Forum: Photography


Subject: Printing Yellows

inshaala opened this issue on Aug 21, 2006 · 17 posts


gradient posted Wed, 23 August 2006 at 2:29 AM

Ran into the same problem a little while ago....took some shots to the place I've been going to for a few years....shots came back bluish.  Then did a little test with the same shots...tried the Kodak machine and also tried another local vendor's overnight service.

Results....NONE of them matched what I saw on my monitor.

Kodak Machine:...they obviously run a set routine that sharpens (read OVER sharpens, esp if you've already sharpened it))...they also came out with a yellow tinge and oversaturated.

Overnight service: sharpening was Ok, but also came out a bit yellowish.

So, I went back to my original place...the ones that came back bluish.....got the long song and dance about how digital cams can't capture all the colors as we see them, how I should adjust my monitor ( my monitor IS calibrated!), but when push came to shove, I found out that the person adjusted my images to his/her taste!!!!  I politely asked them to re-print them with NO adjustments.  Everything came back perfect!

My feeling is that most of these shops/machines are set-up for the "point and shoot" family vacation shots straight out of the cam. They are not designed for those of us who have done our own adjustments to the digital images..and Inshaala is correct with his assessment...When asked, the staff barely know how to operate the machines, most know very little about color profiles/printer profiles/resolutions/even general digital photography or digital cams!

Anyway, after all this....I now go to my original shop and specifically tell them to PRINT AS IS...DO NOT TOUCH!  Prints come back the way I want them.

Agree with Onslow about the printer profiles....lots of trouble for little gain.  Best bet is to ensure that your monitor is calibrated, then ask to print as is.

Do a little test in your city...take the same image to a few different print shops, just let them print with no advice from you.  It would be interesting to hear your results.

In youth, we learn....with age, we understand.