Why do my colors shift every time I upload an image?

I make an image in Photoshop, like a poster or whatever, and when I email it to someone or upload it to Imgur, the colors shift. If the background is supposed to be blueish, once it's uploaded, it looks greenish.

I honestly have no clue what's going on.

I build the file in Photoshop, Save as a JPEG, and it looks perfect on my PC, but then this happens.

Anyone else dealt with this crap?

Like, I'll send one via Facebook Messenger. In the tiny preview icon, the colors look fine, but the second I click to enlarge it, the tint changes.

When you Save as, make sure you haven't checked the box to embed the color profile (it's right under Color).

I make the image in Photoshop, save it as a JPEG, and it looks fine on my PC.

Looks "fine" in Photoshop, but does it look the same in some non-Adobe image viewer? Are the gray nuances in Photoshop actually matching those in the top row?

coppersailor28 said:When you Save as, make sure you aren't checking the box to embed a specific color profile (just under Color).

Does it look normal in Photoshop and also in some non-Adobe image viewer? Are the gray tones in Photoshop similar to what you see in the top row?

Look, I'll try to explain this as clearly as possible... I just double-checked a few things.

A month ago, I made a blue poster and sent it via DM; colors were totally fine.

I made another poster using that exact same blue five days ago, but when I upload it, it turns greenish... The funny part is, I download my own file to a folder to compare it with the others, and it looks perfectly normal on my end. But when someone else downloads it, the shade changes—I saw it myself when the guy I did the work for posted it on Facebook.

To make things complicated and confusing so I have no idea what's happening... I tried this:

I'm uploading that first "normal" poster again, and it still looks fine.

It's not like I messed up the colors in Photoshop, otherwise they wouldn't look right on my PC either.

Sorry, this is a mess. I get it if you ignore me... I honestly don't know what to do.

I finally figured out exactly what’s going wrong, so maybe you guys can actually help me now...

In my first PSD fail, I import a poster that looks fine, then I try the second one which gets messed up during upload... I Save as JPEG and upload it... THE IMAGE LOOKS PERFECT.
Do the exact opposite, and the image is trashed!

So the issue is definitely in the PSD fail and those settings you pick when you hit NEW DOCUMENT...

What should the advanced options be set to? Like, COLOR PROFILE -? and PIXEL ASPECT RATIO-?

Hm... try using "don't color Manage this Document" (that very first option at the top), and set the aspect ratio to "Square Pixels".

FIXED IT!!

Turns out the software kept auto-switching me to CMYK color moda when I needed to be on RGB!

Double-checked everything... that was definitely the culprit. Just a heads up in case anyone else runs into this.
Probably just a rookie mistake on my part, wasn't paying close enough attention...

coppersailor28, thanks for the help and for sticking with me 🙂)

alright 🙂

The real headache is that some browsers just have zero clue about color management, especially when you're dealing with CMYK-RGB transitions. If they don't get it, the photo is going to look totally off the moment you pull it up on your computer.

Just try this: Save as a JPEG and you'll see immediately how different it looks when you open it in something like Chrome or just a standard Windows photo viewer, even though it's technically the exact same file. That’s one issue. The other thing is that posters aren't printed in JPEG anyway, so half of these printing nightmares wouldn't even exist if people did it right! But for actual professional printing, you are absolutely going to need CMYK.

feralorca4 said:The issue is that some browsers just don't get color management, not even CMYK-RGB, because otherwise the photo wouldn't look right when you open it on a computer.

Just try saving a JPEG and you'll see it looks different when you open it in, say, Chrome or a standard computer viewer, even though it's the exact same file. That's one thing. Second, posters aren't done in JPEG, so none of these printing issues would even exist. For actual printing, you're definitely going to need CMYK.

I don't really know much about these formats, so any info helps...

I tried uploading an RGB image and downloading it back to my PC... everything works fine.
I don't know if it's the browser, but someone who downloads the image I upload (CMYK, JPEG format) ends up with a totally different color shade..

The poster I made was 12" x 20" in RGB, saved as a JPEG, and it turned out fine... I can email it to you if you want to see how it looks.

Maybe I'm overcomplicating things by not working more professionally, but I'd really appreciate it if you could take a look and give me some advice on formats and stuff.

thanks in advance

Honestly, people just overcomplicate this for no reason at all 🙂

Look, if you want stuff printed, just send over a PDF—make sure the text is outlined as curves, obviously, and keep your photos as rasters. It’s way easier to handle the layout in InDesign, while you should probably stick to Photoshop just for prepping your images. And hey, you really ought to be working in CMYK for anything headed to a printer, because that's just how the tech works! The whole mess is definitely a color management issue, and we have to wonder what went sideways with that JPEG. If you're absolutely set on using Photoshop for print, just send a TIFF file instead. And seriously, always work at 300 Square Pixels 😁 You really need to ask the person on the other end how the image actually looked in Photoshop after they downloaded it. Also, quick question: are you guys even using calibrated monitors?

feralorca4 said:It’s simple. People just overcomplicate things for no reason. 🙂

For print, just send a PDF—keep the text as curves and leave the photos as rasters. It’s way easier to prep everything in InDesign, while you can use Photoshop for the actual photo work. You should be working in RGB for print since that's how the process works. The issue is clearly color management and whatever happened to that PNG. If you're sticking with Photoshop for print, just send a TIFF instead. And make sure you're working at 300dpi 😁 You need to ask them what the image actually looked like in Photoshop after the download. Also, are you even using calibrated monitors?

Alright, thanks.. 🙂)

I definitely need to start using vector software.