Thread: Any printing help?

Trying to get a good workflow going and while I seem to okay with going from camera to computer, my printing seems to need some work. I used to send my prints out, but I want to have complete control from start to finish as I've gotten mixed results from sending them out + I like to have the print in hand without waiting. I'm new at this and my first pics came out looking underexposed and rather dull compared to what the computer was showing.(this alone could be the problem) I don't want to go through a bunch of ink and paper experimenting with different settings if I've simply got a setting wrong.
Anyhow, here's a quick run down of my work flow:

Camera is set for Adobe RGB.

Download into Aperture.

Viewing and editing on my Macbook Pro with retina that's been calibrated using Spyderpro4, however it only covers sRGB, about 99%.(A new NEC display is on the way)!

Do a little adjusting, usually not much more than a little color saturation, shadows, sharpening, cropping.

Onscreen proofing using the paper profile that I will be printing on(in this case it's Epson Premium Luster). This is what came with the printer, so I'm just using it for "test runs".

File "print image".

Choose my printer from the drop down list.
Choose the paper that I'll be printing on.

Printer "Epson Printer"
Presets "Default"
Then I click on "Layout" which opens a dialog box.
Printer settings>Media type>Photo paper>ultra premium photo paper luster.
Output resolution>1440 dpi
High speed is checked.
Hit the print button. Wait.

My first guess is that the retina monitor is showing me a brighter image than it really is and I should just wait for the new display to arrive.
Any help with this? Thanks.

Here's the pick I'm working with. It's not a keeper, but I like the spiders face, fangs and eyes. It's nice and bright on the monitor and dull and lifeless in print.
Thanks again for any help. This forum has been great way of gaining photo knowledge for myself!


Jumping Spider by Winginkris, on Flickr

Firstly... Which printer?

Gordon

Epson... should come with its own .icc profile. Have you tried using that for display, you'll find it there if you go into settings, I'm sure, unless its a really really old printer. Theoretically, then, what you see on screen should be what prints...

I've decided to send mine out if theres anything worth the expense and trouble... my printer is A4 and OK for a few home shots but not for camera club and not for "good" printing, and the lab I'll send to, which is in Melbourne, has downloadable profiles for its printers.

See also this article, which explains why it can be hard to match a monitor with prints:
Why Are My Prints Too Dark

Modern monitors, especially Apple ones, are much brighter and more contrasty that any paper can possibly be and are hard to control. Your new NEC may be easier to control than the Retina display. I have an older NEC and it's surprising how much it needed to be turned down to be able to calibrate it successfully.

great first post hughlook!

Epson 3880

Originally Posted by flash

Firstly... Which printer?

Gordon

Thanks. This printer should be good enough to get quality prints from, so I no longer will need to send out. That's my goal. I looked for my printer in the display settings, but didn't see it. I'm really starting to feel that it's just this retina screen being so bright and contrasty.

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

Epson... should come with its own .icc profile. Have you tried using that for display, you'll find it there if you go into settings, I'm sure, unless its a really really old printer. Theoretically, then, what you see on screen should be what prints...

I've decided to send mine out if theres anything worth the expense and trouble... my printer is A4 and OK for a few home shots but not for camera club and not for "good" printing, and the lab I'll send to, which is in Melbourne, has downloadable profiles for its printers.

Thanks, I had read this before. I'm finding that setting things up is quite confusing as I'll read something that will say to use sRGB settings for soft proofing, then another will say to use the printer/paper profile and another will say something else. I'll persevere as I always do and in time I'll get a good understanding of all this. I'm trying to find the most straight forward approach then educate myself more from that starting point.

Originally Posted by hughlook

See also this article, which explains why it can be hard to match a monitor with prints:
Why Are My Prints Too Dark

Modern monitors, especially Apple ones, are much brighter and more contrasty that any paper can possibly be and are hard to control. Your new NEC may be easier to control than the Retina display. I have an older NEC and it's surprising how much it needed to be turned down to be able to calibrate it successfully.