Curious about something. Here you can see an image in Krita, and below it, the same image but after exporting to Windows as a JPG file. The Windows JPG is noticeably darker. If I import that image back into Krita as a reference image it looks normal. Something odd happening in Windows. I haven’t noticed this before. Could be something related to an update. Any ideas?
ps: I opened the image in GIMP and it matches the Krita project image. You can see the problem in Windows Explorer and in Windows Paint, Windows Photos, etc so it’s really a Windows problem I guess. I also uploaded the file to Facebook and it looks normal in Facebook (Chrome browser).
Every platform and every image viewer will process the image in unstated ways. It’s the bane of digital artists.
If you use the search bar at the top of the screen, you find many dozens of threads discussing this.
You can avoid some of this by working in the default sRGB color profile.
I’m going to edit your title slightly as “krita export and Windows 11” doesn’t tell members that you’re looking for color management advice. This change may attract more answers or tips for you (though I do suggest using the search function - there is so much already available)..
Nothing unusual is happening here, including the fact that you did not successful consult the forum search or manual before asking your question.
Krita is a program that uses color management from start to finish and uses (standardized) color profiles that can even be stored in some file types, so that reasonable programs that also use color management can display the images in the same way as Krita, and then no color differences would be visible when using different programs (with color management) on the same monitor. This even works on Windows 11.
You probably won’t be using a color-calibrated system, which could make the differences you perceive even greater.
Actually I did try the search option. I’m not an idiot. My search criteria didn’t provide meaningful responses. Ironically, a simple Google search provided more meaningful feedback, but even that was confusing to me.
Just as a comparison, this is a project from 3 years ago. I opened it and did an export/comparison test and magically, it looks 100% correct (well… close enough for my purposes). So why is this older project OK but my newer one isn’t? I haven’t changed anything in Krita that I know of (other than periodic updates). I never play around with those profile settings. Why should I when the one I’ve been using seems to be working just fine?
this is the profile I’ve been using for like… ever
I considered that maybe a recent Windows update changed something but that still doesn’t explain why the exported JPG images looks fine from an older project and not with this newer one.
Most Windows Apps are not color managed. Krita and GIMP are. And simple settings like Windows’ night mode that changes color temperature depending on your ambient light, can already make images look inconsistent (some monitors also have that). When you export an image (depending on the file format) you can also choose to embed color profiles but unfortunately many applications simply ignore this (best case) or interpret it wrong and make it even worse.
update: created a brand new Krita project. Set it up with the exact same pixel sizes, color management settings. No problem with the new project. Colors export as expected. The old one, the one I used to create the images at the top of this thread, still exports incorrectly. As far as I can tell there’s no difference between the two. There might be something under the hood to explain it. I’m sure the old project was a different earlier version. Other than that I don’t know. The fix would be to recreate this new project using a brand new project canvas. Thoughts?
update 2: I think I just found the problem. This is a screen shot of the problem project Color Space window. Notice the bit depth setting (16 bits). The new project has a bit depth of 8 bits. could this explain the problem?
update 3: yep that was the problem. Changed the bit depth to 8 and now the images export correctly. Which leads me to another question: What should I be using as a standard? 8 or 16 bit depth. Is 16 not better than 8? I assumed it was. If anything, this shines light on a subject I know very little about. It never seemed like a problem before. I never had this issue up until right now. I don’t know what changed to make it a problem. I seem to remember selecting 16 bit a long time ago. I don’t understand why now it’s a problem. In any event, any study related to this will just make me smarter than the average bear.
update 4: sorry last one. I noticed that choosing 16 bit float also solved the problem. I assume that gives me a higher quality image than 8 bit - while allowing flexibility while dithering downward (that’s true in audio anyway). I now see many other posts about color management and links to 3rd party resources. I’ll study these but I find the conversations odd and confusing. If this is a “bane of existence” for people more knowledgeable than me then the best I’ll hope for is this one thing solves my problems for the foreseeable future.
Higher bit depth (like 16 or 32 per channel) means more inbetween colors, float allows for more precision. This means you can get rid of some issues like color banding. But it also means images are up to 4 times larger and more in file size. There are a lot of applications that don’t support high bit depths for one reason or another, even when color profiles are embedded. Why they don’t do it, only the other developers know. Perhaps they didn’t think it’s worth it or most consumers don’t care, I can only assume.
Well, the actual problem is rather that the old file uses a linear profile (because that’s the default for 16bit). If you convert to 8bit first, Krita will also offer you by default a non-linear profile.
I am somewhat uncomfortable that someone is getting admonished for not knowing that Krita is a color managed application. While it is Krita’s unique feature (for a drawing program, at the least), it is very understandable that most people just see ‘free drawing program’, and the color management is seen as annoying. This is also because there’s very little info about color management for artists out there. Next time, please just link the “saving for web” page.
Ha! “free” is what drew me to Krita, but that wasn’t what kept me here for the past 4 years. I chose the free route initially because I was just starting out. I figured I would likely outgrow it at some point. But that turned out not to be the case. I stuck with Krita because it turned out to be pretty amazing. It was perfect for my needs. I have a paid subscription to Clip Studio. I still prefer Krita. To that end I have been donating money every month to Krita for the last 2-3 years. Maybe it’s time to throw money in a different direction. Cheerios!
Regardless, nothing here indicates you would need to be admonished for not knowing some of it’s core features. In either case, thanks for your support in the past few years.
