Problems displaying images in Photoshop and AffinityPhoto

[well88]

Sorry, I'll be brief.
Why is an image opened in Photoshop darker than an image opened in Affinity.
I'm a little shocked. I think a lot of people are working on two programs and have come across this. Or not?
Thanks.

[DGee]

I’m also confused / frustrated by this and would like to know more about it. AFAIK Affinity apps use a different color management system, which renders different results to Phostoshop and Adobe apps. I personally don’t think managing colors differently from other apps is a good idea as being able to get consistent colors in collaborative environments is key.

[R C-R]

13 hours ago, well88 said:

Why is an image opened in Photoshop darker than an image opened in Affinity.

I do not know if this answers your question but as I understand it, the the AP Color Preferences you are showing (like for RGB Color Profile) are the settings used for new documents & (optionally) when converting opened files to the working space. I think that is not the same as the color settings you show for the file in PS.

[DGee]

14 hours ago, well88 said:

Sorry, I'll be brief.
Why is an image opened in Photoshop darker than an image opened in Affinity.
I'm a little shocked. I think a lot of people are working on two programs and have come across this. Or not?
Thanks.

This is exactly what I get. What you see in PS is not darker. Look at the lows (microphone etc) it is actually slightly darker in Affinity Photo. Colors also look more saturated in Photoshop. So you are getting darker lows and slightly less dynamic range in Photo. I suspect there is a gamma shift involved in Affinity color management.

I’m still trying to figure out how to get consistent results across different apps with Affinity products.

[well88]

Thank you for your attention to this topic.
At the moment, the result is this: both applications work correctly, they do everything correctly. An error in the operation of the windows 11 system, possibly in a combination of the computer and system configuration. When working with the monitor profile, an error occurs. I draw your attention - this is exactly an error. I don’t know what to do. ...
On another computer with windows 10, everything works correctly.

[R C-R]

@well88, I just noticed that in your screenshot of the file open in AP, the jpeg file is showing as "[Modified]"

That means you have done something to it after opening it. If you can you tell us what you did, it might provide a clue why it looks different.

Also, if you open the unmodified version in AP & from the Document menu select either Convert Format/ICC Profile or Assign ICC Profile, what does it show as the current ICC profile? (To be clear, I am not suggesting that you should change the current ICC profile, just check to see what it is now.)

[User_783649]

@well88 Please also check, if View > Proof Colors is active in Photoshop? If yes, which profile is being selected here?

[well88]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

the jpeg file is showing as "[Modified]"

 

I checked at what shift of the gamma the images match, then went back to the beginning in history. The file was in sRGB and was not changed.
This is a bug in the system, the applications work well.
I am a professional photo printer and therefore always pay special attention to color conversions.
Thank you all for participating. Thank you.

PS.

2 hours ago, DGee said:

2 hours ago, DGee said:

there is a gamma shift involved in Affinity color

 

The shift is at 0.15, but this is visual. Both applications behave correctly. Color management systems are different, but everything works correctly.

[komtur]

I have exactly the same problem. Also in Windows 11. The same images displayed in Affinity Photo are slightly brighter than in other applications. This basically makes it impossible to edit photos accurately, especially for the darkest parts of the photos. I use DxO PhotoLab and FastStone Image Viewer as a quick viewer. In these applications, the images are displayed correctly. They also look correct in the Windows 11 system viewer. If I remember correctly, in Windows 10 the problem did not occur.

[Old Bruce]

6 minutes ago, komtur said:

... In these applications, the images are displayed correctly. ...

Or just differently? Image quality, or correct versus incorrect, is subjective. 

Just my opinion, too much pixel peeping going on. Plus many people want their images to look like someone else's.

[komtur]

26 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Or just differently? Image quality, or correct versus incorrect, is subjective. 

Just my opinion, too much pixel peeping going on. Plus many people want their images to look like someone else's.

This is not a minor problem. Affinity Photo is the only program that displays images differently. Different than what I see in DxO when I process a file and export it for further processing in Affinity Photo, different than in any image viewer. It shouldn't be that way. It makes it difficult to work with. It's possible that the problem lies with Windows, but that doesn't change the fact that it shouldn't be that way.

[well88]

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

Or just differently? Image quality, or correct versus incorrect, is subjective. 

The perception of the image is subjective.But! The display on the monitor must obey strictly defined rules. These rules are the essence of the color management system. This is an important and fundamental issue!

[R C-R]

57 minutes ago, komtur said:

Affinity Photo is the only program that displays images differently.

I have only done a few spot checks for jpeg images I have on my Mac that come from my cameras & other sources. All use the same sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color profile, & all of them look the same when opened in AP, the Mac Preview app, a variety of browsers, RawTherapee, PixelmatorPro, & others.

So I wonder if you are talking about some other type of image, like maybe RAW files?

[RichardMH]

Is AP 8 bit or 16bit?

[komtur]

52 minutes ago, R C-R said:

I have on my Mac that come from my cameras & other sources. All use the same sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color profile, & all of them look the same when opened in AP, the Mac Preview app, a variety of browsers, RawTherapee, PixelmatorPro, & others.

The problem probably only occurs in Windows 11 when using the monitor profile. All programs except AP display images identically as expected. AP displays slightly brighter. In my case it affects mainly the dark parts of the image.

[R C-R]

41 minutes ago, RichardMH said:

Is AP 8 bit or 16bit?

AP is capable of working in RGB/8, RGB/16, or RGB/32 (HDR), in Gray/8 or Gray/16, & in LAB/16 bit color formats, if that is what you mean. 

The app itself is 32 bit, but that is a different thing.

[RichardMH]

Just now, R C-R said:

AP is capable of working in RGB/8, RGB/16, or RGB/32 (HDR), in Gray/8 or Gray/16, & in LAB/16 bit color formats, if that is what you mean. 

The app itself is 32 bit, but that is a different thing.

I meant that he has photoshop in 8 bit. How had he set AP?

[well88]

Sorry, no time to search for the cause of this error (but this is a job for Microsoft programmers). I returned to Windows 10. The problem went away.
Thank you all for your participation. Excuse my English, it is not my native language.
PS.  Utility from X-Rite Monitor Display Profile incorrectly determined the active monitor profile on Windows 11, perhaps the AffinityPhoto got confused in the same way...

[komtur]

I hope someone will fix this bug, because you can temporarily go back to Windows 10, but not forever after all. Photoshop, DxO Photolab and other similar apps do fine in Windows 11.