Quick Tip: Native OpenColorIO in Photoshop (Patreon)

Photoshop recently added native OpenColorIO (OCIO) support! Here's how to set it up for working with CG renders.

(Note that I'm using the Exr-IO plugin for full access to all EXR image format features. Download it for free here: https://www.exr-io.com)

The first thing we notice in the Photoshop UI is there are two new entries in the File menu: New OpenColorIO and Open as OpenColorIO.

We can also convert an existing document to OCIO using Edit > Convert to OpenColorIO. For now, let's create a new document based on an existing image. Select File > Open as OpenColorIO and load an ACES-encoded render. A window will pop up with a number of options.

The Configuration setting points to the OCIO config you'd like to use. Photoshop reads your $OCIO system environment variable, or you can choose a config manually.

We often use ACEScg as the Working Space in computers graphics. However, in this case we'll use ACEScct. The reason is that we'll also be switching from our render's native 32-bit to 16-bit. Not all of Photoshop's tools support 32-bit color, so by changing to 16-bit we'll have access to the full toolset. If we leave the Working Space as ACEScg, a linear color space, we'll lose some dynamic range in 16-bit. ACEScct is logarithmic and as such it will adapt the 32-bit high dynamic range image to a perceptual match in 16-bit.

Once we have the image loaded we can access our OCIO settings in the new OpenColorIO window. If you don't see it, go to the Window menu and check OpenColorIO.

Here we can change the OCIO View to match our display device. In this case I'm using a standard sRGB monitor.

We'll often want to export our renders as 8-bit JPG or PNG for use on the web. If we go ahead and try that with the OCIO settings we've got so far, the colors will be all wrong.

What we need to do is "bake" the OCIO display transform into our final image. This can be accomplished a number of ways, but here's the method I prefer.

First, add an OpenColorIO Transform layer.

In the Properties window, set the Transform Type to OpenColorIO Display Transform. Set the Working Space and Display as before, then set the View to match your display device. Finally, change the View Settings View from sRGB to Raw. This means we'll just pass through the color transforms from the new OpenColorIO layer.

Now, try exporting as JPG once again. A perfect match!

That's all there is to it! You can use all your standard Photoshop workflows to modify your OCIO image, such as taking advantage of the Spot Healing Brush or adding color correction layers like Exposure, Levels or Vibrance.