Issue with copying images on a Mac

November 5, 2011 4:57 PM

Something's wrong with copy-pasting images on my Mac. When I'm editing pictures, I copy part of it, and when I paste it comes out lighter than before. Example here. The problem happens in Seashore and Paintbrush. Does anyone have any ideas what could be wrong? I don't even know how to google this problem.

Running Mac OS 10.6.8 on a Mac Mini.

posted by WhackyparseThis to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

Best answer: Apple changed the default gamma value from 1.8 to 2.2 in Snow Leopard. Maybe Seashore and Paintbrush still think that the default gamma is 1.8, and are trying to compensate when they don't need to?

You can try setting your monitor's gamma value back to 1.8 using the procedures in this document, and see if it makes the problem go away.

Of course, that would only mask the problem, not fix it. I would recommend using the default gamma 2.2, and seeing if there are newer versions of Seashore and Paintbrush that are Snow Leopard aware.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 5:27 PM on November 5, 2011

Not sure about Seashore or Paintbrush, but I know that you can get problems like that if you mess up the opacity of your selections in Photoshop- partial, 'onionskin' copying and the like. I'd check to make sure that your alpha channels are full FFF/000.
posted by fifthrider at 9:16 PM on November 6, 2011

Response by poster: Downloading a newer version of Seashore has fixed it. Thanks!
posted by WhackyparseThis at 2:00 AM on November 8, 2011