Why do Placed Photos Turn Brown or "Burned" Looking?

[vanderven1]

For sometime when I used the drop shadow or feathering features, it turned my photos a patchy brown or burned-looking color. Now, it even turns every placed photo that way as well, so I can't even really use InDesign. This is true on my Mac OSX PowerBook and my Toshiba w/Vista, both of which use totally different versions of InDesign CS2. Could it be the way I'm saving photos in PhotoShop CS2? I'm simply saving them as JPEGs. The photos also print this way.

 

[apepp]

...does the same happen when you print from an application that isn't adobe, like word or preview on mac os x? Try using an image you have tried in indesign, also try printing straight from photoshop...

...if not then it is likely the color management settings in both the printer driver and also the adobe apps print setup color handling...

...if prints from say a web page, preview or word look patchy burnt brown too, then it might well be the printer you are printing to is faulty...

...are you performing any color conversions in photoshop before saving to jpeg, from say RGB to CMYK?

...how does a solid color (cyan, magenta, yellow) look when printed (native color made in indesign)?

...if they look OK without any noticeable dullness, then I would look into the color management settings upon print setup and also in the printer driver, as a double conversion can result in bad prints...

...all of this is very much a process of elimination, to seek out a possible cause...

Andrew

 

[jmgalvin]

Here' a simple test. Copy an image from the web - the tectips logo at the top of this page will do. DPI is irrelavant for this test.

Start a new photoshop doc and paste the copied image in. Don't use any color management and simply save. The default format should show as photoshop. Leave that.

Start a new ID doc - with no color management. Make sure that "display performance" on the view menu is set to high. Place the saved saved pic and see how it looks. If it looks ok, there's something wrong with how you saved, or color settings, in photoshop.

If the placed psd looks brown, there's something wrong with ID. Since you have this on 2 vrsions on different platforms, it's likely a problem with your photoshop work.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4