Digital Prints - type of paper

manchine

Hi,

For the last while I've been getting my digital prints done in a Fuji place - my wife works beside it so it's handy. But all the shots are tunring out much darker then they appear on my laptop.
I've got a 300D and I though it might have been that it was just dark and the ickle built in flash just wasn't up to it but I've been using a speedlite 420 with it for the last while and it doesn't seem to make much difference.

I think this only seems to have happened when I started using Fuji to do the prints. Has anyone else seen anything else like this or is it just me? Might it be their printing process (wouldn't have thought so) or the paper they use?

rymus

I get practically all of my stuff printed from photobox who use Fuji minilabs and so print onto Fuji cystal archive paper. I'd imagine what you need to get is a calibration print. It shows colour's and contrasts on a physical print which you then need to match to your onscreen colours. Ever since I did that my prints have been spot on.

JMcL

manchine wrote:

Hi,

For the last while I've been getting my digital prints done in a Fuji place - my wife works beside it so it's handy. But all the shots are tunring out much darker then they appear on my laptop.
I've got a 300D and I though it might have been that it was just dark and the ickle built in flash just wasn't up to it but I've been using a speedlite 420 with it for the last while and it doesn't seem to make much difference.

I think this only seems to have happened when I started using Fuji to do the prints. Has anyone else seen anything else like this or is it just me? Might it be their printing process (wouldn't have thought so) or the paper they use?

Your laptop display is probably not calibrated. I've noticed this with photos I've processed on my desktop which has a CRT monitor, which I've somewhat calibrated using QuickGamma. When I look at the processed pics on my laptop display, they look too bright, but printed they came out fine. In contrast (sorry), my wife processed some photos on her laptop, and they looked fine there, but when printed came out too dark.

We use foto.com who print on Fuji paper too. Some processors correct for exposure, colour casts etc, maybe your previous processor was doing this so the prints came out properly exposed.

If you can, load up the images in an image processor that can show a histogram (alternatively look at the histogram in the camera). If the body of the histogram is to the left of the display, you're most likely underexposed. Also, don't go by the image on its own on the camera LCD (I have a 300D as well). Properly exposed photos will actually often appear overexposed on the LCD.

John

dalk

I use one of these monitor calibration devices. Cheap and works well for the money. As well as sorting out the problem with your monitor being too bright/dark, it'll help with colour cast issues etc as well...

After that if the prints are still too dark you would be confident that its the lab...

rymus

or you could get a calibration print from the lab for free...

JimmySmith

Your problem is very common so you're not alone. Like the previous poster i use somthing similat called Spyder 2
Solves all your calibration problems with your monitor so what you see is what you get.

What usually happens is that most people like a bright screen and you get used to a bright screen. When the colour calibrators run it looks a little dark at first but then you get used to it and wouldnt dare turn up the brightness.

If your prints are coming out a little dark try adjusting the ev compensation on your camera. Google it and you'll find a wealth of info.

DotOrg

laptop lcd screens don't show the image as well as an older CRT monitors

i have the brightness and contrast set on my monitor and what i see on it comes out of a fuji minilab virtually exactly the same

though i do work with a fuji lab and there is the possibility of it not being calibrated properly every day and a bad operator running it. try another lab and also do one test print to calibrate your monitor to

manchine

Had a fiddle with the histogram (well, the levels in photoshop) and I can see what people are talking about.
Think I'll start with a calibration print and work from there.

Ta for the advice.