Author Topic: Do you know a good image viewer with CMYK support ? (Read 51,779 times)

ak_ · « **on:** August 10, 2007, 04:56 PM »

I'm actually using XnView as an image viewer and it has every feature i want (even more). The only problem is that it doesn't support CMYK images (like every image viewer i tested so far). It's a shame because i work on CMYK images every day.

So my question is : do you know a good (freeware) image viewer which displays correctly CMYK images ?

Thanks

PhilB66 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 10, 2007, 06:34 PM »

Looks like Gimp supports CMYK format but there's also a plugin that does that. More at http://www.blackfiveservices.co.uk/separate.shtml

Also, Scribus and Image Analyzer might be a good option (TIFF reader plugin support CMYK color format).

Curt · « **Reply #2 on:** August 10, 2007, 10:12 PM »

Find some at http://pcwin.com/result/cmyk/index.htm

ak_ · « **Reply #3 on:** August 11, 2007, 05:40 PM »

Thanks guy. However it's not exactly what i want. I'm really looking for software like XnView, IrfanView, Acdsee who correctly displays CMYK colors. Not a image editing software like GIMP etc (i already have that).

Actually i think such software doesn't exist, it's a shame

tomos · « **Reply #4 on:** August 11, 2007, 06:11 PM »

no good news i'm afraid
-
i just converted a jpeg photo to CMYK in photoshop
& opened both in ExifPro - which isnt free but is only $20 or so

unfortunately the CMYK, well it looks crap - faces looking like serious wine drinkers on a session,
colours gaudy & oversaturated, ah well...

nudone · « **Reply #5 on:** August 11, 2007, 06:46 PM »

this is by no means a rigorous test but i've just checked a cmyk jpg with a few things on my system.

faststone maxview almost diplays it correctly - most of the colours look over saturated.

directory opus appears to display the image correctly.

adobe bridge does it correctly (no great surprise there).

probably not what you wanted to hear, ak_ but maybe maxview would be acceptable and if you use directory opus then you've got it already solved.

only tried this single image so maybe it was a fluke.

(if you upload an image that you are having problems with then we can try it for you.)

PhilB66 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 11, 2007, 07:13 PM »

LilyView

nudone · « **Reply #7 on:** August 11, 2007, 07:23 PM »

LilyView appears to have the same problem as MaxView - over saturated colours.

PhilB66 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 11, 2007, 07:27 PM »

@nudone

Care to post the image you were testing with?

ak_ · « **Reply #9 on:** August 11, 2007, 09:07 PM »

Thanks a lot for your answers. Howerver, still, nothing's working.

nudone> thanks for taking the time to do these tests. I tested Dopus and it didn't display the image correctly. I don't have Adobe Bridge so i can't test it.

philB66> nope, LilyView doesn't do the job either.

Here is an image that can be used to make some tests :
cmyk_test.jpg (93.7 KB)
(edit : i changed the post so now there's a direct link to the image)

And here's the difference between real colors and false ones :

Dirhael · « **Reply #10 on:** August 11, 2007, 10:57 PM »

Ok, so I installed and tested a whole bunch of viewers to see if I could get this working for you...but it would appear to be close to impossible. Here's the result so far (all programs are the latest builds available):

Thumbsplus 7 = No go.
Irfanview 4 = No go.
Wildbit Viewer 4 & 5 = No go.
Photo-lux 3.5 = No go.
Acdsee 9 = No go.
Faststone Image Viewer 3.3 = No go.
Windows Photo Gallery (Vista) = No go.

Grorgy · « **Reply #11 on:** August 11, 2007, 11:55 PM »

A Quote from the lilyview website, maybe its a photoshop feature?

Quote

Photoshop uses a own color management system and includes some additional tags to any written TIFF. These tags are private, registered to Adobe and not well documented. So any other application that tries to read those TIFF's has a problem in interpreting the colors correctly (or lets say in the same way Photoshop does).
But also Photoshop has a problem (and this is not only my private oppinion, for more information you may have a look at Google Groups Graphics because I think Photoshop does wheight the "green" to much and the "blue" to less.
Also some pictures from the "SGI Tiff Test Suite" and CMYK images created by other image processing applications do definitely look "wrong" when loaded into Photoshop.

nudone · « **Reply #12 on:** August 12, 2007, 07:52 AM »

it looks like there isn't going to be a free program that works.

here's my directory opus doing it correctly. i wonder why it works on my system? I've got version 8.

[attachimg=#]

Curt · « **Reply #13 on:** August 12, 2007, 08:56 AM »

This (too) is making me curious: How can I test a picture that Windows cannot find? If I click the test picture, it will disappear, only leaving a little red cross ("picture is missing"). If I right-click it > "Save as...", Windows will say it cannot find any file and Windows Help will ask where to find "C:\WINDOWS\System32\mshtml.hlp".

And just looking at the test picture, it has the same colours as the "crappy colors" picture!

This is all confusing to me!

nudone · « **Reply #14 on:** August 12, 2007, 09:14 AM »

oh dear, looks like a can of worms has been opened with this cmyk issue.

PhilB66 · « **Reply #15 on:** August 12, 2007, 11:43 AM »

IE7 save target as function saves it as cmyk_test.jpg while Opera saves it as .png. Opening the image with paint shows the correct colors.

Grorgy · « **Reply #16 on:** August 12, 2007, 12:12 PM »

now that interesting, i dowloaded it with ie7 as well and got the jpg instead of the png and the right colours show up in microsoft office picture manager and windows picture and fax viewer

tomos · « **Reply #17 on:** August 12, 2007, 12:25 PM »

Quote from: PhilB66 on August 12, 2007, 11:43 AM

IE7 save target as function saves it as cmyk_test.jpg while Opera saves it as .png

odd,
in FF I rightclicked to save image & got a png - but of course that was the thumb!
so
I clicked on thumb to enlarge & it simply dissapeared without even leaving the "little red cross" as in Curt's case...
the plot thickens ...

dopus viewer displays my own test CMYK (photo) jpeg perfectly
just tried a quick test with graphics (flat colours) in dopus, also no problem

gave in & opened IE - the test image looks fine in Dopus for me too...

Curt · « **Reply #18 on:** August 12, 2007, 12:58 PM »

Man, am I mystified!

Right-clicking the test picture and Saving Target As (JPG) it will display the thumb in Explorer with the "crabby colors", but opening it in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer will display the correct (I assume) colors!!:

I don't have any genuine CMYK images, so I don't know the answer to the original question, but it seems you should try Windows Picture and Fax Viewer"!

PhilB66 · « **Reply #19 on:** August 12, 2007, 01:27 PM »

ImageTool can view it correctly.

iphigenie · « **Reply #20 on:** August 12, 2007, 02:22 PM »

I don't think it is a cmyk issue, it is if the program can recognise and use the additional photoshop profiles. I think a lot of the software oriented at professional photographers (and they are not all expensive) should be able to handle this.

I suspect ACDsee should as well - under color management there is an option to "use color profiles when found embedded in a file" (not ticked by default)

iphigenie · « **Reply #21 on:** August 12, 2007, 02:26 PM »

strangely, zoner shows the right colors in browse/thumbnail mode, but then the wrong colours when you open the file, warning you that it has opened the cmyk image in rgb

ak_ · « **Reply #22 on:** August 12, 2007, 05:21 PM »

First of all, thanks a lot everybody for taking some time to solve this problem, i really appreciate.

Quote from: Grorgy on August 11, 2007, 11:55 PM

A Quote from the lilyview website, maybe its a photoshop feature?

Quote
Photoshop uses a own color management system and includes some additional tags to any written TIFF. These tags are private, registered to Adobe and not well documented. So any other application that tries to read those TIFF's has a problem in interpreting the colors correctly (or lets say in the same way Photoshop does).
But also Photoshop has a problem (and this is not only my private oppinion, for more information you may have a look at Google Groups Graphics because I think Photoshop does wheight the "green" to much and the "blue" to less.
Also some pictures from the "SGI Tiff Test Suite" and CMYK images created by other image processing applications do definitely look "wrong" when loaded into Photoshop.

Maybe this is an explanation. I've tried the applications listed here and i think i'll never see the end of this problem. Indeed, even if some applications displays cymk_test.jpg right, it fails displaying the orignal TIF or PSD files correctly (which is my main concern actually).

I guess Adobe is really messing with those files so the problem seems quite unsolvable.

tonsofpcs · « **Reply #23 on:** August 12, 2007, 11:33 PM »

I think it is a color management issue, as even ImageReady shows it as the "bad" colors. What app did you use to make this? If photoshop, try disabling color space management and see what happens.

Curt · « **Reply #24 on:** December 20, 2007, 03:07 PM »

Found this on ColourAtlas:

Quote

When to use the RGB atlas and when the CMYK atlas?

Due to the fourth colour the CMYK atlas offers many more nuances, but its application only makes sense if the software and hardware being used support the CMYK colour model.

'Software only capable of RGB' and 'Software capable of both RGB and CMYK'
(click thumb):

[attachthumb=#]

In general only software that is customarily used in the preprint stage is CMYK capable. An overwhelming majority of programs only support RGB colours.