The Photo Forum Website - Neutral Gray Colour Theme??

[Black_Square]

Hi,

I wasn't sure where to post this.

I specialise in portait photography, and when editing photos spend a significant amount of time colour toning my images, something that is a key elemment of my photograhic style. I have my photoshop workspace set to neutral gray, so that I can clearly see the colour range and tonality of my images.

I am sure that there are many other photographers on this site who share my passion for accurate colours etc, therefore, I'm curious why the PhotoForum doesn't use neutral gray for its background, therefore framing uploaded images in a more balance light.

I often find that after uploading my images, due to the bright white background they appear slightly under exposed, which is a little frustrating to say the least.

Anyway, i'd be interested to hear the thoughts of others.

Thanks,

 

[smoke665]

I'm having the same issues as well, when converting to JPEGS. One thing is some of the social media sites really crush the images. I've found that linking to Flickr gives a much better image on FB and others.

I have my photoshop workspace set to neutral gray, so that I can clearly see the colour range and tonality of my images.

Which workspace????? There a multiple settings under interface. IE I have color theme set to black which gives me black borders and menus. Standard screen, Full screen with menus, and full screen set to medium gray.

 

[JBPhotog]

FWIW, if you know the venue you are positing your images, why not change the PS workspace background to match so you can better judge how they will appear on that site? You can set a custom colour if one of the defaults doesn't match close enough.

 

[SquarePeg]

I’d love to be able to change the viewing preferences/theme to a gray or even black background! I’ve asked about this before and it wasn’t an option that was available.

 

[Black_Square]

I have my photoshop workspace set to neutral gray, so that I can clearly see the colour range and tonality of my images.

Which workspace????? There a multiple settings under interface. IE I have color theme set to black which gives me black borders and menus. Standard screen, Full screen with menus, and full screen set to medium gray.[/QUOTE]

Exactly that, I just use the medium grey theme.

FWIW, if you know the venue you are positing your images, why not change the PS workspace background to match so you can better judge how they will appear on that site? You can set a custom colour if one of the defaults doesn't match close enough.

Technically I could do that, although given the nature of my work it would be quite time consuming making multiple edits. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be a simple as making a levels adjustment. To my mind it makes more sense for a website dedicated to photography to make the adjustment and set its theme to neutral grey. Much easier!

I’d love to be able to change the viewing preferences/theme to a gray or even black background! I’ve asked about this before and it wasn’t an option that was available.

Well, that makes at least four of us! Perhaps if we can garner enough support implementing the option for a grey theme the website gods will tweak the site.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

Welcome back to the site. I am an admirer of your work and hope to see some more posted soon!

 

[smoke665]

@Black_Square here's a thought for you. If you have LR, create a virtual copy of your PSD (this can be done individually or as a batch). Now use the Soft Proof function to adjust one vitual copy (you can create presets if you like). Make sure you have all the virtual copies selected and hit the synchronize button. All of the copies selected will have the same settings. It takes just a few mins to do one to many. It's easy to make additional virtual copies for different sites or go back and change the settings on one copy to match another site, hit the synchronize and your ready to go. I usually discard the virtual copies when I'm done because it's so easy to make Moe when needed.

 

[Black_Square]

@Black_Square here's a thought for you. If you have LR, create a virtual copy of your PSD (this can be done individually or as a batch). Now use the Soft Proof function to adjust one vitual copy (you can create presets if you like). Make sure you have all the virtual copies selected and hit the synchronize button. All of the copies selected will have the same settings. It takes just a few mins to do one to many. It's easy to make additional virtual copies for different sites or go back and change the settings on one copy to match another site, hit the synchronize and your ready to go. I usually discard the virtual copies when I'm done because it's so easy to make Moe when needed.

Thanks Smoke. I don’t have lightroom, although could do something similar in capture one. However, my images in photoshop have a lot of layers, so it’s not easy re-proofing for a different background. E.g, if I finish edit; if I were then to re-edit for the bright background of this site it would mean having to work through the various layers adjusting micro contrast and colour toning down etc, which is just too time intensive.

like I said, as a photography website it makes sense to have a neutral grey background. It would benefit all users of the site.

Thanks for taking the time to suggest the workaround though

 

[Black_Square]

Welcome back to the site. I am an admirer of your work and hope to see some more posted soon!

Thanks Dean - it’s nice to be back. There might already be one of my new images floating around the portrait forum

I fact, it was that image that prompted this thread!

 

[Black_Square]

Wow, I've just logged in and it looks as though my prayers have been answered - we have a grey themed website!

 

[AlanKlein]

Not sure if this helps. But, most people don't have calibrated monitors. Even if they do, who knows what brightness setting they selected. Even with my calibrated monitor, I change to a warmer Kelvin, less bright screen automatically at night so not to stress my eyes as the day setting is too bright to view at night. All these things change the apparent brightness when you load your pictures.

 

[SquarePeg]

Wow, I've just logged in and it looks as though my prayers have been answered - we have a grey themed website!

The darker theme has been available as an option for a while but is now the default.

 

[Strodav]

FWIW, don't get too obsessed by accurate color reproduction unless you are in a specialized area like catalog photography. Memory colors are much more important. Say you take a shot with an 18% gray card then adjust for 18% gray in Post, but the colors don't quite "feel" right to you. Fix it so the image is pleasing. If an accurate flesh tone doesn't quite look right, fix it. When looking at pictures of flesh tones side by side, most prefer a bit warmer flesh tone, so warm it up a bit. It has been well documented that men and women see color differently. If you are male, you are adjusting images with a male bias. If female, ... . That's why I always ask female members of my family for their input on important images.

As far as viewing conditions go, I agree that surround makes a big difference on how color is perceived. We have all seen examples of how the perception of color and intensity change by surround. It's called local adaptation, but unless there is a side by side comparison, the human brain will "adjust" to see memory colors, unless the lighting is so skewed it is intended to produce a color shift.