Adjustments for Printing

[ShaneS]

I am having a hard time getting the images to turn out the way that I want when I send them for print. I am using my local Costco (I know it is probably not the best but it is affordable) and have installed their printer profile into Photoshop CS5 and set my image to proof it.

This has confirmed the issues/results that I have had with past prints but now I am a bit stuck...

I have duplicated the image and I understand that I need to make some adjustments to the image to make the proof copy match the original as closely as possible before sending it to print. I understand that brightness, saturation and curves adjustments might be required but all my fiddling is not getting me very close.

Can anyone help with a suggested workflow with details about the various adjustments that are most commonly needed?

Thanks in advance.

[Andrew1]

It might be an idea to explain what software you are using and what specifically you are seeing as problems. I too use Costco and get some wonderful photos from them. Are you telling them zero auto corrections? There are some basic adjustments the equipment will make globally unless you tell them to turn it off. Alternatively you might take the file to a small custom printer where you can work with them one on one. The prints will be ten times the price, still under ten dollars, but it will put you on the right track in determining what the problem is.

[ShaneS]

Andrew;

You give me hope that this can be done I am using Photoshop CS5 and the photos come back grayer/duller than expected. I have limited experience but have told them to turn off "color management" if I remember correctly. Sometime colors come back very different (specifically a green/yellow shade came back a neon colored).

After reading about proofing I set those same images to proof in CS5 and sure enough the proof version matched the print - neon colors and all

So the initial problem was NOT proofing at all. Now that I know I should be proofing I am confused about the adjustments necessary to brighten the image overall and adjust the various colors. (I am very new to Photoshop) It also looks as if I may have to apply the profile and save before uploading to Costco's site per these instructions:

http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/usi...r_profiles.htm

So the two issues are:

1 - How to edit the proof duplicate to make it look like the original and;

2 - How to save it so that when I upload it to Costco I get what I see on screen.

On a completely separate and personal note my parents live just up island from you in Parksville - small world! I miss Canada but I can't complain much as I have called Hawaii home for some time now.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Shane,

The "usual culprit" is failing to convert the image profile to sRGB prior to submission. You're not sending images to them in Adobe RGB or Prophoto RGB colourspaces by any chance are you?

[ShaneS]

Thanks for the tip Colin. I haven't done any conversion of the profile in the past and I will try that. At what stage do you convert the color profile? Do you need to further edit after converting? Or do you do your editing in proof mode to match your original and then convert?

I am sorry if that is a dumb question...the fact that there are many steps to every print is a bit overwhelming to a newbie.
Snapping the shutter now seems to be the easy part, then edit your digital negative, proof, then edit again and covert before print

[Bobobird]

Check camera settings for colour space. If it is sRGB then your problem should be something else.

If it is Adobe sRGB then you will need to convert profile to sRGB for each finished image that goes to print.

Post back what you find.

[Colin Southern]

Thanks for the tip Colin. I haven't done any conversion of the profile in the past and I will try that. At what stage do you convert the color profile? Do you need to further edit after converting? Or do you do your editing in proof mode to match your original and then convert?

I am sorry if that is a dumb question...the fact that there are many steps to every print is a bit overwhelming to a newbie.
Snapping the shutter now seems to be the easy part, then edit your digital negative, proof, then edit again and covert before print

Hi Shane,

Right at the end just click on EDIT -> CONVERT TO PROFILE, and make sure you set a target of sRGB if you're sending prints out. I usually convert the image to 8 bits at this point too, and then do a "save as".

[Colin Southern]

Check camera settings for colour space. If it is sRGB then your problem should be something else.

Hi Bobo,

Unfortunately, not ...

If the images are being shot RAW then it doesn't matter what the camera is set to. And even if it's set to sRGB and spat out as a JPEG then if it goes through ACR then it could well STILL come out being mapped into a bigger space.

[Bobobird]

Hmmm, has never happened to me. If set in-camera to Adobe RGB, the RAW file comes out with a "_" in front of the name. In sRGB it is "img_xxx". They stay as originally set after bringing either setting into PS after ACR.

Will need to watch this more closely. Not that I print much anyway.

I had problems twice when handing off shots to the printer - once the files were 16 bit TIFFs and the other when I gave him PSDs. Other than that, never any issues.

The only thing I do if a shot is going to print is that the contrasts are slightly lower than they would be for web or screen.

Other than that, the instructions are always to print as-is, no re-sizing, no corrections, nothing! Everything straight out. If done at my friend's place, he will recalibrate his machine for me so that the grey point is correct. Those tend to drift as the day progresses as it outputs more and more prints.

One time wanted a print on metallic paper, he asked for a 16 bit TIFF and made some adjustments. No idea what those were.

[pnodrog]

What monitor are you working with and has it been calibrated? Most unadjusted monitors will be displaying your images far brighter and with more contrast than is correct.

[PRSearls]

Shane,

If your prints are returning too dark compared to the monitor's image, your monitor is set too bright. Here is a link to an X-Rite webinar (below) that discusses the importance of monitor calibration/profiling using X-Rite's products. I have no connection with the company other than being a satisfied customer for almost ten years. Color management is a complicated subject and they are much better at explaining it than me. I use a color managed workflow and get prints that are a very close match to what I see on my screen with the first print every time. An exact match is not possible because a monitor is displaying projected light while the print displays reflected light. Nevertheless, you can get very close which is very satisfactory. X-Rite has excellent webinars free of charge on www.xritephoto.com. Under the LEARNING tab, go to WEBINARS and select WEBINAR ARCHIVES and chose the one you are interested in. Good luck.

Paul S

http://www.xritephoto.com/ph_learnin...entdateid=5292

[ShaneS]

Thank you all so much! Paul & L. Paul I am working on a fairly new Lenovo laptop that is not calibrated. I have been looking into getting a calibration tool and am not sure whether to go with Spyder ( the four series has three levels: express, pro or elite ranging from $99-$220) or Xrite (similar options and pricing) and then which level of product. It is currently only my laptop that needs calibration but at some point I would like to add a better monitor too. Is there a consensus out there on these products? Performance vs. affordability, etc.?

I have a lost of research and experimenting to do to get this right.