tempaussie

I have sold hundreds of photos at shows that I have gotten printed with Sharpprints out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Just wonderful folks to work with, photos are usually printed the same day I upload them. I do sizes from 5x7 through 20x30, shot with two Nikons: old D5300 with 18-400mm and D500 with Tamron 150-600mm (G2)

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Probably the best place to get that is on the Datacolor and X-Rite websites. Both have various white papers and other training aids that explain the process.

The simple overview for raw workflow is

12-bit or 14-bit (per color channel) Raw Capture —>
Post Processing Application Camera Profile —>
Initial color conversion to a wide gamut color space in a 16-bit per channel intermediate bitmap—>
Conversion to 8-bit or 10-bit monitor profile for viewing —>
Image adjustment in reference to that calibrated, profiled monitor* —>
Image export conversion to 8-bit JPEG in sRGB color space —>
Lab printing conversion from sRGB to printer+paper+process profile (or printer+paper+ink profile) —>
Finished print

*Image adjustment may include many parameters such as blacks, shadows, exposure, highlights, whites, white balance color temperature and hue, contrast, saturation, sharpening, etc. AND it may be done in reference to a "proofing profile" or "simulation profile" which is usually the TARGET printer/paper/ink or printer/paper/process profile.

For JPEG workflow from the camera, just note that all image adjustment happens before exposure, by setting the camera menus and controls.

The finer points would take days to explain... But if you concentrate on the above, and do some reading of your calibration kit provider's web site documents, it will fall into place.

speedmaster Loc: Kendall, FL

Thanks... It seems I will have a lot to read.... Cheers

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

There have been many discussions here about the pros and cons of home printing. Perhaps go back and visit them before alienating your wife.

pdsilen Loc: Roswell, New Mexico

My doctor had gallery quality prints hanging in his office. I mean they are really excellent. I asked the doctor what kind of camera did he use. He said, "Nothing fancy, just a simple point and shoot."
He also told me he got them processed at Shuttrfly. I've been using them ever since.

Dalbon

That was also a commercial on TV many years ago that had that saying. I remember the ads that use to come on TV saying, "As John Arbuckle would say, you get what you pay for". True then and very true now.
David

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Printing is printing, when it comes to color management. You need the same sorts of tools in a lab that you use at home.

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

I don't know where you are located but there's a privately owned print shop that I use in San Diego that prints any size on paper /behind acrylic or on canvas, framed or unframed. The service is one to one personally and the work is outstanding.

hrblaine

[quote=burkphoto]Just about any "professional color lab" will do a great job. Learn how to print your own, using a high-end Canon or Epson photo printer and pigment inks, if you want the best, or if you print huge, or if you print on exotic papers or other substrates.

I spent decades on both sides of the photographer | lab fence. So here's the truth:

>If you make ANY color and brightness adjustments to your files, then before using any home printer OR lab, calibrate and profile your monitor! Doing so requires a colorimeter or spectrophotometer and software. Kits are >available from Datacolor and X-Rite. Retail prices start at around $170. If you print a lot, that's the best money you will EVER spend on photography. It saves ink, paper, lab bills, time, frustration, sanity... and it helps you get >what you want without the endless frustration of trying to find a lab or printer that "works."

"Best mney you will ever spend." Roflmfao!! The "best" $$ I ever spent was 5K for a Pointer female that won 7 championships for me (and many thousands of dollare). Oh, and a blouse for a young woman over 50 years ago when I was still at Ohio State. D^mn, I loved that girl - and after that blouse, she loved me right back! :-)

I've never calibrated anything, couldn't even tell you what the first step is. I just print on my Pro 100 and everythink looks good to these old eyes. I started with B/Ws of theatre and dance in the '60s at OSU, graduated to color after I retired some years ago. A lot of you amateurs take this stuff too seriously imho. Harry

stan0301 Loc: Colorado

Walmart doesn't like their printers to break - so they lease good quality machines - if - you send in a fully corrected file to be printed (Photoshop) that is exactly what you will get back

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

[quote=hrblaine]

Harry, I spent 33 years in the professional portrait business, five of them in the analog lab and five of them running most of the digital lab. The color correction department was one of mine, along with all the printing departments and digital memory book (yearbook) makeready (pre-press prep). I take this stuff VERY seriously.

The first year we implemented ICC color management, we saved around $652,000 in paper/chemistry/labor waste. We did it with a little knowledge, stock paper profiles for our printing devices, and a sub-$300 monitor calibration kit.