Lightroom making JPEGs more vibrant

[Kayaker72]

Is anyone else having issues with Lightroom making colors in images more saturated/vibrant? Is there a way to fix this? I started noticing it a few months ago and I've been intentionally under saturating images in LR, but I'd like to get to the point where what I see on my screen in LR is what a JPEG will look like, which is how it used to be. Now...more vibrant/saturated.

For example a screen shot with LR on the left and the exported JPEG of that image on the right:

I probably adjusted something, but I am not sure what...
Thanks,
Brant

[DavidEccleston]

How are you viewing the jpeg? It could be the colors are correct, but the color profile embedded in the jpeg is ignored by your viewer.

A quick fix would be to tell Lightroom to export as sRGB.

[Kayaker72]

Thanks. I did test a couple of different viewers, mostly paint, Microsoft Photos just now but I have checked to see if it translates over to flickr and even this forum. I do see some variation, but generally they are punchier than LR.

Under export, sRGB has been selected, so I assume we are working in the same color space. I did try other color spaces (Adobe, etc) and it made a difference overall, I didn't see a difference in the trend that jpegs were more saturated.

[Kayaker72]

So, I think I have figured this out.

The quick answer: I recalibrated my monitor and things are very close again between what I see in Lightroom and what I see in the "Photos" app in Windows 10.

Long answer: After not drifting at all for 2 years, it looks like my monitor calibration started to drift sometime over the summer. I did the "classic" where when I first got my new monitor (Benq SW2700pt) and new calibration tools (X-rite Display Pro) I checked my monitor's calibration frequently for awhile. It never changed and as a result, I stopped checking it so often. My last calibration was April 2019 and it was again very similar what it had been when I bought it. Over the summer, I started noticing colors of the same photo from different applications (Photo vs Lightroom, etc) on the same monitor where different. I didn't think it could be monitor calibration as these were on the same monitor.

That may have been a bad assumption.

While I do not know this for a fact, I have seen references that many common photo viewing applications, such as Windows "Photos" app DO NOT reference your calibrated colors profile. Lightroom does. So, as my monitor drifted, the colors in Lightroom started being muted and somehow the colors in the un-calibrated Microsoft "Photos" app stayed closer to what I see on Flickr/iPhone/etc. This part still seems odd to me.

By drfiting, my deltaE (measurement of difference from observed vs intended color from monitor) increased, my monitor brightness had decreased and the "panel uniformity" is now also different. So, about 2.5 years into using this monitor, it has started to drift. I'll check its calibration more often and am now set up for monthly reminders.

[Kayaker72]

I’m also interested in this. I would like to start my blog about a photo, what can you advise?

Thread? To start a thread, go to the forum's page where you see all the different categories. For example, this thread is under "Photo Tips and Techniques" and then "Post Processing". Under "Post Processing", if you are logged in, you should see an icon near the top left corner that says "+Post a New Thread". Click on that and you are off starting a new thread.