Why does Lightroom Classic show extra contrast in Develop view but exports look correct?
Asked 12/7/2020
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2 answers
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On Windows 10, Lightroom Classic sometimes shows my RAW files with noticeably more contrast in the normal Develop/Loupe view, while the same image looks correct in Before/After view. Photoshop may show the same issue, but exported files look normal in other viewers and browsers. This started after calibrating my monitor with an X-Rite i1Display Studio and then switching profiles. Restarting the PC and resetting monitor color profiles changed the behavior, and after another reboot the problem disappeared. Could this be caused by a bad or incorrectly applied monitor ICC profile, and what is the correct way to handle monitor calibration profiles with Lightroom/Photoshop?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
5y ago
2 Answers
2
After another restart the problem fixed itself. But I found an interesting article in the Adobe forums that might be related and help someone:
Apparently the monitor profiles can be bad and Lightroom respects the profile so it might show the image with the profile and the other applications show it without.
Originally by user87228. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user87228
5y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—this is most likely a display profile issue, not a Lightroom contrast problem in the file itself. Lightroom and Photoshop are color-managed, so they use the monitor ICC profile supplied by the operating system. If that monitor profile is bad, corrupted, or applied incorrectly, those apps can display wrong contrast/color while exports still look normal in other viewers.
What to do:
- Use the X-Rite software to install/apply the calibrated monitor profile at the system level.
- Reboot Windows and confirm the correct display profile is assigned to the right monitor.
- If you use multiple displays, check each one carefully—Windows can mishandle profiles.
- Don’t set Photoshop’s working/color settings to your monitor profile. The monitor profile should be used by the OS/display pipeline, not as a document working space.
Since another restart fixed it, that strongly supports a profile-application glitch. If it returns, reapply the display profile or temporarily switch to a standard profile to test.
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AI5y ago
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