So i got some black and white prints back and was rather annoyed at the fact that it seemed the printing wasnt up to scratch. Instead of black and white, i got black white and green... the green being a fringing on high contrast areas and with some of my shots (especially one where grass is involved) it came up extremely badly (tho it seemed ok until i pointed it out to the few people i have shown it to).  Anyway - is this a problem with the printer, the quality of the printing process or (i cant really see how considering they were just black and white in the digitals) my fault with processing?

I used Bonusprint, which are supposed to be a reputable printshop (which magazine apparently gave them an award according to their website and i have used them in the past based on previous research)... anyone got any ideas... should i send them back or will they just say it is my fault or something?

Call them up and complain. If you order black and white you should get B&W. Green tinting is unacceptable. p.s. Did you look at it in natural (day)light?

IMHO I would not use any high street processor as you get what you pay for.Yes some are good but I always consider that they are pretty much hit and miss.

I always use a decent lab to print anything that I think worthy of printing.I use two labs in the UK on the net,saves all that driving to town,paying for parking and doing the same process again to collect the prints.

Eddie

I would tell them about it, it seems like an issue on their end. It could be just a mishap that no one noticed. If they put up too much of a fight, just take your losses and go find another printer.

I noticed that inshaala was wondering,

should i send them back or will they just say it is my fault or something?

Could you upload one of your images here -- that way we can doublecheck
that the image was just B&W.before you contact them. 

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Martin

Thanks, i thought it might be the print shop.  I am in a rush to get the thing sorted and am now not at home to srt things out for a week.  Suck :(

ejn - which online printshop do you use in the UK? because i used Bonusprint.com...

MGD - look at my most recent upload, that was taken from the same psd i used for the full size jpg i used, the green tint on the print is the most visible on the bench.

look at my most recent upload

Thanks for telling where I could get the image in question. 

I downloaded it from your gallery and saved the jpeg.  I then opened it
in Photoshop 7.  I got a warning message about the embedded color
profile "Adobe RGB (1998)" and chose to use it.  I then converted the
image mode to LAB -- this allowed me to check the 3 channels (Luminance
(or Lightness), A, and B)

There was no information in either of the channels A and B ... therefore
no color was present in the image.  ... and you can quote me to your printer. 

My best guess as to the cause of the problem is that they have either a
convergence error or an astigmatism problem in their printer. 

I have a friend who services photofinishing equipment -- too bad that he
works in the area near NY City not in the UK.  LOL

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Martin

You should convert to sRGB before sending to any printer.

I was happy to see that Radlafx added to the discussion by saying,

You should convert to sRGB before sending to any printer.

I just wish that he had explained why that would be needed ...

Inquiring minds want to know. 

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Martin

sRGB is eaiser for the printer to use. When I do prints for people, I open the image, and print as is. I may print the image twice for compairson, that way, i can tell if its the image or the printer.

Are we saying that the green fringe that inshaala saw on prints that were
returned from Bonusprint were because the jpeg images were coded using
color space "Adobe RGB (1998)"  instead of sRGB -- even though there was **
no** color information present in the jpeg files?????

Please keep going ... I like being confused.  grin

--
Martin

Are we saying that the green fringe that inshaala saw on prints that were
returned from Bonusprint were because the jpeg images were coded using
color space "Adobe RGB (1998)"  instead of sRGB -- even though there was **
no** *color information present in the jpeg files?????

Very probably !

For the mass production printers like Bonusprint you need to convert to sRGB their laser printers won't do it.  Only use aRGB for printers who specify they can use that profile.

Greetings,

I took a detailed look at the BonusPrint.com website.  I found a section
on Digital Print Quality (Click "Digital Prints" then "Quality"). While there,
I downloaded and read their Profile Usage Instructions PDF. 

Quoting from their document ...

     Set Working Color Space
     RGB: you can use sRGB, AdobeRGB or ColorMatch RGB

In addition, their "Resolution Chart" made good reading because it
confirmed what reliable authorities have indicated to me as minimum
pixels to get a good quality print -- and to get that kind of solid, reliable
information from some of my local labs has been like pulling teeth!

Following the links to film processing, I also found specific information
about film scan resolution -- they were even honest enough to say that
their film scan resolution was sufficient for standard sized prints but not
for making enlargements.  These are people who are understand, admit,
and talk about their limitations.  We should be so lucky as to find more
people and businesses like them. 

That having been said, I expect that when inshaala tells them about his 
green tinged prints, they will make it right. 

--
Martin

Thanks for looking into things Martin... i am pretty much convinced i didnt do anything wrong in the resulting jpg i sent to them.  I just need to sort things out with them and hopefully get a reprint.  Will ring on monday to try sort things out.  Thing is, one of the prints (take a look at Addressing the Putt in my gallery) was blindingly obvious in it's greenness... (the grass being high contrast in a very small space seems to be the problem) i just wonder what quality control they have at the lab.

Every company has a different tint to their B&W and often printing houses send your pics thru an automated 'adjustment' process. And it is really small but can seriously alter your print result.

I used Jessops 24hr service for my B&W shots and the exposure and detail please tone was perfect. Honestly no colour cast or tint, I was really happy.