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I thought I understood calibration until I started dealing with the mess I’m currently in. I have a 2019 27″ 5k Retina iMac, Big Sur 11.5.2, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB. I created an ICC with an i1. I didn’t like my results with Calibrite’s CCProfiler app, so I opted to try DisplayCal instead.
After calibrating, color looks excellent in all software, browsers, etc., but TERRIBLE in Adobe products. Colors look washed out and contrast is awful. Black point seems very lifted – all blacks look gray. After testing out some stuff with Photoshop’s eye-dropper, it seems like the Adobe software is raising the brightness of my blacks by at least 3%, now. Midtones are muddy. White seems to have been brought down a little, as well. It looks as if everything has the dehaze filter run on top of it. This applies to the canvas/workspace of the software as well and not just the images.
When I first apply the calibrated profile, the workspace will flash to something that looks great. The colors look more accurate and the proper density is maintained. A second later, there is another “flash” and it becomes hazy and washed out. I know that for Photoshop to render display ICCs properly, you need to close it and reopen it, but upon reopen, it looks like the latter, ugly version and not the great one in the middle. This also happened with the ICCs created by CCProfiler.
I’m a photographer and I’m troubleshooting with images I created on my old iMac (late 2012 27″) that had rich black tones. I’ve excruciatingly soft-proofed and tweaked these files for print in the past. They print with rich blacks and color that looks like what I’m seeing in every other application. (Honestly, the computer’s built-in iMac profile looks closer to “real life” in Adobe software than the profiles I’ve created with DisplayCal.)
How do I make this ICC play nice with Adobe? What could I have done wrong? I could go into elaborate detail of the hundreds of things I’ve tried while troubleshooting at this point, but I have a feeling you folks can school me better if I don’t confuse things with unnecessary detail. Please tell me what information you need from me and I’m happy to provide it.
Just a few things I have tried:
– Restarting Photoshop
– Restarting the iMac
– Disabling the GPU
– Messing with the rendering intent
– Resetting Photoshop preferences
– Uninstalling and reinstalling Photoshop
– Troubleshooting with x-rite tech support *just* in case it was an issue there (it wasn’t)I thought I understood calibration until I started dealing with the mess I’m currently in. I have a 2019 27″ 5k Retina iMac, Big Sur 11.5.2, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB. I created an ICC with an i1. I didn’t like my results with Calibrite’s CCProfiler app, so I opted to try DisplayCal instead.
After calibrating, color looks excellent in all software, browsers, etc., but TERRIBLE in Adobe products. Colors look washed out and contrast is awful. Black point seems very lifted – all blacks look gray. After testing out some stuff with Photoshop’s eye-dropper, it seems like the Adobe software is raising the brightness of my blacks by at least 3%, now. Midtones are muddy. White seems to have been brought down a little, as well. It looks as if everything has the dehaze filter run on top of it. This applies to the canvas/workspace of the software as well and not just the images.
When I first apply the calibrated profile, the workspace will flash to something that looks great. The colors look more accurate and the proper density is maintained. A second later, there is another “flash” and it becomes hazy and washed out. I know that for Photoshop to render display ICCs properly, you need to close it and reopen it, but upon reopen, it looks like the latter, ugly version and not the great one in the middle. This also happened with the ICCs created by CCProfiler.
I’m a photographer and I’m troubleshooting with images I created on my old iMac (late 2012 27″) that had rich black tones. I’ve excruciatingly soft-proofed and tweaked these files for print in the past. They print with rich blacks and color that looks like what I’m seeing in every other application. (Honestly, the computer’s built-in iMac profile looks closer to “real life” in Adobe software than the profiles I’ve created with DisplayCal.)
NO, you didn’t. What you wrote is a smoking gun that you have no idea of what you are talking about.
How do I make this ICC play nice with Adobe? What could I have done wrong? I could go into elaborate detail of the hundreds of things I’ve tried while troubleshooting at this point, but I have a feeling you folks can school me better if I don’t confuse things with unnecessary detail. Please tell me what information you need from me and I’m happy to provide it.
Just a few things I have tried:
– Restarting Photoshop
– Restarting the iMac
– Disabling the GPU
– Messing with the rendering intent
– Resetting Photoshop preferences
– Uninstalling and reinstalling Photoshop
– Troubleshooting with x-rite tech support *just* in case it was an issue there (it wasn’t)Look at profile TRC, high chances that it stores actual black level instead a fake infinite contrast (black point compensation). Re do calibration with that if that was the issue.
Also compare actual TRC (measurement report), custom profile TRC and default Apple profile TRC (and its measurement report TRC). If Apple default profile TRC is not real it is pointless to use it.For paper to screen comparison you must equal at least brightness, “indicent lux paper/ pi ~ cd/m2 monitor” is a good start and use softproof to raise paper black simulation on screen to actual value.
PS: Remember to use WLED PFS spectral correction for i1d3 colorimeters on your imac. If you have any other i1 device with is not an i1displaypro variant or sibling it’s very likely that you device is not measuring actual black properly (i1Pro1/2 spectrophotometer or i1studio). If that is what is happening then get an i1d3.
Calibrite Display Pro HL on Amazon
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.NO, you didn’t. What you wrote is a smoking gun that you have no idea of what you are talking about.
I appreciate that you’re trying to help, but please be kind. I have had a very stressful few days trying to fix whatever is wrong on my end before posting here.
What I was trying to communicate is that when printing these through my vendors, I’ve soft-proofed them with the ICCs of their papers and adjusted, and in the prints I’ve gotten, the colors/blacks have looked as expected, not hazy and lifted like they do, now. These images have existed in print, not just on a screen, and black has been black.Look at profile TRC, high chances that it stores actual black level instead a fake infinite contrast (black point compensation). Re do calibration with that if that was the issue.
I’m not sure what you mean by this? I don’t know what TRC means. I just re-ran the calibration to be on the safe side and have a new profile. I can tell you numbers or attach a screenshot of whatever is helpful. I see size values for red, blue, and green TRC in the ICCs info. They are all at 14. The size listed of the same values in the default iMac ICC is 2,060. Is that what you’re referencing? I’ve attached the ICC.
PS: Remember to use WLED PFS spectral correction for i1d3 colorimeters on your imac. If you have any other i1 device with is not an i1displaypro variant or sibling it’s very likely that you device is not measuring actual black properly (i1Pro1/2 spectrophotometer or i1studio). If that is what is happening then get an i1d3.
This is what I purchased and am using: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1506567-REG/x_rite_eodis3msccpp_b_i1_colorchecker_pro_photo.html
All it says is that it’s an i1 Display Pro. I’m assuming it’s fine?-if you spoftproofed blacks are going to be lifted. period.
(and unless you crippled imac contrast there is little difference between display profile w/wo BPC while softproofing)-TRC is tone respone curve (resulting “gamma”). DisplayCAL, Profile information, choose TRC on custom ICC or in Apple’s ICC. Measured TRC appears as gamma in HTML report.
-it is an i1d3 so it can measure an imac black without issue.
Regarding profile it stores a nonimal perfect 2.2 gamma with BPC so there is no lift (unless when runing measurement report display behaves in a different way).
Also sRGB images use sRGB profile with sRGB TRC with is not 2.2 it has lifted dark greys per specification. Apple default profile fakes a TRC, plot it and you’ll see. You need to check if (measurement report)
-calibrated display (customprofile as default in preferencescolorsync) matches its profile
-un calibrated display (apple display ICC as default in preferences/colorsync) matches its profile
If calibrated display matches profile TRC and you open an sRGB image in PS it will deform RGB colors, reencoding from sRGB TRC to your “supposed” 2.2 gamma and from your near displayp3 colorspace to sRGB. and it will work as intended.If it does not match (measurement report) you have to choose the lesser evil, if you priorize Photosphop and do not care about all kind of bugs in Apple dekstop color management (blame Apple), choose as display profile type “1curve + matrix” + BPC instead of “gamma + matrix” (Profiling TAB). This way TRC will be captured idealized (profile store “display has perfect neutral grey” even if it has not) but actual non constant TRC. That may improve PS response because it will know how display is behaving.
IDNK if current i1Profiler for macOS (or whatever Calibrite name has put on it, CCProfiler os something like that) when choosing “matrix profile” will store a “nominal gamma” or “actual TRC” (but ideal neutral grey). Table profile will store detailed 3channel TRC but with app bugs on macOS regading color management it may hurt on desktop UI. (BTW Xrite i1Profiler “table” is akin to DisplayCAL’s XYZLUT without BPC).PS: white is wrong unless you aimed to that, ~6300K daylight
