CMYK jpegs display with wrong colours

[Robolovsky]

Thanks Simone but all the Jasc versions of PSP were able to open CMYK JPEGs (such as my sample image) just fine, with the colours displaying correctly. It is only from the first Corel version until now that the problem has been there.

[Simone Corel UK]

I haven't read the entire topic, only the beginning and I gave a general statement at the end. We had from time to time calls by customers in the past who asked us why their colours look so strange.
There has been some confusion about this question, especially when journalists wrote, PSP would be able to replace Photoshop. This is of course not the case if you need to work with CMYK. If somebody needs CMYK for professional reason, use professional programs like Draw or Adobe's equivalent.

This is what happened in all previous versions of PSP

CMYK in PSP

Some customers tried to implement a CMYK color profile into PSP and of course, PSP went mad.

PSPX2 shows the right color profile, which was indeed used in Phtotoshop. In X4, we use now a different colour profile to open CMYK more correctly

Color profiles for CMYK in PSP

..., but it's still not usable for professional work with CMYK.

PSPX4 and PS CS5

CMYK is a very complicate topic. Especially, no-one should try to change a CMYK picture into a RGB if you need the result for professional reason. Both color profiles are completely different and even Photoshop doesn't convert it 1:1, because it's impossible.

[Robolovsky]

Thanks again Simone. You are quite right about the complexities of CMYK images. However as a web designer myself I only require images to look similar to their original colours and not to match up exactly. The problem with all the Corel versions of PSP has been that CMYK JPEGs display incorrectly on screen and the difference is unacceptable even for web use. I still have an old copy of PSP 8 (Jasc) and it is able to open my sample image without issue, the colour remaining bright yellow as opposed to the muddy brown colour displayed in all Corel versions up until now.

I frequently receive CMYK JPEGs from clients which have been processed in Photoshop and to get these to display correctly in PSP I have had to open them in Photoshop or virtually any other graphics program and then copy and paste into PSP. Even Windows Paint will open them with the colours appearing perfectly acceptably.

I think what we are all wondering as users, is just why it has taken until now for this functionality to be corrected in the Corel PSP. For my part I purchased X3 earlier this year and now find that I have to upgrade to X4 at more expense just to get functionality which should have always been there. Indeed it was only after my own presentation of this problem to one of your Corel support team (Nelson) that this issue has finally been addressed. I have suggested that it would seem appropriate for me to receive a copy of the new version as a gesture of goodwill. So far I have not received a response to that proposal

[GearWorld]

Hi,

I don't know if it's related but I have a problem with RGB not being right as if I'm using Microsoft Expression Design, the RGB result is all right in SAP ERP software however
the same image with RGB 192, 220, 192 saved with PainShop Pro X4 isn't right in SAP ERP software.

I don't know if there's something I can set in the software or it's just that PSPX4 doesn't save the RGB as other paint software ?

[Simone Corel UK]

I still have an old copy of PSP 8 (Jasc) and it is able to open my sample image without issue,

When Corel took over Jasc PSP, Adobe for example took over the free Rawshooter program and sales it now as Lightroom for £200. This leads to the next sentence from you:

I think what we are all wondering as users, is just why it has taken until now for this functionality to be corrected in the Corel PSP. For my part I purchased X3 earlier this year and now find that I have to upgrade to X4 at more expense just to get functionality which should have always been there.

Color profiles have to be paid. The U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2 is a print profile and owned by Adobe. Because CMYK is only used by professionals and PSP has never been a software for print questions, they obviously didn't want to pay for a color profile which you can only be used to open images. I'm no color management expert, and I can only assume !

I don't know if it's related but I have a problem with RGB not being right as if I'm using Microsoft Expression Design, the RGB result is all right in SAP ERP software however the same image with RGB 192, 220, 192 saved with PainShop Pro X4 isn't right in SAP ERP software

Microsoft Expression Design is for web design as I understand it's website. What profile does it use to save RGB jpgs? When you save in PSPX4 images under Save as, then click on "Options" and disable "embedded ICC profile". The image gets now a profile assigned by the next software respectively monitor.

[Robolovsky]

Color profiles have to be paid. The U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2 is a print profile and owned by Adobe. Because CMYK is only used by professionals and PSP has never been a software for print questions, they obviously didn't want to pay for a color profile which you can only be used to open images. I'm no color management expert, and I can only assume !

Seems odd though that even the most humble, and in some cases free, image viewers and editing programs display these images correctly on screen and when Corel took over PSP from Jasc they had a programme that already displayed them correctly. Only after Corel modified the program did the problem arise.