Expert: Scott Valentine - 12/7/2007

Question
Hi Scott,

Thanks for your quick response. Here are the answers to your Questions; I use PhotoShop 7, and PhotoDeluxe. I have a 3 year old Dell 8300 with XP Professional. I have more than 7 active cameras, all different representing almost every known brand, the problem occurs equally with all of my cameras, although it only happens about 5% to 10% of the time. Most of my photos are in Jpeg format, and there are no pre-sets on my programs. When I want to change to the Jpeg format, I usually do export to be able to compress the photos that I want to send, but since the problem is not consistent, it must be related to the ppi, cropping, or the enhancements used.

Thanks for your interest, I hope to hear from you soon, Regards, Ken.

Answer
Hi Ken - I believe your original question had to do with a strong blue color cast in your exported JPG images.

I have not been able to find any references on this exact problem given the scope of cameras. It certainly sounds like a software issue, though I'm confused as to why it would happen in both Photoshop (PS) and PhotoDeluxe (PD). The only ideas I can offer are troubleshooting, so let's start there.

First, make sure any preference files you have for PS or PD are deleted or reset. For PS, hold down SHIFT when the program begins to launch and you'll get an option to delete the prefs file. I do not know if anything can be done in PD.

Next, check your Export settings and see if there's anything that might mention color space, print profiles, or the like. If there is, toggle the selection to see if the same problem happens again.

If these two approaches don't work, it's time for some sleuthing. On images that exhibit this problem, see if you can find a common denominator: do you recall the original versus cropped size; did you change color spaces while editing; if you re-export the image, can you repeat the problem; if you can, what settings are you using and does it persist if you export again with slightly different settings.

Failing this, how are you opening the images, and when exactly do you see the color change? What application are you using to view the images? Picasa and a few other organizer applications may have trouble with some file types, or may apply some incorrect edits to your images - check for preferences that can be reset in these applications, too.

Finally, if all else fails, try a web forum where you can post a few examples and more details. I help run this one:

http://photoshoptechniques.com/forum

The folks there have some amazing breadth of knowledge, and would look at this as a challenge. Hit the general forum, supply your information and a sample or two, and see what develops (pardon the pun).

Best of luck, and if you do find the solution, please consider posting it here for others' benefit. I hope this helps!

-Scott