GIMP Version: 2.8.14
Operating System: Windows
GIMP Experience: New User

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I learned about GIMP from one of the IT-members of my work. I think it is indeed a fine piece of freeware for me to view all kinds of images formats at work. But, I noticed that it doesn't always show the correct "color palette". When I go to Image -> Mode I get different modes than when I do the same with Adobe Acrobat. With this post I have attached a simple view of the differences I see between these programs.
Could somebody explain why this is happening?
If you want to see or test the images themselves, I have them on my google drive but since I am a new user here I can't post the link.

Because in Gimp, grayscale has a very specific meaning: there is only on value channel, and not three RGB channels that happen to have the same values.

Also, you are comparing apples and oranges. Gimp is an editor, the "mode" is whatever is mundane to its operation.

And see Edit>Preferences>Color management

This is over simplified, and from a technical point of view, just plain wrong. But it explains the concept.

RGB, Greyscale, and Indexed essentially refer to how an image stores the color information for a pixel. In a greyscale image (not the same as an image with nothing except shades of grey for color), each pixel has only one byte for storing color data.

In an RGB image, each pixels has three bytes (or in some cases more) for storing color data (one for red value, one for green value, and one for blue value).

In an indexed image, the colors aren't actually stored with the pixel, but in a separate part of the file. Every color used in that file has an entry in this color table (what users/artists call a color palette). Each pixel then has a byte identifying the table entry which applies to that pixel. (So if red was the color in the tenth entry on the table, then every red pixel would show a 10 in it's color data.)

Entries in your table like 'Duotone', 'Lab Color', etc. do not in fact refer to the same category of things.
From wikipedia:


While Lab Color, (I THINK), refers to the way the data stored in an RGB system should be interpreted.

Essentially the difference you are noticing is just two industry giants, using their own spin on terminology.

Hope that helps, and to gimpchat!

Just to be sure we're not missing the obvious:



As the screenshot shows, the import (file open) dialog for PS and EPS file types includes a choice of colour mode which actually defaults to RGB, thus overriding the input file's embedded info. If you set the colour mode to "Auto" you'll probably find that Gimp does open the file in the same mode as other programs.
What is a bit odd is that Gimp not only allows the user to override the file's intrinsic type but actually defaults to doing so. Arguably, Gimp should default to "Auto". But, to be frank, if you want to import PS files into Gimp you really need to think about these settings anyway ..if you are even thinking about eventually printing or exporting the image from Gimp you really need to set the "Resolution" to at least 300 ppi and set the antialiasing to "Strong". And while you're at it, set the colour mode appropriately.

As to why a PCX file might show a different mode in Gimp, I think we would need to see the actual file concerned.
The PCX standard was originally indexed-only and the vast majority of PCX files out there are indeed indexed. But the specification was later updated to allow grayscale and RGB. All the files I have tried do open in indexed mode.

Thank you all! It helps to know a bit of background on this. But referring to the last post (jontait2): on your advice I opened the EPS file with "automatic" option selected. It still says it's an RGB at the final result. For all the other options like antialisasing... (I just googled it to see what it meant :-)) You see, I have to be able to just quickly check the quality of images I receive at my work. There is a new firm that makes these images for us, so I want to be sure that they do them in the right mode. You understand: I don't want to influence the way it opens the image too much. It has to be as straight as possible. When they make a B/W image as an RGB instead of Grayscale I want to know. As for the resolution: yes, I put it standard on 600. I done that well. :-)
So that still leaves the question open. I agree it would help you guys to see some "live" images. I wonder if you can get to the files if I place them on GoogleDrive. Maybe that could help to see what's wrong. But when I include the URL on this post I get a warning that my post "looks too spamy for a new user, please remove off-site URL's" :-/ Suggestions? (I tried to put some space between the characters but nope... doens't work)

Have you considered running the files through ImageMagick first?

It is command line but trivial



Generated output is long, some trimmed examples
1. Described as grayscale and identified as CMYK, but the channel depth is 1-bit apart from black.
2. Another logo. displays black and white, identifies as CMYK,
3. Finally, a RGB image. 24 bit with alpha

I think you have to make five posts before you can post off-site URLs. It helps prevent spam.

I'm starting to feel like a blonde candidate for a miss election... :-) I just installed ImageMagick to give this a try but all I get is a simple window where I can just open a file. It gives nothing more... It doesn't even open PCX-files (in contrast to the site which speak of "over 200 formats")

ImageMagick is best used from the command line, have a look at Fred's ImageMagick Scripts.

Some great scripts on FredW's page but...



I normally use linux and forget that command line applications such as ImageMagick often present insurmountable problems for Windows Users. It is not difficult.

One thing I just found out, for eps you do need ghostscript installed. Get the appropriate version from
http://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html

Have a look at a video, three minutes including installing ghostscript, Windows 7.

https://youtu.be/B_TdMoK5cnw

There should be enough there to explain the process

Back from my last holiday... I just installed "ImageMagick-6.9.2-1-Q16-x64-dll.exe" from the ImageMagick site but the command "identify -verbose filename.XXX" doesn't seem to work. It says: ""identify" is not recognized as an internal or external command. operable program or batch file" Even when I installed that ghostscript. Am I missing something? Or is this due to the fact that I'm using Windows?

I do not know. Could be a bad installation but I have never had one of those.

Busy rebuilding my 64 bit computer at the moment and have not got round to installing VirtualBox so this is in a 32 bit Windows 7 VM.

IM will add itself to the path. You check that by opening a terminal (cmd in search does it)
Then type path at the prompt.
Not there? Then that is the problem. If you have IM in the path a straight identify will list all the options.



For listing the eps, I suggested opening the terminal where the image is. Saves typing out the full path to the eps file. Up to you. This one, the file is on the desktop and a straight identify filename.eps produces this.

Yep, that seems to be the problem. :-) I attached a printscreen of what I see when I follow your instruction. At the top of the picture you see that I did install it. How do I get ImageMagick in that cmd thing?

Difficult for Widows users who are not used to command line applications. " How do I get ImageMagick in that cmd thing?" does not inspire confidence

Being Windows you could try a new download and a new install otherwise

First thing to check is the C:\Program Files\ImageMagick-6.9.2-Q16\ folder and make sure it contains the 'identify' file.

Then if you search you can find info about adding to the Windows PATH
typical http://geekswithblogs.net/renso/archive ... ows-7.aspx

Since you have mastered opening a terminal, you can add to the path temporarily (until next re-boot)

Open a terminal, This open where the eps file is and as a test try

1. The path command - no IM
2. The identify command - error message
3. Make the command - you can copy/paste this, right click in the terminal for a menu.


4. Try it out - another path command
5. Try it out - another identify command

:-) Wel, as usual... It depends on who I am talking to. For some people here at work I'm a sort of PC-genius, for others (like yourself) it must seem that I'm like Doherty who toddles the yellow brick road in order to get home. It's all in the audience. :-p
I just did some research about that path command and I understand it now. I should have done that yesterday before I opened my big keyboard. I've added the IM to the path command and yep... The magic appeared when I entered the identify command. It works! I guess a whole new world has opened for me with lots of new possibilities. I'm already thinking about batchfiles to gather the right info on numerous files at once. Thanks man! And not the least for your patience!
Now let's gloat on the workfloor... :-)

I'm starting to think that Photoshop applies strange information... Even ImageMagic talks about sRGB. From the output below I don't see a reference to grayscale. I let it read to someone who has more knowledge about images then me and even she cannot explain why Photoshop talks about grayscale. Maybe I should place this question on a Photoshop forum... :-)

Image: f62514141.eps
Format: EPT (Encapsulated PostScript with TIFF preview)
Class: DirectClass
Geometry: 392x449+0+0
Base geometry: 3266x3742
Resolution: 600x600
Print size: 0.653333x0.748333
Units: PixelsPerInch
Type: TrueColorAlpha
Endianess: Undefined
Colorspace: sRGB
Depth: 16/8-bit
Channel depth:
red: 8-bit
green: 8-bit
blue: 8-bit
alpha: 1-bit
Channel statistics:
Pixels: 176008
Red:
min: 0 (0)
max: 65535 (1)
mean: 61735.2 (0.942019)
standard deviation: 13732.2 (0.20954)
kurtosis: 12.7446
skewness: -3.74285
entropy: 0.130206
Green:
min: 0 (0)
max: 65535 (1)
mean: 61735.3 (0.942021)
standard deviation: 13732.1 (0.209539)
kurtosis: 12.7449
skewness: -3.74291
entropy: 0.130214
Blue:
min: 0 (0)
max: 65535 (1)
mean: 61735.2 (0.942018)
standard deviation: 13732.2 (0.20954)
kurtosis: 12.7444
skewness: -3.74282
entropy: 0.130225
Alpha:
min: 65535 (1)
max: 65535 (1)
mean: 65535 (1)
standard deviation: 0 (0)
kurtosis: 0
skewness: 0
entropy: 0
Image statistics:
Overall:
min: 0 (0)
max: 65535 (1)
mean: 46301.4 (0.706514)
standard deviation: 11892.4 (0.181466)
kurtosis: 65.2336
skewness: -13.5433
entropy: 0.0976613
Colors: 239
Histogram:
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12: (43690,43690,43690,65535) #AAAAAAAAAAAAFFFF srgba(170,170,170,1)
12: (43947,43947,43947,65535) #ABABABABABABFFFF grey67
11: (44204,44204,44204,65535) #ACACACACACACFFFF srgba(172,172,172,1)
16: (44461,44461,44461,65535) #ADADADADADADFFFF grey68
30: (44718,44718,44718,65535) #AEAEAEAEAEAEFFFF srgba(174,174,174,1)
18: (44975,44975,44975,65535) #AFAFAFAFAFAFFFFF srgba(175,175,175,1)
20: (45232,45232,45232,65535) #B0B0B0B0B0B0FFFF grey69
15: (45232,45489,45232,65535) #B0B0B1B1B0B0FFFF srgba(176,177,176,1)
15: (45489,45489,45489,65535) #B1B1B1B1B1B1FFFF srgba(177,177,177,1)
25: (45746,45746,45746,65535) #B2B2B2B2B2B2FFFF srgba(178,178,178,1)
9: (46003,46003,46003,65535) #B3B3B3B3B3B3FFFF grey70
12: (46260,46260,46260,65535) #B4B4B4B4B4B4FFFF srgba(180,180,180,1)
16: (46517,46517,46517,65535) #B5B5B5B5B5B5FFFF grey71
7: (46774,46774,46774,65535) #B6B6B6B6B6B6FFFF srgba(182,182,182,1)
8: (47031,47031,47031,65535) #B7B7B7B7B7B7FFFF srgba(183,183,183,1)
27: (47288,47288,47288,65535) #B8B8B8B8B8B8FFFF grey72
16: (47545,47545,47545,65535) #B9B9B9B9B9B9FFFF srgba(185,185,185,1)
7: (47802,47802,47802,65535) #BABABABABABAFFFF grey73
4: (48059,48059,48059,65535) #BBBBBBBBBBBBFFFF srgba(187,187,187,1)
22: (48316,48316,48316,65535) #BCBCBCBCBCBCFFFF srgba(188,188,188,1)
9: (48573,48573,48573,65535) #BDBDBDBDBDBDFFFF grey74
11: (48830,48830,48830,65535) #BEBEBEBEBEBEFFFF grey
42: (49087,49087,49087,65535) #BFBFBFBFBFBFFFFF grey75
11: (49344,49344,49344,65535) #C0C0C0C0C0C0FFFF silver
10: (49601,49601,49601,65535) #C1C1C1C1C1C1FFFF srgba(193,193,193,1)
9: (49858,49858,49858,65535) #C2C2C2C2C2C2FFFF grey76
9: (50115,50115,50115,65535) #C3C3C3C3C3C3FFFF srgba(195,195,195,1)
12: (50372,50372,50372,65535) #C4C4C4C4C4C4FFFF grey77
18: (50629,50629,50629,65535) #C5C5C5C5C5C5FFFF srgba(197,197,197,1)
10: (50886,50886,50886,65535) #C6C6C6C6C6C6FFFF srgba(198,198,198,1)
4: (51143,51143,51143,65535) #C7C7C7C7C7C7FFFF grey78
14: (51400,51400,51400,65535) #C8C8C8C8C8C8FFFF srgba(200,200,200,1)
21: (51657,51657,51657,65535) #C9C9C9C9C9C9FFFF grey79
39: (51914,51914,51914,65535) #CACACACACACAFFFF srgba(202,202,202,1)
21: (52171,52171,52171,65535) #CBCBCBCBCBCBFFFF srgba(203,203,203,1)
13: (52428,52428,52428,65535) #CCCCCCCCCCCCFFFF grey80
13: (52685,52685,52685,65535) #CDCDCDCDCDCDFFFF srgba(205,205,205,1)
17: (52942,52942,52942,65535) #CECECECECECEFFFF srgba(206,206,206,1)
51: (53199,53199,53199,65535) #CFCFCFCFCFCFFFFF grey81
581: (53456,53456,53456,65535) #D0D0D0D0D0D0FFFF srgba(208,208,208,1)
22: (53713,53713,53713,65535) #D1D1D1D1D1D1FFFF grey82
25: (53970,53970,53970,65535) #D2D2D2D2D2D2FFFF srgba(210,210,210,1)
21: (54227,54227,54227,65535) #D3D3D3D3D3D3FFFF LightGray
13: (54484,54484,54484,65535) #D4D4D4D4D4D4FFFF grey83
20: (54741,54741,54741,65535) #D5D5D5D5D5D5FFFF srgba(213,213,213,1)
30: (54998,54998,54741,65535) #D6D6D6D6D5D5FFFF srgba(214,214,213,1)
49: (54998,54998,54998,65535) #D6D6D6D6D6D6FFFF grey84
23: (55255,55255,55255,65535) #D7D7D7D7D7D7FFFF srgba(215,215,215,1)
31: (55512,55512,55512,65535) #D8D8D8D8D8D8FFFF srgba(216,216,216,1)
33: (55769,55769,55769,65535) #D9D9D9D9D9D9FFFF grey85
837: (56026,56026,56026,65535) #DADADADADADAFFFF srgba(218,218,218,1)
242: (56283,56283,56283,65535) #DBDBDBDBDBDBFFFF grey86
73: (56540,56540,56540,65535) #DCDCDCDCDCDCFFFF gainsboro
23: (56797,56797,56797,65535) #DDDDDDDDDDDDFFFF srgba(221,221,221,1)
22: (57054,57054,57054,65535) #DEDEDEDEDEDEFFFF grey87
27: (57311,57311,57311,65535) #DFDFDFDFDFDFFFFF srgba(223,223,223,1)
26: (57311,57568,57311,65535) #DFDFE0E0DFDFFFFF srgba(223,224,223,1)
30: (57568,57568,57568,65535) #E0E0E0E0E0E0FFFF grey88
31: (57825,57825,57825,65535) #E1E1E1E1E1E1FFFF srgba(225,225,225,1)
34: (58082,58082,58082,65535) #E2E2E2E2E2E2FFFF srgba(226,226,226,1)
40: (58339,58339,58339,65535) #E3E3E3E3E3E3FFFF grey89
91: (58596,58596,58596,65535) #E4E4E4E4E4E4FFFF srgba(228,228,228,1)
30: (58853,58853,58853,65535) #E5E5E5E5E5E5FFFF grey90
106: (59110,59110,59110,65535) #E6E6E6E6E6E6FFFF srgba(230,230,230,1)
69: (59367,59367,59367,65535) #E7E7E7E7E7E7FFFF srgba(231,231,231,1)
32: (59624,59624,59624,65535) #E8E8E8E8E8E8FFFF grey91
29: (59624,59881,59624,65535) #E8E8E9E9E8E8FFFF srgba(232,233,232,1)
23: (59881,59881,59881,65535) #E9E9E9E9E9E9FFFF srgba(233,233,233,1)
29: (60138,60138,60138,65535) #EAEAEAEAEAEAFFFF srgba(234,234,234,1)
22: (60395,60395,60395,65535) #EBEBEBEBEBEBFFFF grey92
43: (60652,60652,60652,65535) #ECECECECECECFFFF srgba(236,236,236,1)
57: (60909,60909,60909,65535) #EDEDEDEDEDEDFFFF grey93
23: (61166,61166,61166,65535) #EEEEEEEEEEEEFFFF srgba(238,238,238,1)
18: (61423,61423,61423,65535) #EFEFEFEFEFEFFFFF srgba(239,239,239,1)
27: (61680,61680,61680,65535) #F0F0F0F0F0F0FFFF grey94
51: (61937,61937,61937,65535) #F1F1F1F1F1F1FFFF srgba(241,241,241,1)
17: (62194,62194,62194,65535) #F2F2F2F2F2F2FFFF grey95
28: (62451,62451,62451,65535) #F3F3F3F3F3F3FFFF srgba(243,243,243,1)
50: (62708,62708,62708,65535) #F4F4F4F4F4F4FFFF srgba(244,244,244,1)
1099: (62965,62965,62965,65535) #F5F5F5F5F5F5FFFF grey96
85: (63222,63222,63222,65535) #F6F6F6F6F6F6FFFF srgba(246,246,246,1)
69: (63479,63479,63479,65535) #F7F7F7F7F7F7FFFF grey97
33: (63736,63736,63736,65535) #F8F8F8F8F8F8FFFF srgba(248,248,248,1)
58: (63993,63993,63993,65535) #F9F9F9F9F9F9FFFF srgba(249,249,249,1)
45: (64250,64250,64250,65535) #FAFAFAFAFAFAFFFF grey98
54: (64507,64507,64507,65535) #FBFBFBFBFBFBFFFF srgba(251,251,251,1)
21: (64764,64764,64764,65535) #FCFCFCFCFCFCFFFF grey99
73: (65021,65021,65021,65535) #FDFDFDFDFDFDFFFF srgba(253,253,253,1)
28: (65278,65278,65278,65535) #FEFEFEFEFEFEFFFF srgba(254,254,254,1)
158603: (65535,65535,65535,65535) #FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF white
Rendering intent: Perceptual
Gamma: 0.454545
Chromaticity:
red primary: (0.64,0.33)
green primary: (0.3,0.6)
blue primary: (0.15,0.06)
white point: (0.3127,0.329)
Background color: white
Border color: srgba(223,223,223,1)
Matte color: grey74
Transparent color: none
Interlace: None
Intensity: Undefined
Compose: Over
Page geometry: 392x449+0+0
Dispose: Undefined
Iterations: 0
Compression: Undefined
Orientation: Undefined
Properties:
date:create: 2015-09-18T09:07:40+02:00
date:modify: 2015-09-18T09:07:40+02:00
dc:format: image/epsf
icc:copyright: Copyright 1999 Adobe Systems Incorporated
icc:description: Dot Gain 20%
icc:manufacturer: Dot Gain 20%
icc:model: Dot Gain 20%
photoshop:ColorMode: 1
photoshop:ICCProfile: Dot Gain 20%
ps:HiResBoundingBox: 391.92x449.04+0+0
ps:Level: Adobe-3.0 EPSF-3.0

signature: 3894fbdb9cf5c6844cacd4da40b76c783225e76d46f2df1c420f426d98d16337
stRef:documentID: uuid:f0bf8924-159e-4a12-8dfc-99ef2468371d
stRef:instanceID: xmp.iid:5134D6608525E511AFCBBB5377807AC0
stRef:originalDocumentID: uuid:f0bf8924-159e-4a12-8dfc-99ef2468371d
xmp:CreateDate: 2015-06-30T11:06:52+05:30
xmp:CreatorTool: Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
xmp:MetadataDate: 2015-07-08T20:54:18+05:30
xmp:ModifyDate: 2015-07-08T20:54:18+05:30
xmpMM:DocumentID: uuid:f0bf8924-159e-4a12-8dfc-99ef2468371d
xmpMM:InstanceID: xmp.iid:5234D6608525E511AFCBBB5377807AC0
xmpMM:OriginalDocumentID: uuid:f0bf8924-159e-4a12-8dfc-99ef2468371d
Profiles:
Profile-8bim: 7474 bytes
Profile-exif: 422 bytes
Profile-icc: 912 bytes
Profile-iptc: 68 bytes
City[1,90]: 0x00000000: 254700 -%
City[1,90]: 0x00000000: 254700 -%
City[1,90]: 0x00000000: 254700 -%
unknown[2,0]:
Byline[2,80]: Moniteur belge - Belgisch Staats
Profile-xmp: 18695 bytes
Artifacts:
filename: f62514141.eps
verbose: true
Tainted: False
Filesize: 29.7KB
Number pixels: 176K
Pixels per second: 11.73MB
User time: 0.000u
Elapsed time: 0:01.015
Version: ImageMagick 6.9.2-1 Q16 x64 2015-09-13 http://www.imagemagick.org

Looks to me that it is desaturated rather than grayscale. AFAIK all those RGB values range from black, through various grays, to white.

edit:
Back to the drawing board. Maybe you do need to ask in a PS forum

A comparison of some test images.

original cmyk.eps Imagemagick reports CMYK
cmyk.eps desaturated and IM again reports CMYK
cmyk.eps converted to grayscale colorspace and IM now reports RGB and a listing similar to yours. So maybe your supplier is sending puka grayscale images.

The three listings, edited to less verbose, attached. Check the histograms .

Hmm..
I think this is actually the key:

According to these docs:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet-apps/photos ... Id-1055726
http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/ ... nPart2.pdf

the possible values for that property are:
0 = Bitmap
1 = Gray scale
2 = Indexed colour
3 = RGB colour
4 = CMYK colour
7 = Multi-channel
8 = Duotone
9 = LAB colour

And, according to the source code of the PSD plugin, Gimp should actually respect that ColorMode property and load the file as a grayscale image.
So perhaps it is a Gimp bug after all!

@davidb: please attach a sample .psd file which you are willing to share publicly. This will be used both to investigate the problem and for a bug-report to the Gimp developers (if appropriate).

A few more tests with Gimp and to me it looks like with a PS eps.

In the Import from Postscript dialog, if coloring is set to Automatic then Gimp picks up the correct mode.