RGB images in Photoshop blacked out on iMac running Ventura

I can open a cmyk image in Photoshop fine, but rgb images come out completely black. If I take a cmyk image and convert it to rgb, it turns solid black. Anyone have any idea what's going on, and how I can fix it?




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iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 13.7

Posted on Apr 28, 2025 9:18 AM

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May 1, 2025 8:22 AM in response to robgo22

Excellent. Easy fixes are always good. 🙂


I opened my PS prefs folder and there were 77 items in it. Most with really old dates as I've brought it forward who knows how many times.


As a cleanup, I moved the prefs folder to the desktop, then launched PS. The new prefs folder only had 28 items. I then replaced the new items within the folder with the same named items from the desktop backup. That allowed PS to start up with all of my prefs the way I had them, and I could then dump the rest of the old stuff.


The point here is it whittles down what could be removed from the prefs folder to fix the issue. And those would likely be:


Adobe Photoshop 2025 Prefs.psp

MachinePrefs.psp


Just deleting those two and restarting PS would likely solve the issue. Maybe even just MachinePrefs.psp.

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Apr 28, 2025 4:19 PM in response to memecrafter2

Alright, thanks for the info.


That's the latest Photoshop CC version, which is compatible with macOS 12.x and later. Your settings in PS are pretty standard, so I don't see an issue there.


Couple of things to try. Close PS and then open the Preferences folder in your user account. Move the Photoshop prefs folder to the desktop. Launch PS (it will come up with all of the default settings). Try an RGB image.


If RGB images now display as expected, then something in the settings folder/files you moved to the desktop is corrupt. From there, put all of your preferences back the way you prefer and you should be okay.


If it still displays as black even with all default settings, then PS itself may be damaged. Close PS and put your preferences folder on the desktop back into your user account Preferences folder, replacing the default set it just made.


Then, you can either open the PS folder within Applications, or the Adobe folder in Applications/Utilities. Either will have a script to uninstall PS. Tell it to remove PS, but save your prefs. Once the uninstall is complete, open the Creative Cloud app and reinstall PS.

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Apr 30, 2025 8:47 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Kurt, I am having the same problem, having updated to Photoshop CC 26.6.0 just yesterday.


I do not understand your instructions about opening the Preferences folder in my user account. Where is that account? I have signed into my PS account on the web and cannot find a Preferences folder. Please clarity this for me.


Thanks,

Rob

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Apr 30, 2025 9:16 AM in response to robgo22

Some major versions of macOS ago, Apple decided to hide the user account Library folder. No reason given by Apple, but my guess would be to cut down on support calls from users who trashed items without knowing what they were for.


You can get there a couple of ways. I prefer making it visible all the time. Do that by clicking anywhere on the desktop so Finder is shown as the foreground app at the top left of the screen next to the Apple logo.


Press, Command+Shift+H


This will open your user account home folder. With that folder still active (foreground item), press Command+J (Show View Options). Turn on the check box for Show Library Folder. Close the Options palette.


The Library folder will now be visible in your user account home folder. Bonus: you can also now get to that Library folder at any time from the Finder by pressing Command+Shift+L .


With the Library folder of your user account open, open the Preferences folder. Within that, move the folder Adobe Photoshop 2025 Settings to the desktop.


Now when you launch Photoshop, it will open with all of the default settings (and create a new Adobe Photoshop 2025 Settings folder in the Preferences folder).


The purpose for moving the original prefs folder out is so now, if it fixes the issue, something in the preferences you were using was the problem, and you may as well simply delete the prefs folder you moved to the desktop.


If nothing changes, you can close PS and move your prefs folder from the desktop back into the Library folder and replace the fresh one PS just made. Then you don't have to reset everything back to the way you like it. Still doesn't solve the issue, but proves something in your settings is not causing the problem.

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Apr 30, 2025 9:38 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Oh, also same OS; 15.4.1.


If neither of the options work, then I can only guess there's a bad profile somewhere on the drive. In memecrafter2's case, since Adobe RGB is unlikely to be the problem, then it would have to be the monitor profile in use that PS doesn't like, for who knows what reason.


Just to note, that's how PS works. You are always viewing color in Photoshop based on your monitor profile's color gamut and range. It's the device you're looking at to evaluate color, so it only makes sense for it to work that way.


Train of conversion (using Adobe RGB as an example): Source file's color is converted to Adobe RGB, if that isn't what it already is. Adobe RGB is converted, for display purposes only, to your monitor's profile space. That's the color you're viewing.

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RGB images in Photoshop blacked out on iMac running Ventura

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