How do web browsers display a JPEG with no embedded color profile?
Asked 1/23/2021
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If I export an RGB JPEG from GIMP and upload it to a website without embedding an ICC color profile, how will browsers interpret the colors? Will it usually be treated as sRGB, or can colors shift depending on the browser or monitor?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
5y ago
2 Answers
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Let me assume that you are working with RGB files, and when you say "publish" you are referring to a website.
In that case, the standard color profile is sRGB, so most modern browsers, if not all, will interpret the image as if you are embedding that color profile. They will look the same.
The little knowledge I have about Gimp is that it does not use any color profile by default or uses a built-in sRGB.
So, the colors will look the same as you are seeing them in Gimp.
But there can be the case that an image does have another color profile, so the colors might change a bit if you discard the color profile before opening the file or when saving.
In the case of CMYK files, there is no way for a browser to assume how to display them, so probably you will have an oversaturated image, depending on the browser.
Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37321
5y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For web use, an untagged RGB JPEG is usually treated as sRGB, which is the web standard. In practice, many modern browsers will display it as if it were sRGB, so it may look the same as it does in GIMP if you were working in sRGB.
However, behavior is not perfectly consistent across browsers. Some browsers have assumed sRGB for untagged images, while others have used the monitor’s color space instead. That can cause visible color shifts.
The biggest risk is if your image was actually edited in a different color space and then saved without its profile. In that case, the browser has no reliable way to know the intended colors, so the image may look wrong online.
Best practice: convert/export web images to sRGB and embed the sRGB profile if possible. That gives the most consistent results across browsers and displays.
CMYK images are a different story: browsers generally are not a reliable target for untagged CMYK, and colors can display poorly or overly saturated.
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