Way2slk Loc: Bluffton SC

I use GIMP and Elements as my post processing for photos..... The problem I am having is the printing from the monitor looking fantastic, then go to print then it is too red, dark and not at all I am looking for. I would appreciate ANY advise and suggestions. I know there are some great people on here that do a Fantastic job of printing and presenting their photos.

Thanks folks,
Way2slk (Stephen)

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Your monitor settings must be calibrated, so that prints look like what you view on your monitor. Here is a link to many UHH articles on the subject.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/search-topic-list?q=monitor+calibration&sectnum=0&username=
Mark

Robeng Loc: California

Calibrate your monitor to your printer.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

You need to calibrate your Monitor using Munkis or Spyders.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Bingo. Check on datacolor.com for post Christmas specials. Or look on the Ebays for used gear.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I've never calibrated my monitor. Prints reflect light and screens project light. There will always be a difference, but it should be minor. After some experience with your printer you start to see (in your minds eye) how it will come out based on the screen preview.

An issue that some people have is resolving how the color is managed. My PP software defaults to it managing the color and so does my printer. If they are both on, colors get screwed up. I turn off color management in my software and have it on in the printer driver. That is backwards to the way most do it.

Another method I sometimes use is the printing software that came with the printer. I output a high quality JPEG from the PP software and then open it in the software that came with the printer.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Never make the mistake of trying to match the print to the display image. If you've ever watched a dog chase it's tail you'll understand.

A better way is to profile your display to a known and accepted standard - which is typically what happens when you use the Xrite and Datacolor hardware. The good thing is that most printers will provide reasonably close color to your display if you use OEM paper and ink. The same will be true if you have your prints made at a lab. The lab profiles their printing equipment daily. And they use the same industry-wide calibration targets.

You will also need to accept that a print is reflected while a display isn't. There will be differences.

Your first step needs to be to profile your display. When you do, there is a good chance that the prints will be too dark. The remedy is simple. Darken the display. For exactly how much, I would suggest using a value for the white clipping point of 80 candelas per sq meter. or 80 cd/m^2. If the prints are still too dark, then set the clipping point to 75 or even lower. But 80 should get you in the right ballpark.

Zazzy1 Loc: Northern Ca.

Good luck. We have done all of the calibrating and use a great printer great OEM paper and have been so unhappy with all of the prints, even prints I have done professionally that I have stopped trying to have anything printed or put on canvas. Ugh!

Bill_de Loc: US

In Elements under color management you have a choice of letting the printer or Elements take control. I find letting the program take control is better than leaving it up to the printer. Try both.

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TonyBot

Steven ... even an inexpensive ColorMunki, such as B&H and Adorama offer on deals occasionally, will make a world of difference - even on an inexpensive or older moniter. You will be amazed, and then say to yourself that "I should have invested in this a long time ago". I know, I did!

The Watcher

I’m not so sure the uncalibrated monitor is your problem. What you describe sounds more like the photo editor and the printer fighting for control. Ninety nine percent of my printing is done through Photoshop using a calibrated monitor. My printing might be done with anyone of my four printers. Whenever I switch I have to go into the printer driver and carefully reapply the settings that I want to use. Then I return to the Photoshop print setup page and declare that photoshop will manage the colors and what paper I’ll be using. If I screw up and don’t put Photoshop in charge the printer will add it's two bits and the print will come out dark and the colors will be off. This might be what you have going on.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

1) Your monitor must be capable of displaying at least 8-bits per color channel, 100% of the sRGB color space, and preferably more than 80% of Adobe RGB color space.

2) You must calibrate and custom profile your monitor with a colorimeter or spectrophotometer and software package. X-RITE and DataColor make them.

3) You must have profiles for your exact model of printer, exact brands and surfaces of paper, and exact brand of inks used. Those profiles must be installed in your computer OS and activated in your printer driver OR post-processing software (but not both!). Profiles come from paper vendors and manufacturers, or you can make your own.

Monitor profile aims:

Monitor black point 0.5 cd/m^2

Monitor white point between 80 and 120 cd/m^2

Monitor color temperature 6500K

Monitor gamma 2.2

Computer and monitor should be in a dimly lit, neutral gray environment with indirect 5000K lighting. Munsell N8 paint is ideal, but expensive.

Do all that *correctly* and your monitor image will closely match what comes out of your printer or lab. It can never be perfect (RGB additive color monitors and CMYK++++ subtractive color printers use totally opposite color models). But it can be close!

This discipline is both easier and more difficult than it seems... but TOTALLY worth it in time, money, paper, and ink savings if you print often or if you make large prints.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

No... Calibrate and profile your monitor to an international standard. Then do the same for your printer+ink+paper setup.

Color management is a system that involves:

Exposure
White Balance
All other image processing parameters (whether set in camera for JPEGs, or set in post for raw files)
Camera JPEG color space profile or raw color profile conversion to post-processing output color space profile
Computer’s working or connection color space profile
Monitor profile
Printer+paper+ink combination profile

All the above must be coordinated in harmony for accurate WYSIWYG color.

Closed loop calibration is far from accurate. It is incomplete, last-century methodology.