2026 guide
Why did my PNG colors change or look different in another app?
Short answer: your PNG has no embedded color profile, and different apps now guess differently. Since Photoshop 2025's color-managed pipeline update, untagged PNGs get assigned different default profiles across apps — the same file looks dull in one viewer and neon in another. The fix: embed an sRGB profile when exporting.
What a color profile tag actually is
A PNG can carry an ICC profile (usually sRGB) that says "interpret these numbers as this color space". Untagged means the numbers arrive with no instructions. For two decades every app quietly assumed sRGB and everything matched. That assumption is now breaking.
What changed in 2025
Photoshop 2025 moved fully to a color-managed pipeline: untagged documents are no longer blindly treated as sRGB but assigned a working-space profile, which can shift contrast and saturation on display. Meanwhile browsers and modern viewers have gone the other way — strict sRGB assumptions. Same file, two interpretations, visible drift. None of this was a problem when everything agreed; the agreement ended.
How to fix it
- Re-export with the profile embedded (Export As → "Embed Color Profile")
- For screenshots/web assets, most modern tools output sRGB tagged by default — check your exporter
- If re-exporting isn't possible, open in a color-managed editor and assign sRGB explicitly
When it genuinely doesn't matter
Pixel art, 1-bit dithers, and UI icons in pure sRGB values are unaffected — there's no subtle gradation for the profile shift to bend. The drift bites on photos and smooth gradients.
FAQ
Is sRGB still the safe default in 2026?
Yes — sRGB remains the web's assumed space. The problem isn't the space, it's the missing tag: apps no longer agree on what an untagged file means.
Do browsers show PNG with profiles correctly?
Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge all honor embedded ICC profiles. Untagged files are treated as sRGB by all of them — the divergence is in desktop editors, not browsers.
Does this affect my transparent PNGs too?
The profile question is independent of transparency — a transparent PNG can be tagged or untagged. But CMYK-transparent files hit the export block first; fix mode, then tagging.
Last updated: · Launch guide: untagged profiles, 2025 Ps pipeline change · change history