Is Color Management from your camera to your monitor to your printer as iffy for you as it is for me? Do your photographs always print exactly like you expect?
I’ve written about my own color management process here. And now, we have an expert who is going to help us all and correct my mistakes!
Drew Hendrix of Red River Paper will read the comments on this blog post and write up a brief article based on your questions next week.
His areas of expertise are:
- Paper
- Printers
- Ink
- Color management
- Tips for printing
Ask away! Which areas of color management and photo printing quality give you the most trouble? Why do your photos always look too dark? Too light? What exactly is “Rendering Intent”? I hope Drew knows what he’s getting into.
So, use the comments below to ask your questions. Even if you have no questions because your color management and printing setup is perfect, come back next week for a giveaway Red River Paper is sponsoring. There will be 10 winners!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Wonderful idea! Thanks for doing this. My questions would be:
1. For those who cannot afford a monitor calibrator right now, what tips could you give them (me LOL)?
2. Printer calibration – I have a Kodak EasyShare 5300 that I cannot find any printer profiles for so I’ve set my PSE and Printer to use AdobeRGB when I print. It is better than before, but do you have any tips on printing at home?
How important is monitor calibration? I have heard stories where it has been helpful and not helpful. The lab I use offers lower prices if I have my monitor calibrated. Any suggestions on brands? I have looked at quite a few with their ranges in price.
.-= Annette´s last blog ..February 18, 2010 =-.
I thought I had CS3 set up to edit my RAW photos in sRGB and save them as jpegs with the color profile embedded, but the color changes when I upload them to Facebook. Flickr is always spot on, but not Facebook. The color always looks flatter, a tad darker and cooler. Some labs also send back prints with the same problem, yet others are spot on. What am I doing wrong? And how do I fix it?
and ps…thanks for this!
Okay, I have a question regarding shooting, ppi, dpi, resolution & compression in PSE6 but it comes back to printing so bear with me.
If I want the best quality for large printing I should shoot RAW, right? But if I want to shoot JPG because most will not be enlarged, what is it I need to do to those images that I will want to enlarge? Do I do this
Image>Resize>Image size> (resample off) change resolution to 300ppi and save with a different name? (I am understanding, I think, that the constrained size is odd, I’m seeing that on my rulers and that the ppi will change as I change the size from say 11 x 14 or 12 x 18 for example).
Which unfortunately leads me to another question of compression is it? Should I save it at the highest possible quality or just btw 8-12? And why is it sometimes PSE chooses different format options (baseline, baseline optimized, or progressive)? My main concern is for portraits I’ve done and will do (none are on my stream yet, all of which I have shot JPG) and the giving people my best work and prints.
Ugh!! how does this all relate to the quality I will get when I print? Help (pulling hair out in confusion!)
I like the question you posed: “What is rendering intent?” and how does the setting impact my printing.
I third the request for info on what to do if you don’t have the means to calibrate your monitor.
I have a Canon MP600 printer and use Canon ink and paper becuase I was told this would work best. Any simple advice for using another vendor and getting good results right off the bat?
Is it best to let the printer manage the color or pse manage the color? I have an epson artisan 800 and a mac. I *tried* to calibrate my monitor but think I really messed it up….are you sure you know what you’re getting into with all us amateurs???
.-= wayoutnumbered´s last blog ..My Canvas On Demand =-.
I print thru a professional printing lab…….WHCC in Minnesota. My pics are embedded thru PSE with sRGB, saved at 300ppi…….just as they require.
I have not ever calibrated my monitor, but do notice that my darker colors tend to “soak up the color” more and my prints come from the lab with the darker colors looking even darker and deeper than they looked on my monitor I always get a little nervous when I send off an order because I am afraid the prints will be too dark or a color will look “off” because of this. Dark pink can almost go towards looking light red, a medium blue can start to look royal blue…………Is my only solution calibration, which would require me to purchase to go out and purchase a calibration device?
Looking forward to learning more. I love Red River paper. Most of my pics are dark. I need to learn how to take better photos. Have had trouble in the past when printing from PSE (4.0 for Mac) — the LOs were too light. Since I purchased a new printer and use its software I’ve been very pleased with the colors when printing — after I adjust the photos. This means I have to take another step to print, but the finished product is much better. If I could print from PSE and have great color that would save a step.
Why do my photos print differently depending on what paper I select in my printer settings?
thank you!
The prints never match up to what I see on my monitor. I did purchase a calibration kit from the printer that I use in order to calibrate to their printers.
Do you find that once calibration is achieved that it translates well to other printers? In other words, what should I do if I use two different printing services?
Also, do you have any recommendations for monitors? I have been doing most of my processing on my laptop. Would I do much better to get a desktop monitor? Any recommendations?
THANK YOU!!!
.-= Marsha´s last blog ..I ordered Kimchi online =-.
I have a monitor calibrator and recently bought a new computer and opted for a laptop. My calibration device says it’s compatible for a laptop also, but the color is but does not seem to be that great. Would I be better off connecting my laptop to a docking station and back to the old monitor or do you have any tips? Thanks so much!!!
Also when I order prints sometimes they look crisp and clear on my screen but seem a little dull when they come back from the printing press…
Thank you for all your time!
I print snapshots thru an online service (snapfish, winkflash, etc) what should I know about color manangement?
I am struggling to find a home printer that prints photos that match my screen. My screen has been calibrated so it is an issue with the printers I’ve had. All have been “photo” printers/all in ones but never produce a good print. Could it be that it is printing in a different color space than I am editing in? I have an HP Photosmart c6180 but can’t seem to find a way to the color management menu… despite the instructions telling me how… it still doesn’t work.
Soooo… what is your favorite at home photo printer?
Oh, I just calibrated my monitor today. I do it about every other week. I find that there are a lot of labs that have printed my pictures a bit darker. Not much but a bit, so I just adjusted the brightness of my monitor to match the photo and now hopefully I will be spot on. Is this the proper way to fix this problem?