Don

Dave, 16:10 1920x1200 Don

Hi All, Sorry for the long delay since my last post on this thread. The non-photography part of my life commandeered my time, but now I have time to focus on this issue again. During this absence, I have read extensively on color management, including the various links suggested by responders here. I have also conducted a number of experiments. My conclusion at this point is that I need to calibrate my monitor prior to asking for additional help on this forum. It has become clear to me that this color problem is not likely to be the fault of PTE or how I’m using it. This is based on a few experiments: (1) Creating a short slideshow in Windows Movie Maker, which I had used before learning of PTE (from Lin), yielded the same problem, (2) a closer inspection of my prints reveals that a similar, though less intense, problem occurs there, and (3) experiments with “Save to Web” in PS suggests something is off. While calibrating my monitor may or may not be the solution, I should do this anyway. My prints will look better, if nothing else. And, I’m hoping that this will resolve the issue as I see it in PTE. I’m ordering an X-Rite Eye-one Display 2 colorimeter. I’ll post on the results after calibrating my monitor. Thanks for all of your help. Don

Thanks Brian. Nice work. Don

Brian, Thanks for your help and effort. It looks like I should be doing some more experimentation. Your work has given me reason to reconsider my current workflow. I chose to use the Adobe Camera RAW converter rather than the Canon converter for two reasons: (1) Canon informed me that their converter would not work with my 64-bit Vista operating system, which may no longer be true and (2) consistency within the Adobe software. Images converted with Adobe Camera RAW can be imported into Photoshop as Smart Objects, thus offering a greater degree of non-destructive editing. As you point out, however, this may be introducing color conversion problems. My print colors have been true to what I see on my monitor, but PTE is clearly another story. I’ve read many varying perspectives on the benefits of sRGB, Adobe RGB 1998, Apple RGB, etc. I chose sRGB thinking that it was more compatible for web viewing. I’ll experiment with Adobe RGB 1998 and Apple RGB. You mentioned that it would be better to use Apple RGB. Would that be more appropriate than Adobe RGB 1998? I’ve been shooting RAW for a little over a year now and was previously shooting sRGB. As a quick test to see what would happen if I avoided the RAW conversion issue, I took an image that was originally shot as sRGB and imported it directly from my PC into PTE, without it ever having gone into Photoshop. I then opened the same image in Windows Photo Gallery, and then Photoshop. The PTE display of this image was clearly more saturated than the Windows Photo Gallery and Photoshop versions, which were about equally saturated. I should add that I had downloaded this test image from my camera into my PC using Adobe Bridge. Do you think that this could be introducing some of the difficulty? I’m going to contact Canon to see if they’ve made their software compatible with 64-bit systems now. I’ll also do some experiments with Apple RGB and Adobe RGB 1998. Thanks again for all of your effort. Don

Maurice, You are correct. I left that out. That happens in step #2, when I exit Adobe Camera RAW. It is one of the options available. As I have the program set to do that automatically, I don't even think of it. Good catch! Don

Eric, Sorry about the size of the file. It must have been the BMP image that created the problem. I added that to see if file format was affecting the color changes. Fortunately, we have Ken to quickly back up the situation. Thanks, Ken. Don

Ken, Thanks for your help on this one. Like your Samsung, my monitor correctly displayed the white on the eye4u website. Regarding some of my Photoshop images being a bit flat, I noticed that too. I should have boosted the color somewhat before posting them. My concern, however, is not over the flatness of some of those images, but about the difference between the way they appear in Photoshop versus PTE. My normal process when creating a slideshow is as follows: 1. Shoot the image in RAW format 2. Convert from RAW with Adobe Camera RAW 3. Edit in Photoshop 4. Crop and size the image for PTE (1920 x 1200 or 1920 x 1080) 5. Save as a JPEG, typically with a compression quality of 6, but higher for a deep zoom 6. Import into PTE My problem is that the color of the images change between step #5 and #6 above. So, the JPEG that I see in Photoshop does not match that JPEG after it has been imported into PTE. The PTE version is more red. This is what I’m trying to solve. I’m reading through the other links you provided in your last response. They are helpful, both relative to this challenge, as well as in improving my overall understanding of digital color. Thanks again for your help. Don

Thanks all for your responses. I’m still struggling with this problem but am optimistic that an answer will be found. I have followed up all of the leads provided and also have re-read the “Color Management” section of Photoshop help. I’ve found some additional resources via Google and will be addressing them next. It appears that the solution to this situation is not simple. Now for a confession: I have not calibrated my monitor with any devices such as Spyder3, etc. I got a bit lazy regarding this after experiencing good print results with my Canon printer. I knew that this was something that I had to deal with eventually, but put it off. It seems to me that this is not likely to be the source of the problem I’m experiencing now, given that I’m viewing the images from Photoshop and PTE on the same monitor. As suggested by yachtsman1, I have put together a short show and posted it to mediafire (10 images, 40 seconds, 23 MB.) I enabled keyboard navigation. As PTE does not accept Photoshop (PSD) files directly, I used Microsoft’s Snipping Tool to capture the images as displayed in the Photoshop program and then saved them in JPEG format. While I realize that this introduces one more variable into the analysis, I couldn’t think of a better method for demonstrating the differences between the various images. To my eye, the Snipping Tool versions of the images as they appeared in Photoshop accurately portray the way the images appear within Photoshop. To be clear, when I’m looking at the images in Photoshop, the color appears correct, whether I’ve saved the images as PSDs or JPEGs. The problem is evident when I import the images into PTE. I also tried saving as PNG and BMP on a few images to see if this helped. It didn’t. Near the top of each image I have labeled the saving method. Here are the links to this test: For PC: http://www.mediafire.com/?ogtzyzxnzkw For Mac: http://www.mediafire.com/?ewddkk4hz2y Here is a little more info about my system. My monitor is a Dell 2408WFP (LCD). My system is a Dell Studio XPS 435MT. The Processor is an Intel Core i7 920 @2.67GHz. Checks with Microsoft’s Device Manager indicate that I have the latest drivers. 8321, I’m not familiar with BreezeBrowser. I Googled it and it appears that it is another image management/editing software package. My preference is to stay with Photoshop. I’ll let you know how things turn out. Peter, I searched the Forum and, indeed, there was considerable discussion of color problems, focusing on gamma. I have learned that earlier versions of Photoshop had something called Adobe Gamma, which would enable one to make adjustments to eliminate unwanted color casts. PS CS4 does not have this. I’m thinking that this is not my problem, as I’m using the same monitor to view the PS and PTE images. I would think that the calibration of the monitor would not be a variable. I have found a web article by Ian Lyons that deals in detail with PS CS4 color management. That’s next on my list to explore. There are also a couple of suggestions from the links that you provided that I’m exploring, but none seemed to be the solution, at least to me. Yachtsman1, Thanks for the suggestion about posting a short show. I hope this helps. Ken, I’ve completed a “first pass” read of the resources you suggest. I may not be technically savvy enough to make the best of them, but I’m trying. Thanks all for your responses. Don

I’m having some difficulty with color and would appreciate some help. I’m using PTE 6.0.3 and Windows 64-bit Vista Home Premium. I have an ATI Radeon HD4670 graphics card. I’m doing my image editing with Photoshop CS4. My color profile is sRGB and the bit depth is 8. I am saving my images as JPEGs, generally using a quality level of 6, with the Format Option set to Baseline. I am resizing my images to 1920 x 1080 px. The color of my images in Photoshop look fine (after I applied color corrections.) Once imported into PTE, however, the images have a noticeable red tint. This occurs both in the Preview mode, as well as after creating an executable file for PC. I checked the images again in Photoshop and Bridge, only to find that they look correct there. While I rarely use any other programs to view images, I checked with some others that were on my PC. I got a mixed bag of results. Windows Photo Gallery delivered the same color as Photoshop. Microsoft Office Picture Manager, however, yielded the same result as PTE, as did QuickTime PictureViewer. These are not minor differences. One is acceptable and the other is not. I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Don

Thanks Brian. They sound great. They certainly earned a bookmark in my music folder. I'll provide the appropriate attribution, as I am sure others will. Thanks again. Don

David, Very nice work! Somehow I think I saw this in my old dorm room back in '67... or was that just a dream then, too? I do enjoy the "alternative" approach to slideshows. Breaking the mold is a good thing. And I must admit that I'm quite impressed with the fact that you developed the music, as well. Congratulations. Don P.S. It is okay if others use your music in their slideshows? (With proper attribution to you, that is.)

Powerful. Emotional. I think the speed of the images was very good. Quick, but painting a visual impression, it appears, was more your intent than showing each individual image. The dissonance in the music complemented the visuals well. 9/11 is a very emotional issue for those of us in the US. It is especially emotional for those of us who live near one of the three sites where deaths occurred. I live in the New York Metropolitan area, so I witnessed much of the mayhem up close. I could see the smoke coming from the towers and was prevented from coming home, as the bridges that I needed to cross to get from New York to my Connecticut home were closed. While I did not lose any family members in the event, I know people who did. My daughter worked just a little over a mile from the World Trade Center at that time. And, she took a subway that passed underneath those buildings at approximately the same time that they were hit. It was a scary time as my wife and I tried to break through the jammed cell phone channels trying to see if she was okay, which she was. Others were not that fortunate. Many don't realize that the US lost more people on 9/11 than we did at Pearl Harbor. The threat of a future event is very real, as evidenced by the failed events of last weekend in Times Square and on Christmas Eve 2009 in Michigan. Don

Jean, Absolutely terrific!!! At first I thought you must have been using a program other than PTE. It just didn't seem possible to me that someone could create those effects with PTE. I know that I could not. Congratulations. Don

Hi Davy, Good job. The alignments and blending came off quite nicely. The music complemented the visuals well. Yes, some rain must fall into all our lives. But as George Harrison and others have noted... .Thanks for the nice piece. Don

Hi Maureen, Great show! I always love your photography. I like the slightly slower pace. It really does allow your work to show better. Periodically, even at this slightly slower pace, I find that I'd like to view an individual image for a bit longer. A tap of my spacebar does not seem to pause the show, however. You might want to consider adding that option. Don