Prefer Print of Monitor View?

[CanadianMe]

This got me thinking, I was in a thread here and I thought the photos would look better printed and they thought they looked better on a monitor. I have always preferred printed printed media to viewing on a computer monitor. I just think they have more warmth and depth. How do others feel, are photos as better viewed on a monitor or are you like me and think photos look better printed?

 

[usayit]

Perhaps its just me, but I feel that a photo's final destination is a print not a monitor. Assuming your monitors are calibrated correctly, an image that produces a good print should also look good on monitor. The opposite is not true.

 

[Jedo_03]

But I think that the PRINT/MONITOR debate is a relic of our recent past...
Not that many years ago - the PRINT was "it"...
You shot your roll of film and took it along to the chemist's and a few hours later you collected your prints - 24 or 36 - glossy or matte - good or bad - paid for... and this is STILL the preferred method for the majority of 'ordinary' people who now shoot DIGITAL...
They go along to their local DIGITAL vendor and load their cards into a machine (suspiciously looking like a one-armed-bandit-gambling-machine) and press a few buttons - and voila... collect their PRINTS over the counter when they finish their grocery shopping....
People like PRINTS...
But - WAIT... DIGITAL PHOTO FRAMES are becoming cheaper by the day.
Locally, I can buy a 2Gb DIGI-FRAME to display 10x8 inch images for about $150 AuD... I can also buy a KEYRING capable of showing 80 1.5 x 1.0 inch images - equivalent to a Granny-Brag-Album... Only $20 AuD
I don't know too many people who will willingly sit down in front of my monitor and view 120Gb of my images - but they are VERY willing to look at my DIGITAL images on DIGI-FRAMES, HD/Plasma/LCD TV's, Keyrings...
Interesting though - they see a shot they like... and they say "ooh - can I have a PRINT of that one...!!"
Yeah - they like to VIEW images on digital media... But they seem to levitate towards the PRINT...
Interesting also - as photographers... we levitate towards the PRINT as our preferred sales media... And even if we "sell" them the photo-CD, the customer will PRINT the images...
Nostalgia isn't the same as it used to be...
Jedo

 

[Helen B]

Aside from my preference for prints for many other reasons, there's no contest in terms of image quality even at the size of most monitors.

Best,
Helen

 

[mrodgers]

I don't have the money to buy enough digital photo frames to hang all over the walls :mrgreen:

Ok, I actually haven't printed anything yet. I do the photography for me.... and for my kids when they are on the computer. I have a wallpaper changer, so I sort through and reduce the images down to my desktop resolution. The kids like to see what image will be up when they are done playing on the computer.

Most of my photos get downloaded to the computer, are looked at when sorting or processing, then never get loaded for viewing again.

I have some shots that I want to print out for the walls. I have many of the kids, but also have a few landscapes I'd like to print out. I bought my camera, I have the few I haven't yet had printed, then we got our $865 heating bill for 1.5 months of heating. If that's the way it's going to be from now on (shouldn't be, it will probably be increased by 50% by next heating season) I doubt I'll be spending the cash on trivial stuff like printing out photos for the walls.

 

[caspertodd]

then we got our $865 heating bill for 1.5 months of heating.

YIKES! I hope that is for a business and not your home!

 

[Mike_E]

I bought my camera, I have the few I haven't yet had printed, then we got our $865 heating bill for 1.5 months of heating. If that's the way it's going to be from now on (shouldn't be, it will probably be increased by 50% by next heating season) I doubt I'll be spending the cash on trivial stuff like printing out photos for the walls.

Hi, not to intrude or anything but try here. http://www.hytechsales.com/insulating_paint_additives.html

I have 0 interest in this company, neither have I had occasion to try their product but you might give them a look.

 

[mrodgers]

YIKES! I hope that is for a business and not your home!

Nope, that's home. The problem is, I've been in the walls and there is hardly any insulation. The house needs the siding, and underlayment replaced and insulated. The unfortunate part is, when you are stretched a few hundred dollars past your monthly income without the heating bill, there's no money to do the insulating.

No pay increases for the last 5 years means no money for the last 5 years..... Finally got a decent pay increase this year, but it doesn't cover the previous 5.

It's rough. I'd like to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it's very dim..... Only 2 more years until both kids are in school all day. That will sure help a bit.

 

[Jus7 A Phas3]

Prints all the way.

 

[RyanLilly]

then we got our $865 heating bill for 1.5 months of heating.

Had a bill for $230, in a 850sq ft apartment, I would come home from work, roommate not home, thermostat at 80º! I live alone now, dont use heat don't use AC, compact fluorescents, utilities=$16-20 much better.

I think what I might miss in the near future, is some family get together when someone wants a photo of so and so and you end up just having a drink and looking through shoe boxes full of photos for and hour or two. You cant as easily pass around a few computer monitors as you can a stack of prints.

 

[mrodgers]

Had a bill for $230, in a 850sq ft apartment, I would come home from work, roommate not home, thermostat at 80º! I live alone now, dont use heat don't use AC, compact fluorescents, utilities=$16-20 much better.

[off-topic]Ha ha, the thermostat in our house when we bought it was still the old box with the slider on the bottom. It's right next to the closet where our coats are. We were going out for the day, get the kids all bundled up, their all heading out the door as I grab my coat, whip it around my shoulders, and off we go.

We come home, open up the door, and a heat wave hits us like a ton of bricks! Seems my coat as I swung it around my shoulders hit the thermostat adjustment and slapped it the entire way up. It was 98 F with the furnace still bustling like there's no tomorrow! :stun: ale:

We've since replaced it with a digital thermometer.[/off-topic]

 

[rubbertree]

This got me thinking, I was in a thread here and I thought the photos would look better printed and they thought they looked better on a monitor. I have always preferred printed printed media to viewing on a computer monitor. I just think they have more warmth and depth. How do others feel, are photos as better viewed on a monitor or are you like me and think photos look better printed?

It depends I think. I have always preferred prints until last year when I bought to prints off separate photographers. Both looked amazing online but the prints? Meh. Softer and noisier on print but crisp and clear online.

 

[photogincollege]

While I much prefer prints from the photo printer to the monitor, those prints still dont match the quality of a real print from my enlarger from a negative, just cant beat that!