Google, auto-enhancing images

[Peanuts, January 1, 1994, with “Auto Enhance” off and on. Makes whites greyer!]

I noticed a strange development a few months ago: images in new OCA posts did not match the originals in color. The problem was especially noticeable with white backgrounds, which turned dingy grey. The changed colors are the result of a Google feature (not bug!) called “Auto Enhance,” and auto-enhance (as I will call it) can be turned off only in Google+. In other words, one must sign up for Google+ to undo changes to photographs uploaded to Blogger (and stored in Google’s Picasa Web Albums).

I have no interest in Google+, and at some point I realized that auto-enhance affected only JPEGs, not PNGs. So I began uploading only PNGs. But yesterday a PNG came out with a sepia tint. I tried getting the image into a post via Flickr — doable but kinda cumbersome. So I reached for a cliché, gritted my teeth, signed up for Google+, and turned off auto-enhance.

The good news: you can delete a Google+ profile and auto-enhance will remain off. At least so far. My mantra: Sign up. Turn off. Drop out.

Note that deleting a Google+ profile does not mean deleting a Google Account. Google blurs the distinction by referring to a Google+ profile as “your entire Google profile.” To delete “your entire Google profile” sounds pretty drastic. But “your entire Google profile” is your Google+ profile. Deleting a Google+ profile deletes a Google+ profile.

Some relevant reading
Delete my Google+ profile (Google Support)
How to disable auto enhance (Picasa Resources)
Stop Google from “fixing” pictures that are loaded through Blogger (Blogger Hints and Tips)