Colours etc "wrong" on import (profile?)

[mister_marbles]

Hi all.

tl;dr

Photo edits don't have the desired results. Probably because when I import photos into Gimp, the brightness, contrast, saturation (etc.) change subtly but perceptibly. I think this is due to Color / Colour Profiles(?) What am I doing wrong, and how can I get more predictable results? Thank you in advance.

more

Apologies for what feel like pretty "noob" questions. (And further apologies if they've been answered 1,000 times already; I searched the forum, but maybe my search fu is lacking).

The problem: 

I take photos with my smartphone, then import the jpegs into Gimp for post-processing. But they look different in Gimp - flatter, greyer, less bold - than they do in the File Browser (Finder; I'm using macOS on a MacBook pro). I think this is due to the Colo(u)r Profile: Finder says "Colour profile: sRGB IEC61966-2.1" but AFAICT Gimp is using sRGB(?)

I've experimented with Image > Colour Management > Assign Colour Profile... and Convert Colour Profile... ...but I can't discern any difference, so I assume I'm using them wrong.

Q1. Am I right in my assumption: is the Colour Profile the problem?
Q2. I want the changes I make in Gimp to accurately reflect what I'll see in Finder; what's the best way to achieve this?

Bonus question (...possibly opening a can of worms?): if my ultimate goal is to post the results online, does it matter which colour profile I use...?

Any help gratefully received  

P.S. macOS, Gimp 2.10

[Ofnuts]

sRGB comes under many names but is is always the same.

Edit>Preferences>Color management: is the managed color display enabled?

Also, assuming that the Apple finder displays the photos without any enhancements could be incorrect...

[rich2005]

As Ofnuts says, how do you know that it is not the image viewer application causing a change.

Just for info,  there is no appreciable difference between the embedded Gimp sRGB and the Industry standard sRGB IEC61966-2.1 extracted these with exiftool.

   

If you are worried about it, turn color management off in Edit -> Preferences.

[Kevin]

(03-11-2021, 12:46 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: sRGB comes under many names but is is always the same.

I think Elle Stone would disagree with that statement: https://ninedegreesbelow.com/photography...rison.html

[mister_marbles]

Hi all, and thank you very much for responding; I appreciate it.

Quote:Also, assuming that the Apple finder displays the photos without any enhancements could be incorrect...

@Ofnuts: Well, quite. And I am definitely not assuming this!  But there's clearly something different between the way Finder parses the image file, and the way Gimp does - whether that's a configuration difference / mismatch or something else - because the same images look different in the two of them. I'm trying to understand why, so I can get more predictable results.

To give you an example: I wanted to enhance an image by boosting the contrast and saturation slightly (a simple task for Gimp, given all the amazing tools it has). And I was able to get what I wanted pretty quickly...but when I exported it from Gimp and compared it to the original, I discovered that the latter actually looked better (better contrast, better saturation) in Finder  When I went back to Gimp, I realised that the original layer (the un-processed and un-edited image imported directly into Gimp) looked different from the way it looked in Finder. Which is when I started to wonder about Colour Profiles...

Quote:If you are worried about it, turn color management off in Edit -> Preferences

@rich2005: I'm not worried: I'm trying to get results that are reliable, repeatable, predictable.

Quote:I think Elle Stone would disagree with that statement: https://ninedegreesbelow.com/photography...rison.html

@Kevin: That's such a good site: lots of great information, and conveyed very clearly. Nice pictures, too. I think the author is very generous with their time and knowledge  

Thanks again to all.

[rich2005]

(03-11-2021, 04:08 PM)mister_marbles Wrote:

Quote:If you are worried about it, turn color management off in Edit -> Preferences

@rich2005: I'm not worried: I'm trying to get results that are reliable, repeatable, predictable.

Then you need to color calibrate your computer display. This comment a reverse of yours, a PS user complaining that the image does not look the same in a mac.
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop...-p/9557293

[mister_marbles]

(03-11-2021, 06:03 PM)rich2005 Wrote:

(03-11-2021, 04:08 PM)mister_marbles Wrote:

Quote:If you are worried about it, turn color management off in Edit -> Preferences

@rich2005: I'm not worried: I'm trying to get results that are reliable, repeatable, predictable.

Then you need to color calibrate your computer display. This comment a reverse of yours, a PS user complaining that the image does not look the same in a mac.
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop...-p/9557293

(?)

Are you sure? I followed the link...but that's for a different issue. The problem there is that images look different on different devices; my problem is that images look different on the same device - the same screen - but different applications (Gimp, and Finder).

Forgive me - perhaps I'm missing something - but if I (re)calibrate the screen then surely that will affect everything i.e. all applications, including Gimp and Finder(?)

How will (re)calibrating the screen affect disparities between applications...?

[rich2005]

I use linux, no 'Apple-anything' so no comment on the hardware, however from that article about viewing in different applications

Quote:If the monitor is not close to sRGB, such as wide gamut units, this won't work. Then you must have full color management.

and a look at mac monitor calibration https://photographylife.com/how-to-calib...ac-monitor

Do you have one of those wide-gamut displays ? Do you have a monitor profile ie. 'something.icm' to feed into the Gimp color management settings?

Try asking the question on https://discuss.pixls.us/ more chance there of someone with comparable hardware.

...packing in for the night, so bye...