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Color Theme of Photoshop Work Area


Rich54

Guru
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In CS6 (and possibly newer versions), the default color theme for the workspace background is dark gray, whereas in CS5 the default theme is a much lighter gray. Which is better? Perception of color, brightness, saturation, etc. can be subconsciously influenced by the background color, so for making color-correction decisions in Photoshop it’s important to have the most neutral and bias-free background workspace possible.

Is anybody aware of any studies that say what the preferred background setting should be? Did Adobe change the default theme in CS6 merely for cosmetic marketing reasons, or have they concluded that the darker gray of CS6 is scientifically preferable?
 

IamSam

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Staff member
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I'm not aware of any studies, but I can definitely state that the darkness of the gray will influence the lightness or darkness of a perceived color. I would suggest a neutral gray (50% gray) for visually correcting colors.
 

Tom Mann

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FWIW, if I am not rushed, and the job is important (ie, not some little technique demo), I'll almost always look at my final result against white, black, and the usual dark gray backgrounds. I'll also try to walk away from the monitor for 5 minutes, come back and look at a collection of color reference images I keep, and then evaluate the image I'm working on one more time, but now, with "fresh eyes". Numerous times, this has saved me from embarrassing myself by sending out something prematurely.

T
 
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I agree with Sam and Tom:
The most important thing is to work on a neutral grey desktop or workspace.
 

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