Over saturated images

[BohoYve]

Hi, I desperately need help with a problem I'm having with Affinity Designer.   I created a set of background papers, printed them and saved the file.  When I reopened the file the images were horribly oversaturated.  I then discovered that every single file I've created since 2017 have the same problem, in Designer, Photo and Publisher.  Even if I drag an image into the app the same thing happens.  I have no idea what I did wrong but clearly I must have changed/clicked on something I shouldn't have.   I have done a fresh install of all three apps, opened them while holding the cntrl key and cleared everything thinking this might help but still no go.   The strange thing is, if I export an oversaturated image as a JPG or PNG the result is quite normal.   I am at my wits end because all my files are now useless.  I would be most grateful if someone could assist me please.

Attached is a screen snip of how it appears in Designer and how it appears when exported.  

[lepr]

If your Affinity documents are 32 bits per channel, ensure ICC Display Transform is enabled in the 32-bit Preview panel.

[BohoYve]

Thank you for your reply.  I'm not sure why by the preview panel is greyed out but it does show that ICC display transform is checked.

[NotMyFault]

Other probable causes:

• color profiles on OS level changed or broken
• using display calibration like Spider Xrite etc
• recent OS upgrades
• recent GPU driver updates
• Change in OS display settings, e.g. activating HDR/EDR mode

 

[NotMyFault]

https://affinityspotlight.com/article/display-colour-management-in-the-affinity-apps/

[BohoYve]

Thank you, I'll have a read through of the article you mention and hopefully it won't go over my head

[lepr]

5 minutes ago, BohoYve said:

I'm not sure why by the preview panel is greyed out

That's correct when a document isn't 32 bits per channel. I thought it unlikely your documents would be 32 bpc, but it was a possibility, hence my advice regarding the panel.

[BohoYve]

Am I correct in saying that because the colour difference is only in the Affinity suite that it has noting to do with my monitor, it is a setting within the software itself?   I've basically used the app as-is since I bought it so I'm really stumped as to what has happened.  All I know is that I can no longer work with it as it is and there goes my Etsy shop, along with it.

[PaulEC]

I'm not sure why you say that all your files are now useless and there goes your Etsy shop! The problem seems to be the way the files are displayed in Affinity. The actual files have not changed and, apparently, still export correctly. If they used to display correctly then obviously something has been changed and it's just a question of finding out what!

[iconoclast]

Could it somehow have to do with CMYK colourspace. I ask because you said that the problem doesn't occur if you export as PNG and JPEG, which don't support CMYK.

[NotMyFault]

I added a levels adjustment with gamma 2.2 to the lighter image, and this results almost 100% in the darker image.

or add gamma 0.45 to the lighter image to get lighter image.

So gamma curve seems to cause the issue.

This normally happens only if you convert those files to RGB/32 mode.

please include the full app window in screenshots.

capture:

• assistant settings
• default color profiles
• the actual file color profile (shown in line below menu while hand tool is active)
• screenshots of OS settings from display and color profiles

[BohoYve]

6 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

I'm not sure why you say that all your files are now useless and there goes your Etsy shop! The problem seems to be the way the files are displayed in Affinity. The actual files have not changed and, apparently, still export correctly. If they used to display correctly then obviously something has been changed and it's just a question of finding out what!

The reason I say this is because I am in the process of updating over two hundred listing images to suit Etsy who, in their wisdom, decided to change the size of the listing image place holders.   Some of the images within the older files I want to upgraded and if I'm working with these dark images I have no idea what I'm doing, colour wise.  Likewise when creating new digitals working with oversaturated images within designer and attempting to get a good end result when exported is going to be a huge problem.

[NotMyFault]

A simple levels adjustment with gamma to 0.45 will correct the colors.

but you need to deactivate it before exporting .

[BohoYve]

21 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

I added a levels adjustment with gamma 2.2 to the lighter image, and this results almost 100% in the darker image.

or add gamma 0.45 to the lighter image to get lighter image.

So gamma curve seems to cause the issue.

This normally happens only if you convert those files to RGB/32 mode.

please include the full app window in screenshots.

capture:

• assistant settings
• default color profiles
• the actual file color profile (shown in line below menu while hand tool is active)
• screenshots of OS settings from display and color profiles

 

[BohoYve]

I cannot see this -

• the actual file color profile (shown in line below menu while hand tool is active)

[BohoYve]

26 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

A simple levels adjustment with gamma to 0.45 will correct the colors.

but you need to deactivate it before exporting .

I can do this but I really would like to get to the bottom of the problem as to why this happened.   As you've probably gathered I'm not too clued on all the ins and outs of the software as it works for what I'm do without having to get into the professional side of things.  

[BohoYve]

1 hour ago, iconoclast said:

Could it somehow have to do with CMYK colourspace. I ask because you said that the problem doesn't occur if you export as PNG and JPEG, which don't support CMYK.

I'm really a bit clueless so I honestly can not even guess where the problem may lie.

[walt.farrell]

Do you have a sample .afdesign document that has the problem, and the exported version, that you can share with us so we can see the details, and see if we experience the same problem?

[iconoclast]

In opposite to RGB,which is a colour space for colours of light, CMYK is a colour space for body colours (colours for print). CMYK colour spaces contain less different colours than RGB colour spaces. So if you export a CMYK image as a PNG or JPEG, which don't support CMYK, the image will be converted to RGB automatically, and the colours will change at least a little bit. As I tested it on my computer, the effect was very small, but in fact the PNG was a bit more saturated than the CMYK original. The strength of the effect may be defined by the certain colours you chose. But I'm not really sure if this could be the reason for your problem.

As an additional information: for professional printing, colours always must be converted to CMYK. But usually you should do that well controlled to prevent unwanted changes of the colours.

You can see if your original image is CMYK if you open "File" > "Document Settings" Colour". There must be a drop down menu called "Colour Settings" or so.

[NotMyFault]

To sort things a bit: CMYK has nothing to do with this issue. 
 

[BohoYve]

19 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

In opposite to RGB,which is a colour space for colours of light, CMYK is a colour space for body colours (colours for print). CMYK colour spaces contain less different colours than RGB colour spaces. So if you export a CMYK image as a PNG or JPEG, which don't support CMYK, the image will be converted to RGB automatically, and the colours will change at least a little bit. As I tested it on my computer, the effect was very small, but in fact the PNG was a bit more saturated than the CMYK original. The strength of the effect may be defined by the certain colours you chose. But I'm not really sure if this could be the reason for your problem.

As an additional information: for professional printing, colours always must be converted to CMYK. But usually you should do that well controlled to prevent unwanted changes of the colours.

You can see if your original image is CMYK if you open "File" > "Document Settings" Colour". There must be a drop down menu called "Colour Settings" or so.

The setting shows RGB.

[iconoclast]

18 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

To sort things a bit: CMYK has nothing to do with this issue. 
 

OK, so possibly the colour depth?

[BohoYve]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Do you have a sample .afdesign document that has the problem, and the exported version, that you can share with us so we can see the details, and see if we experience the same problem?

Thanks for offering to try this.  Attached original jpg.  Same image opened in app.  Image exported from app2. Img opened in app.afdesign.  Hope this will suffice.  It doesn't appear that the .afdesign file uploaded.

[NotMyFault]

It is specifically gamma 1 vs 2.2.

not sure what caused this, probably color profiles, wrong use of RGB/32, or GPU issue

[BohoYve]

4 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

It is specifically gamma 1 vs 2.2.

not sure what caused this, probably color profiles, wrong use of RGB/32, or GPU issue

I wish I knew.  I cannot even think straight anymore.  If it were a GPU issue could it affect only one app on my computer?