Another photo editing question

[crashgirl]

What do you use to make sure the edits that you make to your photos will also look best in print? I can see how adding some contrast or saturation may look good on a monitor, but how do you know what is best for print? (And, all monitors aren't even the same). I have my LCD set to pretty high brightness and contrast because I do a lot of gaming and often forget to change it back. So, I am sure the photos look different on other monitors.

[toriaj]

There have been lots of posts on this topic lately. You can search for "monitor calibration," "printer profile," etc. Here's a link for free: http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26259

Basically, it depends on how you will print the pic. Calibrate your monitor so that it matches your printer as closely as possible.

[ReF]

the most basic step is to calibrate your monitor, otherwise the editing you do to the photos may be pretty meaningless. if your prints aren't coming out the way they appear on your calibrated monitor, then you can figure out another solution from there (there are lots of factors). but you can't take any corrective measures if you haven't taken the first step of calibrating your display.

[adam75south]

if you use mpix.com, email them and they will send you a free calibration kit so you can calibrate to their printers. i'm waiting on mine currently and i'll see how close they match up once i do the calibration.

i will tell you from my experience that even calibrated, your monitor will still be brighter than the prints. so it doesn't hurt to make them a tad overbrighened before printing.

[crashgirl]

i will tell you from my experience that even calibrated, your monitor will still be brighter than the prints. so it doesn't hurt to make them a tad overbrighened before printing.

Probably true for most, but probably not mine. As I mentioned I keep my monitor brightness turned up and contrast pretty high since I do a lot of gaming... don't want anyone hiding in the shadows in the FP shooters. :D I often forget to set my monitor back to the regular setting for everythign else.

Thanks for the info!

[NewTekBuzz]

more important... what games do you play?? I got my wife hooked on MOHAA good times!! I have not read all your posts but by your screen name.... your a crash"GIRL"?? :)

[crashgirl]

more important... what games do you play?? I got my wife hooked on MOHAA good times!! I have not read all your posts but by your screen name.... your a crash"GIRL"?? :)

Good for you getting your wife hooked... whenever I go to lan parties, I hate being the only female there.

"Crashgirl" was given to me many years ago because of my real life driving skills, although I happen to think I am a very good driver. :)

I like all games, but with our own business and a 4-year old, I mostly only have time for FPS... games you can jump into pretty quickly. I love RTS, but as you know those take a bit longer to play. I used to play WoW a few years back (lvl 60 human paladin), but it got to be too time consuming. I've been playing a lot of Battlefield 2142 lately. I've always considered myself a PC gamer, but my husband and I both have Xbox 360's and I've been on that quite a bit lately.

How about yourself?

[adam75south]

Probably true for most, but probably not mine. As I mentioned I keep my monitor brightness turned up and contrast pretty high since I do a lot of gaming... don't want anyone hiding in the shadows in the FP shooters. :D I often forget to set my monitor back to the regular setting for everythign else.

Thanks for the info!

i meant after you calibrate your monitor.

if yours is cranked way up on contrast and brightness, then you'll have some very dark prints lacking contrast as well if you go by what's on the monitor. might be better off getting a dual monitor setup and calibrating one for editing and leave your gaming monitor alone. gateway has some great monitors for the price right now. i'm guessing you have a gaming video card with dual monitor capability???

[crashgirl]

i meant after you calibrate your monitor.

if yours is cranked way up on contrast and brightness, then you'll have some very dark prints lacking contrast as well if you go by what's on the monitor. might be better off getting a dual monitor setup and calibrating one for editing and leave your gaming monitor alone. gateway has some great monitors for the price right now. i'm guessing you have a gaming video card with dual monitor capability???

Yes... actually my husband has the dual monitor set-up and we have the same vid card. I may just calibrate a monitor on one of our other systems for photo editing and leave mine alone. I don't have as much room on my desk. My monitor allows for different settings as well.. it's just a matter of pushing a button and it adjusts your settings. But, I'd forget to switch it, I'm sure. We also have a Mac... do you think a Mac would be better for this type of work? Although I rarely use the Mac, I'm a PC girl. :D

[NewTekBuzz]

I play mostly FPS also.. we have held a few lan parties in our day. we never got into WoW or everCRACK but we have spent many hours in front of The elder scrolls. we just had our first baby (little girl) Miah Renee, 8 years in the making. she is just over 1 now and gets all my free time.

sorry to everyone who is screaming... off topic. :)

Tim

[adam75south]

Yes... actually my husband has the dual monitor set-up and we have the same vid card. I may just calibrate a monitor on one of our other systems for photo editing and leave mine alone. I don't have as much room on my desk. My monitor allows for different settings as well.. it's just a matter of pushing a button and it adjusts your settings. But, I'd forget to switch it, I'm sure. We also have a Mac... do you think a Mac would be better for this type of work? Although I rarely use the Mac, I'm a PC girl. :D

i honestly wouldn't know, i'm a PC guy.:cool:

[crashgirl]

I play mostly FPS also.. we have held a few lan parties in our day. we never got into WoW or everCRACK but we have spent many hours in front of The elder scrolls. we just had our first baby (little girl) Miah Renee, 8 years in the making. she is just over 1 now and gets all my free time.

sorry to everyone who is screaming... off topic. :)

Tim

Sorry to continue to off-topic, but congrats on your baby girl!!! It sure does cut down on your gaming time, but it's worth the trade-off. My little girl is what sparked my interest in photography... thus another expensive hobby. Not sure yet which is more expensive... keeping up with the latest processors and video cards or Canon lenses. LOL! At least with the new photography hobby, we only have to buy one of everything. When it came to gaming, we had to buy two of everything including the games.

[adam75south]

I play mostly FPS also.. we have held a few lan parties in our day. we never got into WoW or everCRACK but we have spent many hours in front of The elder scrolls. we just had our first baby (little girl) Miah Renee, 8 years in the making. she is just over 1 now and gets all my free time.

sorry to everyone who is screaming... off topic. :)

Tim
anyone play halo? i haven't played games in years, but i love me some halo. never got into pc gaming for some reason.

[crashgirl]

anyone play halo? i haven't played games in years, but i love me some halo. never got into pc gaming for some reason.

I played Halo on the PC. It's been quite a some time though... Wanna game?:D If we are going to go old school though, I'd prefer some UT2004 myself. :)

[NewTekBuzz]

Sorry to continue to off-topic, but congrats on your baby girl!!! It sure does cut down on your gaming time, but it's worth the trade-off. My little girl is what sparked my interest in photography... thus another expensive hobby. Not sure yet which is more expensive... keeping up with the latest processors and video cards or Canon lenses. LOL! At least with the new photography hobby, we only have to buy one of everything. When it came to gaming, we had to buy two of everything including the games.

you are spot on with everything you just said. I just bought my first L lens..... IM SCARED

[NewTekBuzz]

I started with quake 2... my first taste of openGL. unreal and UT were all great games too. damn... MUST GET BACK TO WORK.

peace

[adam75south]

I played Halo on the PC. It's been quite a some time though... Wanna game?:D If we are going to go old school though, I'd prefer some UT2004 myself. :)

my video card would cry if i tried to play games.

[toriaj]

if you use mpix.com, email them and they will send you a free calibration kit so you can calibrate to their printers. i'm waiting on mine currently and i'll see how close they match up once i do the calibration.

Let me know how this works for you, ok? I got the ICC profile, calibrated my monitor, and set up my PP Program to emulate the Mpix results on-screen. It seems to show that Mpix simply can't print nice, clear blues and greens.

But they are a rather nice printing company, so I hope I am just doing something wrong ...