Touch-ups prior to sending for prints?

[dschwartz69]

Okay, to expand on my Printing Services thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39943&sid=edda09ff99525293564ad93 a3d962f34

I've got my original JPGs from my 10D and I've decided I want to print some 4x6 and a couple 8x10 or 8x12 prints. I've also decided to order from Ofoto, Snapfish, etc.

Being a Photoshop CS user, are there any 'typical' adjustments you might recommend to allow me to get the best prints from these types of vendors? I understand that digital darkroom is specific to each shot, but I'd like to know if any of you have learned, "when I send to xxxx for prints, I always need to increase my xxxxx by this much and decrease my xxxx by that much in order to get the best prints."

Again, I'm trying to leverage all the experience and money you folks have spent without having to do it the hard way (i.e.trial and error.)

I'm sure (or at least I'm hoping) there are a bunch of folks out there with similar thoughts?

Thanks again,

[IndyJeff]

David the best thing to do would be to contact whoever you will be sending the prints to. They may say "Adjust > Auto levels or they may say don't do anything, we have a enhancing feature that you can use before ordering or maybe they have an "enhance image" option that you can add when sending the files in.

Check with the printer.

[evilenglishman]

send one image and see how it comes back.

You can make adjustments to your monitor etc with the original on screen and the print in your hand.

If in doubt ask the print lab for a calibration image (both print and digital).

[blacktape]

The best tip from me would be: find a Frontier machine, which is calbrated daily (unlike kodak machines), send your files in sRGB and colors should come out good if your monitor is accurate.

Do not over sharpen your pics. I see this in a LOT of digital prints. In my experience, when sending for a print, it's better to go high on the radius (i.e: Amount 20%, radius 30 to 80) than high on the Amount. (i.e: Amount 100-150%, radius 0.8 to 1.x)

But definitely, it's a LOT safer to send sRGB files to labs like those.