Why do my photos look yellow in Windows Photo Viewer but not in Lightroom or Photoshop?
Asked 11/12/2010
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2 answers
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Photos edited/exported from Lightroom look normal in Lightroom/Photoshop and on Flickr, but on another computer they appear with a yellow cast when opened in Windows Photo Viewer/Windows Photo Gallery. It only seems to happen in that Windows viewing program. Could this be caused by color management, monitor calibration, or an incorrect monitor ICC profile?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
5
This isn't exactly an answer, but since I have the same problem, I thought I would post with an example.
First, in the photo below, the top half is a screen capture of a photo displayed using Windows Photo Gallery. The bottom half is a screen capture of the same photo displayed using Photoshop CS3. Both were displayed on the same monitor (a Samsung Syncmaster 216BW).
Notice that the top half has significantly more yellow-tinge than the bottom.
Here's where it gets weirder. I moved the same two applications with the same photo to my secondary monitor (an Optiquest Q19wb), and took screen captures again. Note that the difference between the top and bottom halves is much less.
It would seem to me that Windows Photo Gallery is trying to do something with the white balance based on the monitor profile? (BTW, Windows Live Photo Gallery does the same thing). If I use Paint, it looks the same as Photoshop.
I haven't imported this photo into Lightroom V2.x yet, but from experience, it seems to me that Lightroom is trying to do the same thing as Windows Photo Gallery (that is, it makes the photo look yellower on my main monitor).
Again, this is not an answer, but maybe provides more info on the problem?
Originally by user227. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user227
15y ago
0
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Yes—this is most likely a color-management/monitor-profile issue, not a problem with the exported file itself.
From the reports here, Windows Photo Viewer/Gallery can display a stronger yellow cast when the monitor’s ICC profile is bad or inappropriate. This is especially common with some monitor-supplied profiles. If Lightroom/Photoshop look correct but Windows’ viewer looks yellow, the viewer is probably interpreting the monitor profile differently.
A second possibility is simple monitor mismatch: one or both displays may be uncalibrated, so color and white balance appear different from one computer/monitor to another.
What to try:
- Check the monitor’s color profile in Windows Color Management.
- Set the display to a standard sRGB profile if the current monitor profile seems faulty.
- Remove/replace any problematic manufacturer monitor profile.
- Calibrate the monitor if possible.
- Compare the image on another display/application to confirm the file itself is fine.
So your suspicion about color spaces/profiles is on the right track, but the monitor ICC profile and calibration are the more likely causes than the photo export itself.
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