Tips for improving printed quality please

BengaLover

I have printed out some pics today and they dont look as good printed as they do on screen - I use a 5 ink Canon printed which is pretty good, but I was wondering if anyone has any tips on what to do to make sure they are better for printing. I want to use Blurb to pr(i detest photo albums for some reason)- but did some test prints first and wasnt enourmously thrilled with the results.
Worried that if I go ahead with Blurb that the finished book will come back with poor resolution/quality pics.

ThOnda

Well, printing is not fun, it is process. I would suggest if you get in touch with sineadw who runs printing courses. You will learn basics that will allow you to prepare and print pictures on your own.
Apart from that, bit of google and youtube should answer your questions. Or visit to a library or a bookstore. It could get more complicated than photography as such.

artyeva

what's the difference you're seeing between the screen and the prints?

CabanSail

First - have you Calibrated your screen?

BengaLover

My first thought was that what Im seeing isnt necessarily what it is - and screen IS calibrated, but only with the internal program settings of my pc - so maybe I should look at getting it calibrated with a proper external calibrator.
Would my pc settings be reliable enough?
The difference Im seeing is that the pics look a little darker, and I dont think its an issue with the quality of the printer or the inks.
What I was wondering is if there is any specific settings I should be saving my pics with - at the mo they are just jpeg format. Should I be using a program like paintshop to change the resolution or format etc?
Its been such a long time since I atually had photos printed, I got out of the habit, but its a crime not to be able to physically pick up a book or album that I wanted them back in handleable format!

artyeva

Aren't you in mayo somewhere benga? If you want I could meet you somewhere and lend you my pantone huey monitor calibrater? Takes about 10-15 mins and you'll know then if that's the issue. Pm me if ya like although i'm not back in mayo till tomorrow afternoon.

BengaLover

Im in in between attymass and foxford, and that offer would be VERY helpful. As you are in Mayo, do you know of any other camera club besides the Castlebar one?

artyeva

hmm.... i'm the last person you should be asking camera clubs i'm afraid i *think* some people were starting up a club in ballina, i remember seeing posters somewhere before christmas. think they meet in the arts centre but i could be mistaken though if you rang them, sean who manages the place might know. i'll pm you my number anyway.

mayo.mick

BengaLover wrote: »

Im in in between attymass and foxford, and that offer would be VERY helpful. As you are in Mayo, do you know of any other camera club besides the Castlebar one?

We have a camera club here in swinford, we meet up in the national school every 1st & 3rd wednesday @ 8pm. All new members are very welcome, pm me if you want anymore info.

Heebie

Your screen isn't calibrated if you didn't put some kind of calibrator (colorimeter, spectrocolorimeter, or spectrophotometer) in front of your screen. If you didn't.. then it's just some settings that really don't mean much.

You also need to make sure you convert the pictures to a proflle specifically for your printer, or at least to a generic sRGB profile.

The color-space from an Adobe1998 or Kodak ProPhoto color-space is way to large to be printed on paper. One specific to your printer (especially if it's been made with a calibrator) will do a much better job than a generic, and the generic sRGB will do a much better job than none at all going to print.

stcstc

nooooo, never convert your images to paper profile colour spaces!!!

work in adobeRGB or sRGB, then in th eprint dialogue for photoshop select the paper profile as the output profile

WheresMyCamera?

Some helpful things here.

Print Workflow

BengaLover

Thanks all. Trying to get hold of photoshop and going to use that now rather than paintshop and use it to print from.

ValueInIreland

As mentioned above, you must use an external device to correctly set up you monitor - dark prints are a classic sign of a monitor that is set too bright. The other critical element is to ensure you are using the correct profile for your printer / paper combination. Most manufacturers have free downloadable profiles for their papers with popular printers, and others like PermaJet and Fotospeed will do FREE custom profiles when you are using their papers - well worth the small effort if you do a lot of printing.

Nb Using a "Gloss" setting designed for one brand of paper will give a totally different result on another brand of paper - even if they look / feel identical.

Sgt Pepper 64

This is a good link

http://www.outbackphoto.com/booklets/dop3003/DOP3802_TOC.pdf

Plus I have seen a few books dedicated to printing and I intend to read one when I get a print I consider good enough!

http://www.amazon.com/Printing-Photos-Your-Epson-Printer/dp/0240811690/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329833273&sr=1-1

The usual rule applies - put as much effort into printing as you did into making the image!