Getting it Right

Hey All,

I've been doing numerous things over the past year to futher my photographic competancy. My latest hurdle (or current, as I've not exactly cleared them all) is my computer work.

I'm fairly comfortable working with Adobe Camera Raw, doing layers in Photoshop, etc. It just seems I might not be that good! Let me tell you what a horrible realization that is after various expenses. So I'm in some need of advice.

As far as sharpening, colour correction, saturation levels, etc. I know how to manipulate them; I'm just not sure if I'm missing the mark for printing when I look at them on computer screen.

So the question, finally, is: Have many of you gone through a trial and error period of printing, readjusting, reprinting, etc, etc, until you are comfortable with translating your screen image to paper?

I'm sure I'll have other questions in this vein, but let's start here and see where it goes.

Thanks for any help,
Alex

Alex, even after calibrating my monitor, I go through a bit of a trial and error period with each image. Sometimes I'm perfectly happy with it the first time out of the printer, but more often it takes a little tweaking. I pretend the first print is a rough draft, and I take a black marker and mark up the portions I think need continued work. Sometimes I print three or four times before I'm happy with the final product. Once I am, I back up that version to I ensure I'll always have it just right.

Alex, you don't mention if your monitor is calibrated. That one step is essential if you want to produce consistent results. If your monitor is calibrated and you're still struggling with getting an acceptable print, then you may have other issues. As Steve mentioned, even with a calibrated monitor and using custom printer profiles there are still some images that give me fits at times, taking 3-5 attempts before finally getting them right. Frustrating? Darn right, but thankfully it doesn't happen that often.

When I took a photo printing class in grad school, I made over a hundred ultrachrome prints on the epson printers just to get 12 portfolio prints. *Ssshhh, that was way over my alotment* Even til the day I graduated I wasn't happy with those prints. Initially it was because I had no sense of color casts, then towards the end when I didn't have that problem anymore, I realized that I just didn't like how Ultrachrome prints looked on Luster paper.

Alex, i use a well calibrated monitor and printer profiles that work well with my printer. All that said there are still some times I am just not happy. I believe most of the time it is the difference between looking a an image on a back lit LCD monitor vs a reflected light lit print. Other times it is a matter of seeing something in the print that I was just not astute enough to observe on the monitor. I think we all go through these things.

I have a photo of a Savannah busker hanging in my pool room that is the 4th print to be hanging in the frame. As my knowledge and skill in B&W printing improves, I make a new 13 X 19 and take it back to the framer to replace the old photo.

Thanks all. I do have a calibrated monitor and that has helped solve some past issues. It is nice to know that not everyone gets it spot on from the start.