Printing Photos

[Nikkie]

I Just don't understand how this or why this happened I took a photo of a flower on screen it looks washed but I am printing the good the bad and the ugly for myself and putting into folders so one day I can look back and see if I have improved In my post naked flower even tho it looked washed I still wanted to print for my own reference. but to my surprise it printed out beautiful a lot more vibrant and colour I know I touched one up in Paintshop pro but that was not the one I printed any clues as to why it would print out so much better then what is seen on monitor :confused013 My printer is a Canon 5250 Pixma this has not happened to any other photos they print out the way that they are. I did shoot this photo in Raw but converted it to JPEG

[kiwi]

What monitor ?

[kiwi]

I'm going to suggest printer is set to do an auto photo enhance though in your print settings

[ricktas]

We need to know a lot more about your setup to answer this one.

As Kiwi says, your printer software could be auto-enhancing the photos it prints. Your monitor might need calibration, there could be dozens of reasons/

[Nikkie]

Yes I understand what your saying Rick but others see the flower I posted in CC as been washed or not enough DOF in the photo I don't know how to explain more about the set up technical terms I use the software that came with the printer and print right from my computer to printer sorry I am not very technical in the calibration test that Kym posted I could see left to right black into grey and then white but if that was the case would not all my photo's I have printer turn out better then what I see on my computer screen :eek:

[screamer]

Nikkie, as Kiwi and Ricktas say there could be many reasons. I used to have huge problems with matching what I saw on my monitor with other monitors, let alone printers. I ended up solving all this but it is expensive. I now have a monitor designed for photography, which I profile and calibrate and then do the same with my printer, paper and ink.

Detailed color matching is an exacting business. All these areas need to match (monitor, printer-including color print ehancement drivers, paper and ink. You also need to be careful of color management in the photo software you use (I use Lightroom). You need a colorimeter to help you do all this (eg Xrite or Datacolor).

Without all this, it is a a bit trial and error. Some tips that may help.

1. If you have a standard monitor there are not too many adjustments you can make - but one thing for photos is not to have the monitor too bright or the contrast too high. Most monitors are set way too high for photos - and you may have this problem if the screen looks washed out - but it is printing OK.
2. Check your photo management software for any print colour enhancements.
3. Check your printer driver for print colour enhancements.

If your photo management software is colour enhancing the photo and your printer driver is doing the same - you can get mud colours - and certainly nothing will print that anywhere near matches the monitor. You should only use one colour management system (either your photo software or your printer - but not both). In my case Lightroom does all my colour management and I tell my printer (and Epson) to not manage colour at all.

Hope this helps - but colour matching is not an easy business.

[ricktas]

Agree with Screamer, you need to get your screen calibrated as a starting point.

Have a look at this sort of thing: http://www.qualitycamera.com.au/colorvision-spyder3-c-51.html?osCsid=ceb2e3ed1c2ccf2ff2179229dfcdc95b

Depending on which one you get you can also calibrate your printer as well.

Once your screen is calibrated, you can be assured that how you see your photo on your screen is as accurate as you can get it, and that I or any other member that uses a monitor calibrator will see your photo exactly (well as close to as possible) as you see it. Calibration creates a 'standard' so that anyone using a calibrated screen sees the same as the next person. This is a very simplistic view of calibration, but it explains what it does. Welcome to Photography, where there is always something to spend more money on :D

[Nikkie]

Ok thank you Rick Ill have a look at the link :)