How to Fix JPEG colour change on export in Photoshop CC

‘My new Photoshop CC is giving me trouble when I export JPEG photos. The colour of the JPEG just doesn’t come out right. The JPEG colour change in Windows Photo Viewer when put in full screen, but when seen on web or printed, it looks as if  it’s missing the ‘Reds’ section of the colors.’

Photoshop CC exporting JPEG color change problem is a common complaint by Photoshop users. There may be missing red, blue or green in the pictures on export. For impactful JPEG photos with perfect color gradient to view on any medium, it is essential to use the right color space.

Why your JPEGs not showing proper colors after export?

There are three color spaces (also called color profiles) – sRGB, Adobe RGB 98, and ProPhoto. JPEG pictures display best colors in sRGB color space.

If you have not exported JPEGs in the sRGB color space, they will appear washed out or distorted on most of the computer programs, websites, and mobile phones. On non-color managed programs like XnView, and Acdsee 10 too, the image will appear dark or will have distorted color saturation. Thus, ensure the exported JPEGs have sRGB profile.

What you can do?

You have three options to get JPEGs in sRGB –

• Before shooting in JPEG, set camera menu to sRGB color profile (refer your camera manual to set color profile)
• Before editing, set the JPEG color profile to sRGB within your editing software
• Export JPEG in sRGB color profile

How to fix JPEG colour change issue on export

Ensure ‘Save As’ with ‘Embed Color Profile’ box is checked in

When you save the JPEG, make sure the ‘Embed Color Profile’ is checked in the Save As dialog box. On embedding a color profile while saving you are including that color profile in the JPEG image. This is applicable if your JPEG pictures already have sRGB color profile.

Export JPEG via Save for Web command

Save your JPEG pictures in Photoshop using command ‘Save For Web.’ Follow File>Export>Save for Web.

This automatically converts the non-sRGB photos into sRGB JPEG without changing any information of the image.

Note: This does not save the EXIF information of your JPEG picture. The EXIF data of a JPEG photo contains information about date, time, and camera settings at the time the JPEG image was shot.

Convert to sRGB via Edit command

You can convert to sRGB profile via Edit>Convert to Profile>sRGB.  Then save the photo as JPEG using File>Save As>JPEG command. This method also saves the EXIF data of the JPEG photos.

Tip: If the JPEG does not print well after export, you can print the image directly from the PSD file you worked upon and use the settings to get the desired quality level.

Open JPEG file in MS Paint

You can change your JPEG photos color profile to RGB mode by simply opening it in Microsoft Paint.

Open the photo in Paint and save it without making any changes. It will convert to RGB mode. The JPEG colour change problem on export from Photoshop should now be fixed.

Synchronize color settings across Adobe applications

Synchronization makes Photoshop not change colors on export and look the same on all Adobe applications. Adobe Creative Suite users can use Adobe Bridge to synchronize color settings across various programs.

Open Adobe Bridge in Photoshop CC. Choose Edit > Creative SuiteColor Settings. Select a color setting from the list, and click Apply.

As per Adobe, always synchronize color settings before you begin to work on an image to avoid Photoshop CC JPEG color issues on export.

Wrapping Up

Jpeg colour change on exporting JPEG pictures from Photoshop CC can be handled by several methods as shared above. You can begin with the simpler fixes like opening the image file in Paint or saving JPEG using ‘Save as’ command in Photoshop CC.

However, to avoid the issue, remember to shoot JPEG pictures in the sRGB color space. You can also fix color saturation issues using JPEG Repair Software, an application that removes all kinds of corruptions in JPEG/JPG images in an easy and efficient manner.

Practical experience is valuable in photo editing. If you have any other solution to JPEG export problem in Photoshop, do share with our readers in the comment box below.

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About The Author

Prachi Sahu

is a Writer who likes to blog about technology. She has a keen interest in Data Recovery, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. An avid reader, she has also contributed to some leading newspapers and dreams to own a library some day.