adman2808

Q: Photoshop color issues dual display setup

Hey there

 

I'm having a strange color issue in Photoshop on a dual monitor setup where colors change from normal to look desaturated on the second display.

I'm running a Macbook Pro 15" Retina OSX Yosemite with a Wacom Cintiq 27QHD display connected by thunderbolt / mini display port.


I'm a digital artist so I have the Cintiq set up as the primary display; I open a document on the Cintiq, then open a duplicate window of the document and move it to the Macbook display (allocated as secondary display).

There is a color shift as I drag the document to the second display, but that corrects itself when I let go of the window, I'm not sure if this is related or not. At this point colors look normal.


My problem is that as I'm working, the color of the document on the Mac screen changes and goes desaturated, losing vibrancy of color, this seems to happen when I click away from Photoshop onto another application, but not always.

Once the color has shifted to be incorrect, I have to put the displays to sleep then wake them up to correct it. However it happens again shortly afterwards.


This ONLY HAPPENS IN PHOTOSHOP, the same file when viewed in Preview or Finder on the Mac screen looks correct, even when its displayed incorrectly in PS (but only on the second display window)


I thought it could be something to do with color profiles, and I've spent a lot of time changing them, but this happens no matter what the color setting. I thought it could be a cable issue, but then this is happening on the Mac's internal display, not the external connected display.

Is this something to do with the fact that the Mac is set to secondary display or is it driver/setting issues with either PS or Mac OSX?


This is a major problem for me, I've searched forums on Apple, Wacom and Adobe with no luck. I'm posting this to forums on all three sites, so hopefully someone out there can help me!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), Wacom Cintiq 27QHD 2nd display

Posted on Jul 7, 2015 3:11 AM

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Q: Photoshop color issues dual display setup

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  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT Jul 7, 2015 5:53 AM in response to adman2808
    Level 6 (8,075 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 7, 2015 5:53 AM in response to adman2808

    have you checked or reset your monitor profile?

    http://www.gballard.net/psd/colorlooksbad.html

     

    You never said what version of Photoshop you're running, there are 7 that will run in Yosemite. CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6, CC, CC2014, CC2015

     

    if your 2nd monitor is the Cintiq I would reach out to Wacom on Facebook (don't bother with web, phone or mail, they don't appear to use it any longer) if you have not done so already.

  • by adman2808,

    adman2808 adman2808 Jul 7, 2015 6:12 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 7, 2015 6:12 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    Sorry its PS CC2014. I've contacted Wacom support but I'm not sure if this is an issue with the Cintiq as the problem is appearing on the Macbook display.

    I have tried changing color profiles for the displays and within PS, but this happens regardless of the color profile settings as far as I can tell. I will try resetting monitor profiles...

  • by AaronLea,

    AaronLea AaronLea Sep 15, 2015 11:24 AM in response to adman2808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2015 11:24 AM in response to adman2808

    Any luck with this issue? I just got my 27QHD, and I'm running close to the same setup as you (Macbook Pro 15" Retina and Photoshop 2015) and noticed the same issue. The colors are definitely more saturated and it looks like the Magenta is slightly boosted.

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT Sep 15, 2015 11:34 AM in response to AaronLea
    Level 6 (8,075 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2015 11:34 AM in response to AaronLea

    calibrate the monitor

    >System Preferences...>Display

    switch to color

    click calibrate and proceed with expert options.

     

    Due to manufacturing limits not all monitors will match and colors on one calibrated monitor do not necessarily match those on another. In some cases even the identical brand and model monitor can have visible differences after calibration with a spectrometer (which allows greater precision)