Frusterated with printing

ChasP505 wrote in post #11873938
http://tv.adobe.com …soft-proofing-your-image/

Thanks. 8 minutes and 38 seconds of my life well spent. Can't always say that.

This has been exactly what I have been needing. Thank you folks for your time.

haroldwilson wrote in post #11873996
Thanks. 8 minutes and 38 seconds of my life well spent. Can't always say that.

Sounds like something my wife would say...

suecassidy wrote in post #11873446
This issue makes my brain bleed. I'm a photographer, not a scientist and since having made the move from medium format film to digital some years ago, I found the learning curve on this stuff to be very difficult. My photography is great, but the computer side of things is frustrating beyond belief. I've read hours and hours of stuff, trying to figure it out, but some things just don't sink in. I've tried to find classes on it, but no such luck. I have great computer gear, a 27" iMac and 17" macbook pro, but that means nothing if you don't know what to do with it. So I feel your pain...

Found this.
http://www.sjphoto.com​/color-management.html

No knowledge of the guy, but it might be interesting.

MrAl wrote in post #11873368
It's kind of like what you see when you walk into a store with 30 TVs all on and all look different. If only 1 was on it would look great but with 2 more on, 1 on each side of it it will look off to the others.

This is a great illustration! It would pay to walk through a "big box store" just to see this and take it in -- and let it soak in how much variation there is and why, if you really need to match prints you need to delve into proper color management! Otherwise, well, you take the roll of the dice!

suecassidy wrote in post #11873446
This issue makes my brain bleed. I'm a photographer, not a scientist and since having made the move from medium format film to digital some years ago, I found the learning curve on this stuff to be very difficult. My photography is great, but the computer side of things is frustrating beyond belief. I've read hours and hours of stuff, trying to figure it out, but some things just don't sink in. I've tried to find classes on it, but no such luck. I have great computer gear, a 27" iMac and 17" macbook pro, but that means nothing if you don't know what to do with it. So I feel your pain...

You know, I pondered this, and the analogy I see is that of the film photographer and the darkroom technician/artist -- you can take one one or the other. or if you want to ensure that the whole process produces exactly what you want, you follow the path of Ansel Adas, etc, and do both. There's just no other way.

So, in the film days I didn't have a darkroom or the requisite skills, and since I primarily shot color that was just not an option. I had to trust in a lab (or a One Hour Photo type of place) and believe me there were times I had to send a negative in to be re-printed, and then there were most times when I just shrugged my shoulders and accepted that things were OK if not the best, and that was just from prints and had not touched the matter of developing the film at all.

Today, we can have full contol of the development process at our computers, but this challenge here is to mesh that process with the print, either our own printer or an external print provider -- the process is pretty much the same and the challenge is the same -- how can I develop the "film" and then produce a print that is not only pleasing to the eye but also be as "accurate" to the eye compard to my electronic display as possible so I'm not just rolling the dice?

In other words, we have to either learn the digital darkroom or leave it to othere. Imagine being back in the film days and taking on the task to learn how to develop not just black and white but color film and master that process to consistently go from undeveloped film to producing a print that truly reveals your vision as a photographer...wow, that thought makes my brain bleed!