Multiple questions on prints and processing

camiller

I'm a power account user and I'll be the first to admit that my photos are not the greatest. I'm new to photography and I'm really just learning.

I don't have photoshop, I use gimp. Anyway, about a week ago I received two prints I ordered through smugmug/ezprints. An 8x10 and an 11x14. As far as I can tell they came out looking the same as what I saw on my monitor. These were of sunsets, so they are somewhat dark since it was getting dark. However they are beautiful. I didn't do any processing on them prior to ordering.

I always process my photos before getting them printed (exception sunsets mentioned above) and I always process for color/saturation, contrast and sharpness. I ordered 33 prints yesterday but I didn't know that ezprints adjusts the photos. That is until yesterday after placing my order. My fault I didn't know about the color correction feature in the control panel. I checked and it was set to "Yes" at the time of my order.

Any ideas of what I can expect to see? Is it possible that the photos will come out okay? Or should I expect to see some very over processed images.

All the original photos looked washed out, too dark or low contrast. Should I use those for printing and let ezprints handle corrections?

I guess it comes down to ordering test prints for everything. Which seems like waste of money.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Andy

camiller wrote:

I'm a power account user and I'll be the first to admit that my photos are not the greatest. I'm new to photography and I'm really just learning.

I don't have photoshop, I use gimp. Anyway, about a week ago I received two prints I ordered through smugmug/ezprints. An 8x10 and an 11x14. As far as I can tell they came out looking the same as what I saw on my monitor. These were of sunsets, so they are somewhat dark since it was getting dark. However they are beautiful. I didn't do any processing on them prior to ordering.

I always process my photos before getting them printed (exception sunsets mentioned above) and I always process for color/saturation, contrast and sharpness. I ordered 33 prints yesterday but I didn't know that ezprints adjusts the photos. That is until yesterday after placing my order. My fault I didn't know about the color correction feature in the control panel. I checked and it was set to "Yes" at the time of my order.

Any ideas of what I can expect to see? Is it possible that the photos will come out okay? Or should I expect to see some very over processed images.

All the original photos looked washed out, too dark or low contrast. Should I use those for printing and let ezprints handle corrections?

I guess it comes down to ordering test prints for everything. Which seems like waste of money.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Order #? We guarantee everything so let me check it out

camiller

Hi Andy,

I ordered 33 - 4x6 with lustre finish. The order number is: 1164973.

Below is the email I sent to smugmug about color correction after I saw a post referencing it (color correction and ezprints.) I don't know if I ordered before getting a reply or after. I do know I didn't read the email before ordering. Otherwise I think I would have asked more questions or changed my order. Anyway, It's my fault and I was just wondering what I could expect with the prints and what is the best way to handle printing in the future. I'm sure at least some of them will come out okay.


Hi Cynthia

Thanks for contacting SmugMug. Yes, you can order from your own SmugMug site, and have the orders drop shipped to other (customers) addresses.
You would need a different mechanism for collecting payment and orders (presumably your other web site).

You won't really be able to answer the question about using color correction or not without buying some test prints. We have a set of photos that we can supply prints from but if you want to know about your own processing, rather than just a comparison to your monitor, you need to order some of your own prints I believe. The color correction On/Off button is in the control panel on your account.

The lab (EZPrints) does color correction via an automated process. They do not evaluate the files and make any individual decisions about how to correct them. Rather they automatically increase exposure, saturation and sharpening on all images.

Please let us know if you have any other questions. We are always happy to help.

Ann
SmugMug Support Hero

Cynthia Miller wrote:
> Hey Support Heroes,
>
> I'm Cynthia, my site is http://cynthiamiller.smugmug.com, and I'm using Firefox on Windows.
>
> The question is: I have a Power account. Can I use smugmug to print my photos that I sell on another site and send them to the buyer directly?
>
> Also, I adjust my photos before having them printed because some of them look washed out... Should I do this or not? If not how do I turn on color correction so the lab will adjust them for me.
>
> If I've already color corrected them will the lab fix my mistakes when I order prints?
>
> Thank you for your help!
> Cynthia

Andy

I think they'll look great - if not, holler to us because we guarantee every single print. We'll redo 'em at our cost

camiller

Thanks Andy.

I appreciate that.

camiller

Hi,

I have a Power Account.

I received my 4 x 6 test prints (from ezprints) and they came out awesome looking!!! I have a couple of questions though.

1.) If these 4 x 6 prints came out looking super can I safely assume that any other prints (from the same files/same photos) no matter what size or finish will come out the same way? ** I had color correction turned on. I suppose I should leave it on if I order more of the same prints? Right?

2.) If I order through Smugmug would the person receiving the prints get an invoice or any other type of record indicating actual cost of prints, advertisement... with their photos.

Thanks,

Andy

camiller wrote:

Hi,

I have a Power Account.

I received my 4 x 6 test prints (from ezprints) and they came out awesome looking!!! I have a couple of questions though.

1.) If these 4 x 6 prints came out looking super can I safely assume that any other prints (from the same files/same photos) no matter what size or finish will come out the same way? ** I had color correction turned on. I suppose I should leave it on if I order more of the same prints? Right?

Yes

2.) If I order through Smugmug would the person receiving the prints get an invoice or any other type of record indicating actual cost of prints, advertisement... with their photos.

Thanks,

No.

camiller

Andy wrote:

YesNo.

Last questions,

In regards to them receiving an invoice, cost of prints... does it matter that I have a power account?

I sell my photos from another website is that a problem ordering them through Smugmug and having them drop shipped?

Thanks,

camiller

Please, just two more questions.