JPEG Optimizer Removes Embedded sRGB Color Profile

[John-S]

If I save a file which has an embedded sRGB Color Profile using the JPEG Optimizer, the embedded Color Profile is removed from the resulting JPEG and the colors in the image are therefore changed significantly.

I need to use the Optimizer as it shows the resulting file size with different levels of JPEG compression. The standard saving method doesn’t give this information.

The file I open in PaintShop Pro X7 is a 16-bit TIFF with an embedded sRGB Color Profile which has been exported from Adobe Lightroom.

Having edited that file in PSP, I select File -> Save As… -> Save as type: (JPG JPEG (*.jpg, *.jif, *.jpe, *.jpeg)) -> Options… -> Run Optimizer... The dialog box that this sequence brings up is shown below. After setting the compression factor, clicking OK and Save, the JPEG file is created, but without the embedded sRGB profile.

I’ve also included two small images, one without the embedded profile and the other with. I’m not sure whether others will see the differences I see, which probably depend on the hardware and software they are using.

So my question is, am I missing a setting somewhere that will allow the JPEG to retain the color profile, or is there a reasonably straightforward workaround for the problem?

Optimized

Not Optimized

[LeviFiction]

This is just a guess, but if you're optimizing for size and speed technically the profile would be taking up space.

The only work around is to use the general JPEG options. It includes most of the exact same stuff that's in the Optimizer (minus the projected sizes and progressive vs standard JPEG delivery).

Open up "Save as" select "JPG" from the list, and click on the "Options" button in the bottom right corner of the dialog. It'll pop open the various options, compression size, chorma sub-sampling, saving EXIF, and saving the profile along with the profile it'll be saving.

[John-S]

I realise the general JPEG Options dialog does enable one to “put back” the color profile, as I have to pass through that dialog to get to the JPEG Optimizer. However, there doesn’t seem any point in gaining the small amount of space required for the color profile (< 15 kB) when the result is unusable due to the color changes. Much time and effort is spent in PSP getting those colors correct in the first place.

Given that PSP is not just neglecting to add the color profile, but actively removing it, there should at least be a warning. And the default should be to leave it untouched. I find it difficult to believe that the image is “optimized” when it becomes unusable! I might also point out that in the Before and After previews in JPEG Optimizer, there is no color difference indicating that the color profile will remain intact. PSP is using that embedded profile all through the editing process and just throws it away when you actually want to save your work.

It appears that my only option, apart from changing to Photoshop Elements, is to determine my compression factor in the JPEG Optimizer and then Cancel out of it, begin again, and use that compression factor in JPEG Options.
 

[LeviFiction]

I would be very curious to see how big of a change the colors are for you. I do see some differences but for the most part the images are almost identical. So when you say "unusable" I almost think you're being a bit overdramatic. I don't actually think that but based on what I see it's not bad at all.

But I think the optimizer was originally made back for dial-up connections where the size was one of the most important parts. So a 15kb difference would have been significant enough for some people back then. Also if you were a "pro" photographer who spent large amounts of time calibrating your monitors and creating your own color profiles that profile could actually end up between 15kb and 100kb.

It's also important to note that a lot of browsers used to ignore ICC profiles. For example Firefox didn't start respecting them until version 3. At one point Safari was the only one that really did. So if you optimize the JPEG for the web, which again I think is the point of the optimizer, both to save that little bit of space and because most browsers didn't care, ICC profiles weren't saved.

Who knows maybe they'll fix this. Not that I'm saying "stay on a maybe" Just wishful thinking.

[John-S]

My monitor, which is relatively new, is a wide gamut display which is able to display all of the Adobe RGB color space, so the color differences are possibly more pronounced on my monitor than on a “standard” monitor. Also, my main photographic subject, despite the reptile images, is birds, and bird colors vary little for each species. People know if a bird’s color is wrong, just as we would know that the color of a blue sky was not right if it had a magenta cast to it. I have had numerous comments from a bird photography website that my colors aren’t correct – they were when edited in PSP but weren’t when exported to a JPEG.

On my monitor, the reds in the dragon image are much more saturated, the greens a little more.

I would think that the “pro” photographer that spent large amounts of time calibrating his monitor would want his final image to look right whatever the overheads. Otherwise what would be the point?

You say that Firefox didn’t respect ICC profiles until version 3; Firefox is now up to version 40, and the number of people still using dial-up internet connections would be minuscule. I think Corel would do well to ensure that the core of PSP was up-to-date before releasing each new version with just the addition of a new set of gimmicks.

However, thank you LeviFiction for your comments. You have helped me to determine that my best course of action is to go to Optimizer, find the appropriate compression factor, Cancel out and then go to Options to use that compression factor and then save with an embedded color profile.