LR4.1 - Exported JPEG not colour-identical to DNG

[dirk1]

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Maybe somebody can help on the following:

I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.1 on my MacBook Pro.

An image taken with my M9, in LR4.1 without any modifications applied appears with the before/after view identical (as it should be).

 

Using the file settings "JPEG, sRGB, 100%" and exporting that image to JPEG, the "Finder"-preview of the exported JPEG compared to the original DNG results in a distinct colour differences, which I would not have expected from the LR4.1 before/after preview.

 

Using the Mac OS-program "Preview" for saving the same DNG as JPEG, there are only very slight colour changes visible in "Finder" - actually they appear almost identical!

 

Due to the excessive file size of a DNG, please see first the JPEG generated via "Preview" with 80% quality (this is allmost identical to the original DNG) and next the JPEG generated via LR4.1 without any previous modifications/processing applied.

 

Both JPEGs have been scaled down to fit using Mac OS "Preview" - the upper image looks almost like the DNG and I prefer the more natural blue / less purple appearance of the sky.

 

I appreciate some guidance on how to generate JPEGs from LR4.1 without any colour changes.

 

Thanks, Dirk

 

LR4.1 settings applied:

Gradiation curve:

Dot curve: Linear

Lens corrections: none

Camera calibration

Process: 2012 (actual)

Profile: Adobe Standard

[mija1789]

Interesting !

 

I duplicated your test, but with a Digilux 2 (I don't have a M9) and LR3:

- a raw file (as there is no Digilux 2 DNG) saved as JPEG with "Preview"

- and a JPEG export by LR3, both sRGB and Adobe RGB, of the same raw file

 

The LR3 exported JPEGs clearly show a slight purple/magenta cast in a blue sky.

 

So, same result despite different cameras and different LR versions. Hence the raw rendering engines of "Preview" and LR give slightly different results, which is not totally surprising.

 

I guess the only way to correct the sky rendering to your liking (i.e. similar to "Preview") would be to create a specific camera profile.

[dirk1]

@ mija 1789: Thanks for your comment!

 

In the meantime I did some twiddling with screenshots and I attach the result.

Conclusion:

- WYSIWYG for LR4.1 and JPEG-generation

- "Finder" seems to deal differently with colours of DNGs and JPEGs

 

Unfortunately, I prefer the colours of the JPEG generated by "Preview", which almost is identical to the DNG-appearance in "Finder" - appearantly a big task ahead, also to achieve the same result with LR.

 

I still appreciate to receive supportive hints on how to get this with LR.

 

Following:

LR-Before/After-View

below that embedded the "Finder"-preview of the DNG and that of the JPEG exported by LR

[mija1789]

A solution would be to buy Nik Software Color Efex, where thanks to the U-Point technology, you can make local adjustments (contrast, brightness, color adjustment, ... ).

Color Efex is available as a LR plug-in.

I have the U-Point feature in Capture NX2 from Nikon and it works pretty well.

Just food for thoughts.

[dirk1]

A solution would be to buy Nik Software Color Efex, where thanks to the U-Point technology, you can make local adjustments (contrast, brightness, color adjustment, ... ).

Color Efex is available as a LR plug-in.

I have the U-Point feature in Capture NX2 from Nikon and it works pretty well.

Just food for thoughts.

 

Thank you for your consideration, but that would require a one-by-one operation with each photo of a kind. Such I consider not really practical and too time consuming, so I prefer for LR to deal with the colours just like the Finder deals with the DNGs colours - then, I could concentrate on the actual processing, rather than caring about fundamentals.

[Guest WPalank]

Your image should look different because you have just gone from the Pro Photo Color space (actually Melissa) to the sRGB space which has a much smaller gamut. Also, I don't remember if in the Lightroom "Export" module whether you can choose between Relative Colormetric, Absolute Colormetric, Saturation, or Perceptual as the "Rendering Intent" (as you can in PS) . That would influence color rendering as well. Now that I think of it, rendering intent only influences the print, me thinks.

 

As to why the color is different in PS, LR or in the "Finder Preview" which on my Mac is the software, "Preview". you would have to check the Preferences in each piece of software and make sure they match or that you have any choice at all