Hi there,

I've been using Inkscape for a few months now and really loving it. However, there's one issue that I came across recently that's bugging me, and I haven't found a solution anywhere. I'm using Inkscape on my Mac running Mountain Lion, and colors that display properly in Inkscape become duller when removed from Inkscape in any way. It's bizarre – whether I use Export Bitmap, save in any format, or even take a screenshot, the color shown in Inkscape differs from the color in Finder. It's particularly noticeable with vivid yellows and greens. I used the reliable Frank DeLoupe color picker to see what was changing, and got this:
Red: FF0000 > FF0017
Green: 00FF00 > 00FE52
Blue: 0000FF > 0620F4
Cyan: 00FFFF > 00FFFE
Magenta: FF00FF > FF175F
Yellow: FFFF00 > FFFD56
Grey: 7F7F7F stays the same

Another user reported a similar issue http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11787&p=43454&hilit=rgb+export+mac#p43454, but he believed his issue was related to calibrating his second monitor. I use the built-in monitor on my MacBook Pro and haven't calibrated it, so I can't figure out what's wrong. I suspect it's a Mac problem rather than an Inkscape problem (I'm baffled by why the color in a screenshot would differ from the color on the screen) but I thought I'd see if anyone else was having a similar issue and, if so, how they solved it.

Thanks so much!

- Paul

P.S.: I'm not sure if this was happening before I upgraded to Mountain Lion. I only noticed it after, but I've only been using Inkscape for three months and might not have made anything with a vivid enough yellow or green to notice this issue.

Hmm indeed, if the color in the screenshot differs from the color on your screen, I'd say that it is Mac related, not Inkscape.

I don't know much about Macs, but it seems that certain screenshot apps (e.g. LitteSnapper) had some problems with color conversion, or that it could be related to the color profile of your system? This topic at StackExchange might be helpful.

I'm not sure it's a Mac issue actually. I've noticed that when I print my object/file, that it's almost always a different shade than what I see on the screen, I don't know what to do to make it right, and I'm a windows user. Noticed it on my current Win 7 op sys, and on prev. Win op systems....

Hi Dee, I think you have to somehow calibrate either your screen or the printer (or maybe both, I'm not sure). I've noticed my printer also prints a different color than what I see on the screen. But I don't print much with Inkscape.

Paul and Ailurus, from what I understand image viewers in general, seem to use all kinds of color models. Here's a discussion of an issue I had that may be similar: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11835 It seems the Windows Photo Viewer display colors differently than Inkscape.

I am having this same problem. It seems to be an Inkscape issue on Mac. I have some files that our graphic designer designed in AI and then emailed to me. When I open them in Inkscape they are correct, but when I make modifications and save as PDF they are washed out and incorrect. Anyone know of a fix for this yet?