Color problems

[burstintoflame81]

I just printed my first couple of pics at Costco at 300dpi and noticed that they are much brighter and more Vivid on my screen. (LG 23" 1080p LCD )

I use Corel Paintshop, but they appear the same when I open them in any other viewer. Is this because I need to get some sort of monitor calibration tool? Or could it be because of some sort of print quality? The clarity of the print and everything looks good, its just not as bright. It is on a non-glossy paper though as well.

Any advice would be greatly welcome. Thanks. I guess I could scan the image and see if it looks the same after I scan it.

 

[burstintoflame81]

UPDATE: I scanned the print into the computer and it looks just as dull and muted as the print, so I am guess its not a calibration problem, but more of a print problem? Maybe I have to get glossy in order to have the bright vivid colors?

 

[burstintoflame81]

I guess I am going to go with a Spyder, hopefully that fixes the problem.

 

[musicaleCA]

LCD screens are much brighter than white paper. This means that a file at 50% brightness will look brighter on your screen than it will on their paper. It's Costco, not a printing lab. They aren't going to pay close attention. Specify that you want them to print the images at a higher brightness, or do it yourself by upping the brightness in the image before you give it to them.

Edit: This is NOT a colour calibration issue. The Spyder won't fix your issue.

 

[burstintoflame81]

I understand that its Costco, but it doesn't sound like a very consistent way of doing things. if I just arbitrarily overdo the brightness on my screen so that it shows up in the prints. Do I just take stabs in the dark everytime I need prints, and then throw away half the prints I pay for when they don't come out representative? I thought that was the whole point of the monitor calibration?

How would a printing lab guage how bright to make my file any differently than Costco? Should I get prints through a different company? What specifically should I ask for when ordering prints "crank up the brightness" ? Or is there a technical term I should specifically ask for so that I know there isn't any mis-communication?

As always, thanks for the help.

 

[musicaleCA]

I know at the local Staples I have to ask for 95% brightness, given the luminosity of my screen relative to their printer and the paper I generally print on. At least when I'm trying to render photos (and yes, I know that it's Charmin paper with equal print quality; I don't do prints there, just contact sheets). It's on a printer-to-printer basis really. To get true matching in this regard you need to calibrate your monitor, printer (expensive), and viewing conditions (complicated). I would suggest asking for one image to be printed on the smallest size possible at varying brightness settings on the printer. Then pick the one you like and note it every time you get prints there. I lucked-out and talked to a guy who's actually done serious printing before. Most people at these stores haven't.

 

[IgsEMT]

Few month ago, shot a wedding where client ONLY wanted a CD/DVD with images. Client got what client wanted. Few weeks ago, the guy called the studio & couldn't figure out why his images looked crappy and dull when he printed them at Costco... :lmao:

 

[burstintoflame81]

I had a 4x6 printed today at Walgreens on glossy. It came out much closer to what I see on the screen. So I guess its all in the printers. I know there was some printer profile section on Costcos site but I didn't bother looking.

 

[choudhrysaab]

this might have something to do with monitor caliberation with your printer. i know in Photoshop you can caliberate the monitor with your printer so the colors you see on the screen show up exactly on th paper.

 

[musicaleCA]

this might have something to do with monitor caliberation with your printer. i know in Photoshop you can caliberate the monitor with your printer so the colors you see on the screen show up exactly on th paper.

Exactly? No. Imperceptibly close? Yeah. There's always going to be something just a little mucked-up in the CMYK conversion. Bloody subtractive colours. :greenpbl: