Posted by Bryan Maltais on October 5, 2009 at 1:31 PM
I've never ordered large prints online (20x30+). The in town lab that I've been using charges about $50 for 20x30 and then charges about another $30 for a technician to color correct the image to their printer profiles, which I find outrageous. And when you don't let them color manage, the print shows up with some crazy colors.
Who is your favorite online printer that you've had success with?
How do you prevent for the colors in the print showing up looking completely different than what you see at home?
Posted by John Mumaw on October 5, 2009 at 6:19 PM
$30 to "color correct" an enlargement?!
Time to go elsewhere pronto!
I always use Mpix and have never received a bad print.
They charge half of what your local printer does. I just send them the files in sRGB color space and they match my calibrated workflow. When the option to allow them to color correct the image appears after placing an order, I always 'just say no'.
If your print doesn't match your monitor relatively closely, then the likely suspect is in your workflow.
Posted by Bryan Maltais on October 6, 2009 at 1:22 AM
Then Mpix I will try, thanks John.
Posted by David Bostedo on October 6, 2009 at 10:02 AM
Bryan - Hope this isn't all old knowledge for you, but here's some info...
If you're not using a color calibrated monitor, you may still get crazy colors no matter what printer you go with. There's nothing that says the color you see on your monitor by default is "correct". So if you've made adjustments, developed raw files, etc. you may get weird things in the prints. So that's the first thing to make sure you've done - calibrated your monitor as well as you can. (Even just doing some basic "by eye" calibration can at least give you an idea of what you expect...for that check out Adobe Gamma if you have PS, or maybe QuickGamma as a free utility.)
The second thing you can do is soft proof (assuming your monitor is calibrated). This will require software capable of doing soft-proofing (PS CS4, and QImage are the two I've used). The software will attempt to render the image the way it will look on paper, based on the printer/paper profile. The profile can be obtained from the print company, typically. I think MPix may offer them if you email them and ask. Otherwise, if you know what printer and paper the company uses, you can often get the profiles from the paper manufacturer. (It may not be quite as good as one made for the specific machine the printing company will use, but it should be close.) Then setting up soft-proofing should help give you an idea of what colors may be out of gamut, and where there might be other issues.
Posted by Bryan Maltais on October 6, 2009 at 2:20 PM
I've calibrated my monitor, but it's good to know that i can get the color profiles from mpix. Thanks David.
elcocolor.com has reasonable rates and I've been very happy with my prints from them. They're based in NJ so shipping is not the quickest to the west coast, but they're usually worth waiting for :).
Discussion
5 repliesWho is your favorite online printer that you've had success with?
How do you prevent for the colors in the print showing up looking completely different than what you see at home?
Time to go elsewhere pronto!
I always use Mpix and have never received a bad print.
They charge half of what your local printer does. I just send them the files in sRGB color space and they match my calibrated workflow. When the option to allow them to color correct the image appears after placing an order, I always 'just say no'.
If your print doesn't match your monitor relatively closely, then the likely suspect is in your workflow.
If you're not using a color calibrated monitor, you may still get crazy colors no matter what printer you go with. There's nothing that says the color you see on your monitor by default is "correct". So if you've made adjustments, developed raw files, etc. you may get weird things in the prints. So that's the first thing to make sure you've done - calibrated your monitor as well as you can. (Even just doing some basic "by eye" calibration can at least give you an idea of what you expect...for that check out Adobe Gamma if you have PS, or maybe QuickGamma as a free utility.)
The second thing you can do is soft proof (assuming your monitor is calibrated). This will require software capable of doing soft-proofing (PS CS4, and QImage are the two I've used). The software will attempt to render the image the way it will look on paper, based on the printer/paper profile. The profile can be obtained from the print company, typically. I think MPix may offer them if you email them and ask. Otherwise, if you know what printer and paper the company uses, you can often get the profiles from the paper manufacturer. (It may not be quite as good as one made for the specific machine the printing company will use, but it should be close.) Then setting up soft-proofing should help give you an idea of what colors may be out of gamut, and where there might be other issues.