Frustrated!!!! Any Books to Help?

[PhotoMonger]

Ok, I've about had it with trying to make my prints match what I see on the screen. Now I know there are limitation such as the screen having higher contrast and color range then my printer. I've read through the posts and web pages with little luck. My best results have been from trying different settings.

I'm looking for some good books on the following subjects; Color, Light Room, and printing. Any suggestions?

Thank,
Ian

Also, what printers have people had good results from?
and.... do you prefer prints from a lab?

[Tony-S]

Ian,

Do you use a screen calibrator, such as the Spyder2Express? Also, have you installed profiles specific for the printer and papers that you use? These are essential for getting good matches. I use Canon's i9900 with my system and I get great results using the Spyder and Ilford and Red River papers using their profiles.

Also, if you use Photoshop are you letting it manage your printing?

[david_usmarine]

go to a lab, that way if it messes up they pay for the ink not you, so you know your getting good quality
i'll take a copy of lightroom too :) :)

[PhotoMonger]

Tony, I have not used a calibrator but I'm beginning to think I should. Maybe i'll go get one tonight. The only profile I have is for the one that came with the printer driver. Where can I get a different profile to match my paper/printer?

[Tony-S]

Tony, I have not used a calibrator but I'm beginning to think I should. Maybe i'll go get one tonight.

Best $80 I've spent was on my Spyder2Express. It will help you out quite a bit.

The only profile I have is for the one that came with the printer driver. Where can I get a different profile to match my paper/printer?

What is your printer model and what paper do you use?

[canonpink]

If you are going to spend money calibrating, get at least the Eye-one unit. It is around $200-$300, but you will be happy you did for the quality of the calibration is much more accurate.

[PhotoMonger]

Tony-S, I'm using a Epson Stylus Photo R340 with Kodak Ultra Premium Photo Paper (semi gloss). I plan to get a new printer in the future but this is what I have for now. Also, this is just the paper I picked up, any suggestions for something that produces better results?

cononpink, that may be a bit rich for my taste. I'll probably want to upgrade my hardware before I make that investment.

[Tony-S]

Tony-S, I'm using a Epson Stylus Photo R340 with Kodak Ultra Premium Photo Paper (semi gloss). I plan to get a new printer in the future but this is what I have for now. Also, this is just the paper I picked up, any suggestions for something that produces better results?

I think this is 90% of your problem. I have tried this paper and it is really, really awful. Have you tried printing to Epson photo paper? I am not familiar with their papers, but the installer software that came with your printer surely installed some printer profiles for their papers. If not, you might check Epson's web site for profile info for their papers.

My personal favorite paper is from Red River (http://www.redrivercatalog.com/) (Arctic Polar Satin (http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/66arcticpolarsatin.html) and Artic Polar Gloss (http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/66arcticpolargloss.html)). I don't see your printer listed on their profiles page (http://www.redrivercatalog.com/profiles/index.htm), so you might want to send them an email to see if they have one that's compatible.

Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl is also very good, as many on these forums will attest. You'll have to search their web page (http://www.ilford.com/) to see if they have a profile for the Smooth Pearl for your printer. My side-by-side eyeball comparisons of the Smooth Pearl and Arctic Polar Satin shows that the Red River paper is brighter (but there are other considerations when choosing a paper).

If you're planning to buy a new printer soon, you might want to investigate which paper manufacturers have profiles for the printer you are considering. If they have one, then after you buy the printer, you buy the paper and download the free profile. The profile needs to go in a specific place (on Macs it is HD/Library/ColorSync/Profiles, but I don't know where Windows keeps these). Once installed, you should have access to the profile from your image processing software's print dialog box. With Photoshop, you let Photoshop manage the printing from a pull-down menu in the dialog box, then another pull-down becomes available and you simply select the paper's printer profile that you just installed. After that, just click print! If you have a calibrated monitor, then you should get nice prints.

[PhotoMonger]

ahhh, well I'll try and get my hands on the recommended papers and give it a whirl. Hopefully that along with a calibrated monitor will shore up some issues. Thanks for the advice.

[canonpink]

cononpink, that may be a bit rich for my taste. I'll probably want to upgrade my hardware before I make that investment.

Actually, you have a good point. If you really cannot tell because the hardware is not the quality to reflect a better calibration, you wouldn't receive the full benefit. I am simply of the opinion that if you buy once (even if more expensive) you save the money loss of having to upgrade later and sell your first editions at a loss.

Let us know how it goes.

CP

[PhotoMonger]

Can anyone recommend a good book on color, both for processing and capturing.
I took a look at this one, Mastering Color Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book) , but I'm open to suggestions.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GEVNQ1T7L._AA240_.jpg

[jackies35]

go to a lab, that way if it messes up they pay for the ink not you, so you know your getting good quality
i'll take a copy of lightroom too :) :)

I agree with David! I use to print at home but it's too much work (reprints and wasting ink & paper, or the customer didn't like it or wanted a smaller size...etc)

Go to a lab (prints are abou $0.15 cents and i could get 100 prints for $ 15.00) and sell the prints (proofs 4x6). If they like it, they will order the bigger size.:)

[mLchambers]

The book which I found most useful for color management is:
Color Confidence by Tim Grey, Sybex inc 2004. I bought mine through B&H.

Take care,

[mLchambers]

As far as capturing color photos, check out Bryan Peterson's other good book:
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-See-Creatively-Bryan-Peterson/dp/0817441778

I enjoyed it,