What do you have your gamma set to?

That is most likely it, perhaps also combined with poor calibration on either end... but the gamma thing will have a huge effect. Try switching between a 1.8 and 2.2 profile

I use 2.2 gamma because that is what the vast majority of people will see.

 

I have mine set at 2.2 now, too many people have it, and the difference between 1.8 and 2.2 is quite noticeable. Plus I seem to enjoy the increased contrast of 2.2 anyway =)

 

Hum.. now you make me wonder...

its is possible that the standard gamma for mac is 1.8? and if so, why are you guys switching to 2.2?

Is the gamma info stored into the file when you send it to print? Because I have a lot of stuff to print soon and I wonder which setting I should use...

 

I edit photos on a mac and bump my brightness and contrast up a slight bit to share with the majority of people using PC's. I use the native Mac gamma because the other pros I share photos with are on Macs.

 

1.8 is the postscript standard. if you are doing anything with print you will want to say at 1.8

 

Actually I have a question along these lines, which I asked in another thread before without getting an answer (here).

In short, my observation was that pictures displayed in photo shop using different display profiles with different gamma in the OS setup look the same in Photoshop (while the user interface elemets are affected by the different gamma settings). In Apples applications (Preview for example) they look differently for different gamma settings. To my impression they look most similar if the display color profile is set to 1.8, which is probably why Apple labels this as the Mac standard and assumes this setting for its applications.

To my understanding each picture file which has a color profile stored also has a gamma value stored with the profile (for sRGB it is 2.2). Color managment software will then make sure this is displayed appropriately on the screen. So if the gamma of the display is different from 2.2 it will do the appropriate transformation. This way the picture should be displayed the same on every color managed, calibrated screen.

As I said, this is my understanding. However I didn't find any documents explaining the situation in detail. So if anyone knows more I would be happy to hear about it.

 

Photoshop can do proofing and display an image in different color settings so you don't have to test your image in many computer setups.

I use 1.8 and have used it since the beginning, when PC's didn't have a gamma setting. That's what the print industry uses and has used traditionally so for designers doing print work this is the setting to use.

But when doing websites then it's better to use 2.2 or proof the colors for Windows RGB because thats what the majority uses.

Also bare in mind that no matter what you do, there is no way to guarantee 100% color consistency between all systems. Only on a monitor of the exact same brand, model, specs, OS, settings and calibration the picture will look exactly the same. This sounds bad for anyone in design or doing color critical work but i've personally learned to live with it.

 

I used PC's for many years before I got my mac, so 1.8 looks odd to me, I tried getting used to it but changed back to 2.2 in the end, I guess if your not sending stuff to professional printers it is a matter for personal preference.

 

When I make print files I switch to the Apple 1.8. Otherwise it's 2.2.

 

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/gamma-18-or-22.html

Here's an article on the subject that assisted me in deciding which gamma to use. I would think, above all, you'd want to make sure you have a properly calibrated monitor.