticed the same thing, but when I used "save as" the color saturation stayed the same. It could also have to do with the photo hosting sites. But I would try the PS action first.

 

[termina3]

I think when you "save for web" it does strip the image of some of its color information, leading to the lesser saturation. (I'm no expert though.)

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

Thanks.

I am not using 'save for web' - because there is obvious loss that way.
Will check on the sRGB.

 

[Westside guy]

Calibrating your monitor - using an honest-to-goodness calibration tool like the Spyder or Huey - will make a huge difference. More so as a Mac user than a Windows user (because of a difference in the gamma); but on either platform it's definitely a wise thing to do.

 

[ChrisA]

When I browse many of the photos that are posted on these forums, I'm struck by how vivid the colors are. Which my photos have when viewed locally thru iPhoto, CS2, or whatever. But when I upload to the web, they invariably lose some of that vivid color.

Are you folks pushing color saturation beyond what looks appropriate on your local display before you post to the web - or is there some other trick I need to learn?

The "Standard" color space for the web is sRGB because that is very close to what an un-calibrated monitor will show be default. 99% if everyone has an uncalibrated screen you you need to publish that way.

This does not mean you need to set you camera to sRGB or archive your photos that way. Shoot in raw, aRGB ir "whatever" but convert before you publish.

The other possible problem is that your screen is not calibrated and you are "correcting" for your screen which makes them look bad on a calibrated screen.

Lastly. yes I think much of what you see has been post processed but even if not most point and shoot cameras are set by default to make "punchy" color.

 

[termina3]

The "Standard" color space for the web is sRGB because that is very close to what an un-calibrated monitor will show be default. 99% if everyone has an uncalibrated screen you you need to publish that way.

Well, there's the argument that being calibrated will bring you towards the middle of the uncalibrated folks. I don't know if that holds any weight though.

My school's monitors are miserably, horribly off. I've seen my site on them and it's… well… not even close. The colors suck. It's depressing to think many of my friends see most everything on the web that way.

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

Just to be clear ...

I shoot in raw (Canon 300D) ... then export to JPEG (sRGB) for uploading to web.

What is curious to me - calibrated or not (I believe it is, at least per Spyder) the images I am looking at are on the same monitor in either case. In other words, on THIS monitor, the images look brilliant and vivid in iPhoto or CS2 ... but lose some of that brilliance when I post them to the web, still viewed on the same monitor.

Peculiar ....

 

[PkennethV]

Here's my take on this...

Everyone can only see the same amount of colors on the web (unless using the latest version of Safari, as those can display the same colors as if the image were right on your hard drive)...which probably means the "extra color saturation" look the OP is talking about is probably a result of the contrast/difference/vibrancy of the colors, not the absolute saturation value of colors themselves.

or in simpler terms...wehn you're limited to only a few amount of colors, that you can use and you want to make it look like each color is "stronger" you need each color to be more different from each other than it otherwise would be (and yes i know "more different" is bad english, but i think it gets the point across better).

 

[atari1356]

or is there some other trick I need to learn?

Do a basic calibration of your monitor (using the Display panel, in System Preferences... select the "Color" tab, then click the "Calibrate..." button) to set your gamma to 2.2, and your target white point to D65.

Also, read this:

http://www.gballard.net/psd/srgbforwww.html


... and possibly this (it's for Aperture, but some of the advice is good for anybody posting photos online).

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302827