This is a question I had myself, even way before my photography years began. WHY does this happen? It can be extremely frustrating and even more confusing to some. I truly wish there was one good reason for this, but sadly there are many. For every step you take from viewing, downloading, transferring, uploading etc. the variations of your image can be drastic to the eye.
Not only can your simple settings, like brightness and contrast, greatly affect images, but there are also many larger issues at hand. I will attempt to explain just a few below in laymen's terms.
First of all, computers and phone devices all come with their own specific color space options. Color spaces are like a catalog of colors (like paint companies have their own paint colors, so do computers and other electronic devices). There is more than one color space in the world and they each hold different amounts of available colors. So, if your photographers’ devices are all set up to one color space and yours are set up to another, then your device selects the ‘closest’ color match to the original. It sounds scary, because it is. Many devices allow you to select your color space within your settings, but some do not, or others only have a couple of options that may or may not match the color space used by your photographer. Images can look perfectly fine on all of the photographers’ website, or inside your gallery on one device, but suddenly look too red, too blue, oversaturated, undersaturated and / or unappealing on another. They could also take on another effect and look washed out and over or under exposed depending on the device you’re on. This would be like a painter trying to use one brand of paint to match a different brand of paint. It will never be the same, and they will only ‘attempt' to get a close match. This is what various computers, phones and printers do…. they attempt to collect all of the data to somewhat ‘match’ the original. If you’ve ever shopped for a TV before you have seen the differences in colors and quality on all of the displayed tv’s within the showroom, side by side, which is a similar type of issue we have here.
Secondly, your resolution and aspect ratios are another big reason for color or quality variation visible online or in print. If, for example, a high-resolution image is posted on a social media site that requires a lower resolution image, you’re running the risk of that image being compressed (forcing all of the data into a smaller file) and looking dull, blurry and having varying colors. Similarly, if an image is cropped to a different aspect ratio by an outside vendor to fit an image into their print size (without getting the exact export size from the photographers’ computer), this can also highly affect the quality and colors found in your print as their crop could have been saved in the wrong resolution. Whatever your image requirements are for certain websites and apps, they are the only sizes you should be utilizing to be the happiest with your quality, however, keep in mind, this is one of many factors that could be causing your color or quality variance issue. In addition, if you have a very large print made (not through KDP) and did not acquire the adequate download size for it, the image quality will be subpar.
Thirdly, transferring files is a huge issue. Every time an image is downloaded, shared, transferred, emailed, saved (like into the cloud), uploaded to another site or device etc. it is most likely losing data as each place it’s traveling to tries to store all of the data into its own format. The images are most likely being compressed to fit the parameters of where they’ve landed. Don’t even get me started on screen shots! Those are the worst as you just butchered the image quality by screenshotting an image.
Fourth, some images may have been created and edited with 16 bit vs 8 bit formats. Having more data holds more detail and accuracy in colors, vs. the lower data images that won’t have as much range in their details and colors. Even though screens are shown in 8 bits, particular cameras and editing software allow professionals to shoot and edit in 16 bit adding more details and data into their images. There is speculation on this being a cause of variation, but it’s yet another compression of data and something to ponder.
Fifth, if your devices are not color calibrated, they may not show accurate colors. Even though your device may be set up to a particular color space, it doesn’t mean that your color space is actually running ‘accurately’ within your device. How crazy is that? Images could look different even months apart on the SAME device, as they lose their calibration and need to be re-calibrated. This is extremely frustrating, but something to consider. There are calibration tools to use on your computers to be sure they are accurate to the color space that you have chosen and make any adjustments as necessary.
Sixth, if you’re noticing differences in your prints vs your digital images and the above issues have been considered, take note that not all printing companies are created the same. There is a huge difference in professional printing companies vs. your neighborhood pharmacy or big box stores (who spits out prints for almost nothing after you’ve transferred images to their site, which we’ve already read above what can happen then). This is also one of the biggest reasons I suggest purchasing prints and products directly from KDP rather than outside sources, which have gone through an extra step of flowing through your computer or phone and then again to a questionable outside print company. To help eliminate that we can keep the flow though one system….. ours.
Although I’ve never been asked about this issue by a client, I have seen some botched social media posts that have been greatly compressed or compromised by secondary devices. In the event you’re ever questioning your image colors, feel free to ask for help or stop by the studio to look at the images on our calibrated computers.