What could I do to enhance my photos?

Question

Hi, I have a DSLR camera, a Canon to be more precise. The camera is amazing, thats all I have to say, but when I print my pictures they leave more to be desired..

The live view preview looks great, in the computer screen it looks great, but why does it differ in the print?

Colors looks a bit more saturated, contrasty if I'm not mistaken, a bit of sparkle in the eyes is lost in portraits, somehow the picture is dark at some points.. some details of what I saw in live view and computer screen look a bit lost of view on print, The print has sort of a muggy look rather than even. Do labs meddle with color reproduction or do I have to do something myself? I got the DSLR for better results, but the difference of a point and shoot printed photo isn't much noticeable.. well except the price difference between the cameras, (pardon my moderate sarcasm, I'm a bit frustrated)

Answer 1

Whew... you don't know it, but this is a HUGE, HUGE can of worms. There are reams of variables that can contribute to a print not matching what you see on either your camera monitor, or more importantly, your computer monitor.



Color profiling and calibration of systems are what you are dealing with, and it is a MAJOR topic and NOT something that is easy to explain, and there is seldom any "quick fix".



You are dealing with variables in how your camera interprets color, the color "space" in which it works, how your monitors display colors, how your home printer OR lab process the information, the printing process itself, and even the composition of the paper and how it reacts to ink / or laser, and even some papers can have color shifts in various light.



Then, of course, remember, a print is a REFLECTANCE object, while any computer monitor view is a PROJECTED light view. No matter how perfect the entire system may be calibrated, the two will never look 100% exactly the same.



Here is the most basic area for you to start. Begin with a calibration of your computer monitor. By the way, you really should not pay much attention to the monitor view on your camera. If you are going to look at anything there, it should be the histogram. The actual view of the scene or shot is practically meaningless.



So, get a computer monitor calibration hardware device as a start. I use the Colorvision Spyder 2 Express, which is relatively low cost and is easy to use and understand. But there are others out there that practically require a degree in color management to use properly. But just a good basic calibration with a basic tool will make a huge improvement.



So you will then know your monitor is displaying color as it should. If you do not have this most basic aspect down, you will be forever chasing your tail.



I do not bother with home printing for anything "serious". I only use outside labs, and YES, some are MUCH better than others. I have tried many, but always come back to Mpix. The prints are made by exposing photo paper with lasers. It is not a cheap ink jet print. The colors are always an extremely close match to what I see on my monitor, but as I said, you are viewing two different mediums between a print and a monitor, so don't expect the same look. However, you SHOULD be able to get very close, certainly enough to be quite satisfied.



Here is the link to Mpix:

http://www.mpix.com



You can search the net for tutorials and information on color management. If you are like me, the more you get into it, the more you realize you DON'T know, and how vast and complex the subject can be.



Good luck to you. I see you as doing nothing wrong, you are simply now seeing first hand the vast amount of variables that digital photography can bring with it, and yes, it can get very frustrating.



steve

Answer 2

Couple things to address here which have already been pretty well covered, which primarily is the calibration of your screen on the camera versus your monitor versus the photo printing equipment. The printer I use, Michiganphoto.com, gave me a disc and a print. There was a picture on the disc that was the same as the print. In lieu of buying a whole color calibrating system, which was like $300, they had me just make the picture on the screen look like the print they gave me. This worked remarkably well, I found out my monitor was much darker than I thought. Then there was making the LCD on the camera the same as the monitor, which was pretty close.



Next is the lab you use and the services you choose. I generally get stuff printed with my own color correction but if I am having any issues at all, I pay the extra money and have the lab take care of the color and any other issues that may be there with color, contrast, brightness or any of that stuff. They've always done a great job for me with everything. I just had a hardcover book made there. It was no extra for them to do all the color corrections. The book is great and I am really anxious to give it to my clients.



The better the lab, the better the prints. If they're worth anything to you, I would recommend that you pay the money, get the deluxe service. Get everything done once, and done right. You can't put a price on stuff like that sometimes.

Answer 3

What you see on the screen and what you see in the print won't agree unless you calibrate your system. As this involves time and equipment, it might be easier to shop around for a different lab. Back in the days of print film, a lot of quick & cheap photofinishers produced similarly disappointing results. If it's a custom lab, discuss the issue with them. They may be able to suggest a way to tweak your settings, though most good labs should be set up to produce a good print from a typical digital file.



You also have to consider that the screen images have the advantage of being luminous, while the prints require a light source. This brings up a couple of other issues: make sure you are viewing your prints in good light, and see if a different surface (glossy, maybe?) perks them up.

Answer 4

First thing to try is another lab I guess?



Edit (days later):

After everyone elses (valid) rants..



First thing to try is another lab



Calibration is one thing but the easiest thing is to take one or two photos and have them printed somewhere else to see how they come out without telling them what your concerns are. First thing because getting your camera, software, screen and the printer "tuned" and correctly calibrated is not the easiest thing and will take a lot of time and effort to even get it close to right. Not that you don't want or need that (calibration) but chances are another lab, or even another employee at the same lab, does a way better job and you can know that with 2 minutes work (+travel maybe) and a little money.

Answer 5

First off, make sure you have everything calibrated correctly. Your monitor and printer need to be matched or else the print will look different. If you're getting your photos printed at a lab, then it must be your monitor. If you're doing it yourself, it could be monitor, printer, or both. Plus, consumer ink jet printers aren't going to produce the same results as a professional colour lab printer.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_calibration

Answer 6

Depends on what kind of enhancement you want to do. If your just talking about boosting the color levels or the Black and white levels then my quickest suggestion would be to go .. Image>>Adjustment>>Levels or Curves or Hue and Saturation ... play around with diffrent options in the adjustments menu .. Anything beyond that you would have to be more spesific about what you wanted to edit.