Different colors in PC and Mac

imri · Feb 20, 2011

Hi folks,
I am using Cannon dslr to shoot my product photos.
I am opening the photos in lightroom 3. I am saving the images in srgb mode and save for the web.
The thing is images show beautiful in mac when viewing from my browser in mac but in pc same browser and photos turns purplish/grayish. The difference is notable in both computers.
I would appreciate some feedback for my problem.
Thanks

Josh66 · Feb 20, 2011

Are both of the monitors calibrated?

prodigy2k7 · Feb 20, 2011

Most likely both of your PCs are not calibrated.

What he said ^

imri · Feb 21, 2011

Thank you very much for the fast reply.
You can count me as a noob. The following question might sound silly but, if I calibrate my mac(and I did) and avarage web user do not then the images show bad in those pcs? is this the final logic

Studio7Four · Feb 21, 2011

Yes, there is a chance - maybe even a large chance - that the photos will not look "right" on the average web viewer's computer. However a) there's nothing you can do about that anyway, so don't worry about it; and b) there's a good chance they won't notice if it's a little off. As the photographer you know how it is supposed to look so any differences stand out. To a random web viewer, that's all they have as reference.

NielsSw · Feb 21, 2011

i agree with all above ^

To have as close as possible the same colors you need to calibrate the screens and even then it will be slightly different because every screen is different. Also the angle at which you look at your screen can cause huge differences. Normal web users have no clue about all this and thus it will not look the same for them. Too bad, but you can't change it.

Garbz · Feb 21, 2011

imri said:
if I calibrate my mac(and I did) and avarage web user do not then the images show bad in those pcs? is this the final logic

Think of it this way. The last song you heard and enjoyed on the radio, did you listen to it on a $40000 speaker set from the studio tapes, or did you rock to it in your living room on a cheap boombox while listening to compressed crap over the radio that can't even reproduce the full range of audible frequencies?

The point here is the same. Your image may look purple on their non-calibrated cheap TN film panel, but so will all other things they look at, and the viewer will be used to it. So they won't be viewing their image as an absolute, but instead comparing your image to the others they see and will still definitely be able to tell a good image from a crap one.

You on the other hand need to have faith in the tools, because you are creating an original masterpiece, you will be tweaking colours one way or the other on purpose.

So back to your problem. Is there a difference in general web surfing, or just a difference in your photos?

imri · Feb 21, 2011

I think I am getting the picture now

Thanks all for your valuable feedback

Josh66 · Feb 21, 2011

I would look for a calibration device that is compatible with Mac and Windows. I assume there is one...

If not, you could probably adjust your PC to match the Mac while viewing the same photo on both. It won't be as accurate, and the monitor may drift over time - but it's better than nothing.

Every monitor is a little different.

I have some that stay dead on once they're calibrated, and others that drift noticeably within about 2 weeks.