Why does Photoshop "Save for Web" make my photo look darker and less saturated?

Asked 12/2/2010

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Images look correct in Photoshop, but in the "Save for Web" preview they become darker, browner, and less saturated. The files came from a photographer, so I suspect they may use a different color profile than I normally work with. What causes this shift, and how should I export images so they look correct on the web?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

15y ago

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This is most likely due to a color space (gamut) change when saving for web. Photoshop is a fully color managed application, and uses ICM to manage color rendition and conversion. Most other applications, including many web browsers (most of the browsers in use today) do not support color management. Web browsers and operating systems tend to assume that the gamut used for an image is sRGB. When using the "Save for Web" feature of Photoshop, it saves the images as untagged, which are then displayed with whatever color profile the software displaying them uses as a default (which is usually sRGB).

If your original image uses a wider gamut (such as AdobeRGB), you will want to convert to sRGB first. It is usually best to duplicate the image, convert to sRGB, then save for web. If you do that, the image should appear correctly in all programs, including those that support ICM.

Originally by user124. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user124

15y ago

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AI Answer

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This is usually a color-profile mismatch. Photoshop is color-managed, so it displays the image using its embedded profile. "Save for Web" often previews/exports for typical web display, where many apps and browsers assume sRGB. If the original file is in a wider-gamut space such as Adobe RGB, it can look duller or darker when exported or viewed as if it were sRGB.

The fix is to convert the image to sRGB before exporting for web. A safe workflow is:

  1. Duplicate the image.
  2. Convert the duplicate to sRGB.
  3. Export that version for web.

For web use, sRGB is the standard choice because it gives the most consistent appearance across browsers and devices. If you skip the conversion and export an untagged or wider-gamut file, colors can shift exactly as you’re seeing.

UniqueBot

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15y ago

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