Prints came out different than CD...

[Axel]

I recently had two B&W films developed and printed and put on a CD. The pictures on the CD look fine. But the prints are somewhat a little red (or is it yellow?)... They have almost an antique look... The paper is a good paper (at least I like it) it is not that gloosy paper where you leave visible fingerprints, but the other which is rather a little matt (don't know if that is the right word for it...). One film was a Kodak Tri-Max 400 and the other was a Fuji Neopan 1600 (this time the Fuji pics came out much better, so I have a feeling that the other lab was screwing it up while developing). The paper is Kodak Royal Paper (if that helps anything). But my main concern is why they didn't turn out the same on the paper as they did on CD? Does that mean that they will always turn out the same way on paper if I want more prints of a certain shot? Or can they change and be as full of contrast as they are on the CD?

Thanks.

 

[Big Mike]

Is it possible that the b&w images were printed on color paper? I have heard that will cause a color tint.

Your best bet is to ask the lab...and/or get them reprinted.

 

[Axel]

That sounds like very possible Mike! Thanks.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

You can get a similar effect if you print b&w pictures on a colour printer that hasn't been told to print in b&w. The printer tries to print black using colour which gives strange casts.

 

[Axel]

You can get a similar effect if you print b&w pictures on a colour printer that hasn't been told to print in b&w. The printer tries to print black using colour which gives strange casts.

I didn't print them out myself but the lab that developed the film... Could they have made the mistake of printin them out on a color printer?

 

[santino]

You can get a similar effect if you print b&w pictures on a colour printer that hasn't been told to print in b&w. The printer tries to print black using colour which gives strange casts.

I've experienced the same.

but do they print the pics (like digital pics) or do they really "enlarge" it in traditional way?

 

[Axel]

You can get a similar effect if you print b&w pictures on a colour printer that hasn't been told to print in b&w. The printer tries to print black using colour which gives strange casts.

I've experienced the same.

but do they print the pics (like digital pics) or do they really "enlarge" it in traditional way?

I honestly don't know Santino...

 

[Big Mike]

Did you take it to a place that would have done the developing themselves? Or just a regular photo hut?

Usually, these days, a typical photo place will send out the true b&w film to a lab to be developed.

They might have just had the negatives developed at the lab, then scanned & printed the images on their regular machine themselves, which would be on a color printer.

Best bet is to ask them. You could probably get much better results by taking them directly to the lab yourself or printing them yourself. The printing of b&w is very subjective so you will want to have as much input/control as you can.

 

[ksmattfish]

The pictures on the CD look fine. But the prints are somewhat a little red

But my main concern is why they didn't turn out the same on the paper as they did on CD? Does that mean that they will always turn out the same way on paper if I want more prints of a certain shot? Or can they change and be as full of contrast as they are on the CD?

Sounds to me like they are printing them on color paper, which is standard these days. A good printer should be able to get them to a more neutral tone.

A negative, particularly a BW neg, can always be "re-interpreted". There is no exactly "right" way to print a neg, just the way the photographer or printer prefers. Hopefully they think alike. You would probably see slightly different results between color prints printed at the same lab by different people (as long as they are not running the machine on auto), and with BW there is even less to clue the printer in on what is the "correct" way to print.

If they were being printed on real BW gelatin silver paper then contrast would be controlled by filters or paper choice. My experience is that very few labs offer many paper/contrast choices with machine printed BW.

Since many labs are printing with digital methods these days though, you should be able to ask them to adjust or match contrast if you provide a guide.

If you were printing your own in a traditional BW darkroom you would find that there are ways you could print each neg to arrive at many different looking prints: darken, lighten, burn, dodge, lower and raise contrast, even use low contrast in some areas, and high contrast in others.

 

[ferny]

You can get a similar effect if you print b&w pictures on a colour printer that hasn't been told to print in b&w. The printer tries to print black using colour which gives strange casts.

That might explain why mine come out green. Cheers.