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Thread: Getting your digital photos printed ?

  1. #1
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    Default Getting your digital photos printed ?

    Hi,

    Last week I decided to get 4 of my best bird photos printed at the local branch of a photography store, however, the resulting prints were pretty disappointing - they were all darker and more yellow than the originals.

    I took this up with a member of staff and he immediately brought up the issue of whether my monitor was colour calibrated (which it isn't, only adjusted using Adobe Gamma), I then explained at present I couldn't afford £130 to purchase a 'Spyder', and sadly he wasn't prepared to offer any advice as to how else I could get any future prints closer to my ideal.

    I was left feeling slightly frustrated and not completely convinced that he was 100% correct on everything he said.

    For example; he said that their system actually applies a slight boost to image brightness before they print them.
    On getting home I checked the Histogram of one image, and just as I thought, the data pretty much touches the righthand side - so how on earth did the white cheeks of the Blue Tit in that image come out a light grey in the print!!? :confused:

    Does anyone know a way in which you can get satisfactory results from having other people print your images, short of actually getting my Laptop monitor colour calibrated ?

    Any other useful advice would also be welcome.

    Thanks,

    Julian.
    Last edited by Julian Mole; 08-12-2009 at 06:07 PM.

  2. #2
    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    For brightness you can easily calibrate your monitor by using the calibration strip found below every page here on BPN (make sure you can see a different shade in every bar from black to white). As for colour, it is difficult to say without properly calibrating you monitor with appropriate kit (such as the Spyder). You could always have another print done of one of the four you already had done and ask for it to be printed "without any adjustments" (good labs will usually do this if asked). Then compare with the first batch, and with your monitor. If still not satisfied or convinced, find another lab and try the same "without adjustment" test.

  3. #3
    Tell Dickinson
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    Hi Julian, if you do not want to pay £130 to calibrate your monitor the cheapest that I know of is the Pantone Huey...

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pantone-MEU1.../dp/B000CR78C4

    If that is too much I would make my own colour test chart, something like...

    http://www.photobox.co.uk/content/qu...ce/calibration

    ...get that printed by a lab that prints your files 'straight' without any 'automatic enhancements', and then adjust your monitor so that you see something like the returned print. However you will never get a real close match because monitors transmit light and prints reflect light, so its apples and oranges.

    Incidentally, if you are looking for someone to print at a reasonable price up to 18"x12" (£1.22) then try these...

    http://www.proamimaging.com/pricelist.html

    ...the quality is very good but you do have to prepare your images in the right way for them (use their colour profile and use 402 pixels per inch) and they print 'straight' without any 'enhancements' :)

    Tell

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    Julian,
    It's not just your monitor that should be calibrated, but the file you give to the printer should have an ICC profile applied. Ask the printer for an ICC profile. In photoshop, convert to that profile. Then check histogram of different parts of the image but using a selection tool. That shows the histogram of the selected area. Something you want to come out as mid tones should have the histogram in the center.

    If the printer doesn't know what an ICC profile is or doesn't have one, find a different place to have your prints made.

    In simple printing for the public, print shops will assume every file is sRGB, so if you give them adobe RGB it will not come out right.

    Roger

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    Hi Daniel,

    Thank you for the advice. I don't think there is a problem with my monitor brightness as I can easily see every step on the scale you mention. (Also I measured the pixel values for the white cheeks of the bird I mentioned in Photoshop and the info bar showed numbers in the 240 range for Red, Green and Blue.)

    As for colour correction I don't think my monitor can be too far off, but I guess I shalln't know for sure unless I get it properly corrected with an appropriate device.

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    Hi Tell,

    Thanks, some great info there. I shall think about some of those options. The one way I could afford to get a Spyder is by clubbing together with some friends in my Astronomy society who do astrophotography, given how you only need to use it once every few months or so, this arrangement could work.

    PS. Thanks for the link to those printers, I'm sure they will do a better job than my local Jessops! :-)

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    Hello Roger,

    Interesting point, I was unaware of that and shall look into it, thanks.

    (Have just double checked and I am using sRGB on both my camera and in Photoshop)

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    BPN Member Kerry Perkins's Avatar
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    Julian, it is not recommended to use sRGB in either the camera or your workflow. This color space has a limited gamut and is generally reserved for web publication. You will get better results by shooting in Adobe RGB (at least) and using that for your printing setup. Would suggest only converting to sRGB for web content.

    As for commercial printing, good advice given regarding ICC profiles. Most printing houses will be able to provide you with the profile for the specific printer you want to have it printed on. You also need to specify "no printer correction". They want to "help" your images but you don't need that "help".

    There is no substitute for a proper monitor calibration using a sensor. Do you have the ability to borrow one?

    Hope this helps!
    "It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson

    Please visit me on the web at http://kerryperkinsphotography.com


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    . . .
    given how you only need to use it once every few months or so . . .
    For really good results, you have to calibrate more than that. I calibrate weekly, but then I turn out a few hundred prints a week from dog sport competitions.

    . . . Would suggest only converting to sRGB for web content. . . .
    Nearly all labs and even closer to nearly all consumer printers print in sRGB.

    Conversion to sRGB and adjustment for the lab's ICC profile is the very last step in getting good prints.

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    BPN Member Kerry Perkins's Avatar
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    Sorry, did not mean to offer bad advice.
    "It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson

    Please visit me on the web at http://kerryperkinsphotography.com


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    Hi Kerry,

    No worries, it was good of you to try and help. : )

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    Thanks for the advice, Jim.

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    Definitely no worries. We're all here to learn.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kerry Perkins View Post
    Sorry, did not mean to offer bad advice.

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    Lifetime Member Jay Gould's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kerry Perkins View Post
    Julian, it is not recommended to use sRGB in either the camera or your workflow. This color space has a limited gamut and is generally reserved for web publication. You will get better results by shooting in Adobe RGB (at least) and using that for your printing setup. Would suggest only converting to sRGB for web content.
    Kerry, I have posted this quote in the Color Space in Camera thread: http://birdphotographers.net/forums/...180#post323180.
    Cheers, Jay

    My Digital Art - "Nature Interpreted" - can now be view at http://www.luvntravlnphotography.com

    "Nature Interpreted" - Photography begins with your mind and eyes, and ends with an image representing your vision and your reality of the captured scene; photography exceeds the camera sensor's limitations. Capturing and Processing landscapes and seascapes allows me to express my vision and reality of Nature.

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