My first printing experience
zenbear
Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
I've always done my own printing on my Epson inkjet, but thought I'd try the SmugMug print service.... So I took a bunch of 4/3 format point+shoot snapshot images, cleaned them up in Lightroom, and ordered some 4x5.3 prints. Here's what I found.
1. Overall, they look good!
2. I selected "color correction on." The colors look fine, but it seems the print provider's auto-leveling algorithm decided to change a few exposures on me...pics with dark areas ended up with whitish skies instead of blue. Well, I understand there's only so much dynamic range available, so this happens, but I'd rather be the one in control. I realize I can turn color correction off, but that won't do me any good unless I can also get a print color profile for proofing--where do I find this? Or do I have to pay for "Pro" level to get one? Of course, proofing is a royal pain (made even worse with Lightroom as I'd have to round-trip through PS to accomplish it), so if you guys have a better idea (perhaps a sort of "rendering intent" dropdown with choices like "preserve shadows" or "minimize auto-leveling"), I'd love to hear about it.
3. Wtih two exceptions, all of my shots were 4/3, and the checkout system didn't require cropping. The vast majority were clipped at 100%, but a small fraction lost a few percent, causing the loss of features at the very edge of the shots. Why this inconsistency? It's not a big deal on these little snapshots, but I'd hate to see stuff disappear after I've spent time carefully cropping...
4. A couple of shots had more sharpening than I'd anticipated. I expect this is my fault, as Lightroom makes it really tempting to sharpen for the screen (that's what I'm seeing as I edit, after all), so by the time print sharpening is added things can get a bit "over the top.'" Do you offer sharpening choices for prints? I can't remember if I saw one...
Anyway, apologies for the long post; keep up the good work!
--Erik
1. Overall, they look good!
2. I selected "color correction on." The colors look fine, but it seems the print provider's auto-leveling algorithm decided to change a few exposures on me...pics with dark areas ended up with whitish skies instead of blue. Well, I understand there's only so much dynamic range available, so this happens, but I'd rather be the one in control. I realize I can turn color correction off, but that won't do me any good unless I can also get a print color profile for proofing--where do I find this? Or do I have to pay for "Pro" level to get one? Of course, proofing is a royal pain (made even worse with Lightroom as I'd have to round-trip through PS to accomplish it), so if you guys have a better idea (perhaps a sort of "rendering intent" dropdown with choices like "preserve shadows" or "minimize auto-leveling"), I'd love to hear about it.
3. Wtih two exceptions, all of my shots were 4/3, and the checkout system didn't require cropping. The vast majority were clipped at 100%, but a small fraction lost a few percent, causing the loss of features at the very edge of the shots. Why this inconsistency? It's not a big deal on these little snapshots, but I'd hate to see stuff disappear after I've spent time carefully cropping...
4. A couple of shots had more sharpening than I'd anticipated. I expect this is my fault, as Lightroom makes it really tempting to sharpen for the screen (that's what I'm seeing as I edit, after all), so by the time print sharpening is added things can get a bit "over the top.'" Do you offer sharpening choices for prints? I can't remember if I saw one...
Anyway, apologies for the long post; keep up the good work!
--Erik
0
Comments
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
-- Erik