TEST Patterns to calibrate camera

[pachelbel]

I have a S230 handy and I want to send some photos to the laboratory to get them printed.

I am going to retouch the pictures with Photoshop to adjust contrast, brightness, colors, sharpness and such.

As it's obvious, I want the printed copy as close to the original in my monitor as possible.

I've been advised by the labs that if I want the best results, I should make a first test print, and then, with the printed copy by the side of the monitor at daylight, calibrate the monitor to match the printed copy. Makes sense.

The machines at the labs have a max resolution of 254 DPI. So, I'm looking for some good test pictures to print.

What are the ones you would use or maybe have used before?

Are there some recommended test patterns I might download online?

[john_houghton]

One of the most popular test images is the Photodisc Test Target. A 2297x3600 jpeg version (1MB) can be downloaded from http://www.inkjetart.com/custom/ . A higher quality 3225x5055 jpeg version (3.7MB) can be found at http://www.deltaquest.net/download/PDITarget.jpg . Note that these are tagged as Adobe RGB 1998 images.

John

[Roger_Cavanagh]

It only makes sense, if you never want to use a different lab. Unless you use a colour managed workflow, you will be forever "adjusting".

For an explanation of printing with Photoshop, see http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps7_print/ps7_print_mac.htm. The same principles apply even though you are sending images out for printing.

Ask the lab, if they have an ICC profile for their printer. If they go "duh", and you are really serious about colour accuracy, I would reconsider using them.

Regards,