Why does Etsy make my photos dull?

[Former_Member]

Hi awesome Etsians!

I've noticed that every time I load pictures up on Etsy (in the listings) they seem to change their colors. I edit all my photo with Photoshop and I always try to make them bright and vibrant. But, when I upload them, the color looks dull and the photo is darker than on my computer.

Does anyone else have a problem with this? If so, do you have any advice on how to make you're photos shine on Etsy?

Thanks for all your input in advance!

Hanna

[Former_Member]

I'm not sure if etsy makes my pictures dull, but I do know my pictures are different for different monitors.

[Former_Member]

@Katie Joy Yes, I've noticed that as well, but the problem can't be the monitor, since the difference is between what's in my folder and what's online. On the same monitor.

[Former_Member]

hmm, i am not real good at this kind of thing. what pictures are you referring to? this one looks great. you can see all the details.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/108949882/geometric-leather-earrings-red-triangle
are you just referring to the darkness?

[Former_Member]

Hanna,
your listings look great to me! I can really tell the difference in colors from one earrings set to the next. Not sure what the problem may be. That never happened to me. What I have seen is the difference between the camera view and the photo as it appears on the computer... but this does not sound liek an issue you have...

[MyDistinctDesigns]

I have had the same issue. When I am editing them they seem bright and when I download them onto etsy they are much darker. Haven't figured out how to correct it so I just brighten them more when I edit them.

[Former_Member]

@ Julia and Jenni: It's great to hear that the photos look ok to an outsider.
@Sherry Maybe that's the key, to just make them a little bit brighter than I would normally.

Thanks for your feedback!

[Former_Member]

Mine look weird to me too after they are uploaded :/

[Former_Member]

The same thing happens with mine. :/

[Former_Member]

Maybe it's because when they end up a smaller size they appear a little darker. Your pics are bright how they are.

[SamOsborneStore]

I'm not totally sure why it would be doing it but I do know that colour is a crazy thing and it can look totally different from one screen to another, one programme to another, one site to another and varies with paper type, ink type etc in the print world. Getting colour and tone to look consistant can be a real pain.

Also as Fayrouz Jewellery said that smaller size can also change the way they look! I quite often view mine in my editing programme small and change the settings at that size to ensure they look a bit brighter at smaller sizes.

As a graphic designer I'm always explaining to clients why their brand colours can't look consistant over everything they do, so much of it is out of your control.

I do know that when image are uploaded to Etsy they get a new name etc so I assume they are being processed in some way so it might be that?

I wouldn't worry about it too much - you'll drive yourself crazy trying to work out how and where it's happening and your pictures look lovely and bright!

A techy dude might be able to explain it all in detail though :)

[Former_Member]

I have the same issue & it's definitely the way etsy processes the files when it uploads them. I have the same issue on eBay too, which is why I always use photos I host on my own website over on that site. For Etsy, I just tweak everything before I upload to compensate.

[Former_Member]

That happens to me too! I edit my photos to make them extra bright before I load them. I just learned that so some of my photos are still darker than I would like. I think your shop looks great! I think we are all a little to hard on ourselves. :)

[LittleAppleNY]

I have the same problem. It was getting to the point where I had to overexpose my photos to the point of losing detail in order to get my photos to look bright on Etsy. I eventually did my photos over again so that buyers can better see what my jewelry looks like. They're more dull than I'd like, but my views are up.

[Former_Member]

Thanks for all the feedback! I understand the matter better now, and I'm reassured that my pictures are fine, which is the main thing in the end. I'll just try to keep in mind to make the pics just a tad brighter in the future.

[Former_Member]

You know I have no idea why it happens, but I used to have the same problem. It drove me nuts, and you can see some of my pictures in my shop are dull with a grey hue, and that is so not what they are really like. Maybe it depends on certain colors? It happened a lot with light pinks. Anyway, It seems not to be an issue so much for me anymore, not sure why though. Fingers crossed it doesn't come back. You are definitely not the one!

[ThePlaidPineconeCo]

Hanna: exact same thing happens to me. They end up a little more faded and blurrier when I upload them into Etsy. I try to combat this by editing them to be more brighter and clarified than is necessary, to compensate for what Etsy does to them.

[Former_Member]

In Photoshop, set your Color Profile to sRGB instead of RGB. (It's under the Edit menu, I think) Then edit as normal. That should clear up the problem.

[Former_Member]

Problems like this are usually a simple matter of using the correct 'color space' as many browsers will only recognize sRGB, and Etsy might even convert your colors to sRGB. That means while your aRGB photos look great in Photoshop, they look dull online.

Changing to sRGB fromt the start in Photoshop (or GIMP for that matter) lets you know exactly how an image will look anywhere online. And you can correct for some of the dullness while you're in PS (or GIMP) if you've already converted the photo.

Hope that helps!!

[HealthyMerchMocks]

Bro thanks. This is the only solution that has really been given that is affective and did the trick!

[Mollymoojewels]

Yep, I notice a big difference too. They look great in my folder but when I load onto Etsy my items aren't quite so vibrant, so I am forever going back and forth tweeking! Very strange...

[Former_Member]

Thanks Kat for the awesome advice! I'll try that first thing tomorrow.

[Former_Member]

You're welcome! I hope it works out for you :)

I'm working on making a little infographic that should make understanding 'color management' really easy for beginners. I'll let you know when it's up, it might help!

[LoveAccented]

I think it also may be that most photo editing programs use a grey background (around your photo).

I can't always tell how white I have made my background until I upload it to Etsy (which using a stark white background) and realize my photo is not as bright as I thought it was.

[ZehOriginalArt]

Kat, thanks for the information about sRGB. Should images be converted to sRGB for prints as well or just online images?