Shel B

I am not very computer literate. I struggle with post camera processing. I normally shoot Raw images and process them using Aurora HDR and Picassa. Here's my problem. When I process an image so that it looks good on my pc screen it shows much more contrast when viewed on my large screen tv. It also look different when it is printed. I print larger prints, up to 30x40 inches. Is there any way to resolve this problem so that what I see on my pc screen is what I see on my large tv and the final print?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

1) Create test prints like 4x6 and confirm the results, adjust as needed, before ordering a large print version.

2) Purchase a tool to calibrate your monitor so that what you see online is 'controlled' for brightness and color accuracy. Your test prints should begin to match to your monitor.

3) Use a professional lab and consistent paper stock. Via your test prints, consider if slight modifications specific to the print files improve things, such as additional sharpening or slight brightness adjustments.

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

Yes. It's called color management and it's achieved by using the right hardware and calibrating it properly. How do you calibrate your displays? How is the printer calibrated and color managed? This would be an appropriate text on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Color-Management-REALW-ebook/dp/B004P8J1OY/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=color+management&qid=1589900168&sr=8-6

And this for example would be the kind of tool you would need that can calibrate a display and printer together: https://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-EOSTUDIO-i1Studio/dp/B076PN4PMG/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?dchild=1&keywords=i1photo+colormunki&qid=1589900296&sr=8-2-fkmr1

Joe

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Do all your processing in 16-bit space using either Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB and keep in TIFF format until processing is done. If you are printing yourself then you can print the 16-bit data, if you are sending to a bureau for printing then export as an 8-bit sRGB, but NEVER compress the original to 8-bit. Just my $0.02.

Your mileage may vary.

TonyBot

Both of the above, as well as the fact that most TVs have a highly boosted contrast ratio as well as a boosted "vivid" color response.

You definitely have to get some sort of calibration tool for the monitor on your computer. Once the monitor is calibrated (and done so on a regular basis - ie every two weeks or so), you will most likely get prints that are consistently matching.

There are some other technical details, such as color spaces and file format, but the first step is calibrating your monitor. Check out BandH, et al, and be prepared to spend at least $100. It will be an investment worth much more than its original cost.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I don't use test prints, calibration tools or a professional lab. I try to make "art", not scientific evidence.

I think you can teach your "minds eye" to analyze and interpret what you see on a glowing screen so that you can make adjustments allowing you to predict what a print, with reflected light, will look like. I don't think you can match the "mind's eye's" reactions between the mediums of glowing screen and paper under viewing lights. It become necessary to figure out that when prints are the goal, the screen needs to be used as a preview tool. You can't make an image perfect for both screen and paper. You will and should end up with two versions.

In Lightroom Classic's Print module there is an option to make specific adjustments applied only to the printed version of an image.

(I only print to 13x19. If I do make a mistake and have to do it over, it is only a $5 mistake!)

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

Standardize as much as you can. Printer paper can have a wide variety of expression - so even if you get everything else dialed in, different papers will produce different results. But a good start would be to profile your display so at least that is correct. Then it will be easier to track down the other variables that are affecting the outcome. BTW, if you create a workflow that works for a large screen TV, there is a really good chance it won't be right for the print made on your home photo printer, and that won't be right for the print made at a print lab that uses color management, and so on.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

If I have a really good image (doesn't happen all that often), I try to make a really nice print! That usually means that I have many test prints, til I'll get what I want. I do have my monitor calibrated, so I can judge pretty reliable what I will get with a print. I do a test print, evaluate it, make the adjustments needed, do another test print, etc., til I'm there!

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

It’s not about “scientific evidence”. It’s about using available tools that give you better and more consistent control over your “art”.

Fayle Loc: Seward, Alaska and Rionegro, Colombia

I agree with CHG_Canon. In addition, it helps to be able to control the ambient light in the room where you do your post processing. Be consistent with the ambient light conditions. Your room should have the same light at midnight as it has on a bright sunny day at noon.

wds0410 Loc: Nunya

Just went through this process with Adorama Printique. I uploaded 20 jpegs to their site and ordered 6x9 prints on metallic paper because the wife and I have decided to print on metal (personal preference) and we thought that would give us an idea how things would look first. A week or so later the prints arrived and they were all decidedly dark. At first I thought it was my monitor's brightness and the whole backlit issue (photos on displays appear much brighter than prints because light comes from behind rather than reflected with prints).

I thought the solution would be to dim the monitor (I use a Mac and normally keep brightness around 75-80%) to approximately 50% brightness and reprocess the images would solve the problem. Before I did this I emailed Printique and told them of the problem and asked for some guidance for future printing. They responded within a couple of hours that they had a glitch with their process and would be reprocessing my photos and sending them again.

So, I'm not sure how this will be resolved. One note, I did not have any problem with the colors. They all looked fine. Printique offers a color correction option which I did opt for. A

As for processing I use Luminar 4 which doesn't offer a print module a la Photoshop or LR. I'm strictly an amateur so the only people to please are me and the wife.

Fayle Loc: Seward, Alaska and Rionegro, Colombia

See my post above. Your monitor should be calibrated and your post processing should all be done under the same ambient light conditions.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I agree that the art of photography uses more "tools" than most, if not all, forms of art. Which do you use to match screen to print? Datacolor? X-Right? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

You're dealing with ICC color management failures.

Assuming you have a monitor suitable for photo editing (NOT a gaming monitor or a cheap office monitor), the next thing you need is a monitor calibration and profiling kit. These are made by X-Rite and Datacolor.

First, calibrate AND PROFILE the monitor. This REQUIRES a calibration kit. You cannot do it by eye if you care at all about getting consistent results from other devices. Most monitors are set for maximum brightness and contrast when you buy them. Those settings are COMPLETELY inappropriate for use in photo editing. You don't need brightness. You need color accuracy. The cal kit will help you get the right look quicker than any other method.

Try these aim points, which you can usually set in the calibration software, which will then direct you to adjust the monitor, based on feedback from a probe placed on the screen. (These will make sense once you buy and use a kit.)

Black Point = 0.5 candelas per square meter (cd/m^2)
White Point = 80 to 120 cd/m^2 (I like 105, which matches the PPA viewing standard for competition prints)
Color Temperature 5000K to 6500K (5000K at around 80 candelas per square meter; 5800K at 105 cd/m^2, 6500K at 120 cd/m^2.)
Gamma 2.2 (NOT 1.8, even on a Mac)

If you have multiple monitors to calibrate, use exactly the same aim points on each monitor.

Once you have the monitor accurate, you can adjust your images, and expect that they will print well and look good on other devices.

Color management is a system. When you export or save files to print or to view on another system, they must be written into a "standard color space." The most common one is sRGB. Start there. Unless your monitor is GUARANTEED to display over 96% of Adobe RGB, do not use that color space. Unless your lab or printer asks for another color space, stick with sRGB. It is the standard used by most commercial photo labs and the entire Internet, and nearly all office printers.

If your TV does not display sRGB images correctly, try saving them in Rec 709 or HD 709 or SMPTE-C or some sound-alike variation of these color spaces. If you plug a USB stick into your smart tv and view sRGB images, there will be a profile mismatch. If you adjust the TV to compensate, TV images will not look right...

'709 or SMPTE images may not look right if printed, but they may look better on your TV.

If you use a video editor to create a slide show, it will probably do the sRGB to Rec 709 color conversion for you during rendering. iMovie and Final Cut Pro X on the Mac certainly do.

If you are printing at home, you should be sure to use the printer manufacturer's inks and papers. Otherwise, you will need profiles for your printer that are made for use with the specific third party ink set and/or paper combination you are using! Most printer manufacturers build their own color management into the printer driver, so if you use their materials, you'll get accurate results. If you buy from Moab, Red River, Magic, Hahnemuhle, Harmon Galerie, or any of the other fine paper manufacturers, you will need to download and install their profiles for your printer, or buy an advanced cal kit to make your own profiles.

If you send files to a lab, you can get the very best results by adjusting color in reference to the lab's printer profile. Get the profile from the lab, install it, and use it as a "proofing" profile during final image adjustment. It should give you a better approximation of "what I see is what they print."

The "how to" mechanics of all this are described on the X-Rite and Datacolor web sites in far more detail. Scour their sites for white papers, videos, training materials, and instructions.

I hope that helps.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"Assuming you have a monitor suitable for photo editing (NOT a gaming monitor or a cheap office monitor), the next thing you need is a monitor calibration and profiling kit. These are made by X-Rite and Datacolor."

Thanks Bill!

Then there are those of us that can't stay in one place long enough to have a proper computer and monitor. So, we buy gaming laptops that are sufficient for both still and video processing. Between my Panasonic hybrid camera and my Lenovo Legion laptop, I have everything in a compact, under 10 pound system. The 50 pound printer does stay behind.