Help with new iMac and photography

[tttexxan]

I recently purchased and Imac 4days ago....today I downloaded and edited pics with Photoshop CS3.....To my dismay the photos in print look nothing like what Im seeing on my 24 inch new Imac....They appear dull and lifeless...

Also the mouse jumps to the bottom right hand screen at times for no apparnt reason....

If I cannot match what Im seeing on the monitor to final print Im going to need to return...

Anysuggestions

 

[ktbubster]

This is the exact reason why graphics professionals tend to sway away from glossy screens. Their color accuracy is way off. LCDs are never really that great in general although higher end ones can be... glossy... not so much.

You are goin to have to figure out how much brighter/saturated you have to make the colors on screen (till they will proably look too saturated on screen) for them to print well. Other then that, and turning the brightness down and changing the color profile (you may be able to search here or google some good profiles for them)

That's all.

 

[Cave Man]

See my web page. You need a display calibrator and a paper with its profile for your printer. If you don't have all of these, getting good prints can be extremely challenging and frustrating.

 

[nawks]

i second that, try caliberating your screen.

 

[AlexisV]

1.) Calibrate your screen (preferences > displays > color)

2.) Make sure your image is CMYK, not RGB.

3.) In Photoshop's print box, try selecting 'Let printer determine colours'

A glossy display will make precise colour matching slightly difficult, but will have no effect on whether your print appears lifeless or washed out. A vibrant image on the screen should result in a vibrant printout, glossy or not.

It also sounds like you have some fluff on the sensor of your mouse.

 

[kis]

I recently purchased and Imac 4days ago....today I downloaded and edited pics with Photoshop CS3.....To my dismay the photos in print look nothing like what Im seeing on my 24 inch new Imac....They appear dull and lifeless...

Unfortunately, glossy screens are close to unusable for photo editing because they distort colors.

But the bad news doesn't end there: display calibration, unfortunately, is also hard to achieve with glossy screens. We've tested several calibration devices here before we decided not to buy any of the new iMacs. Pantone Huey doesn't work at all with the new iMac. Spyder will somewhat work (but still result in suboptimal results) when used in ABSOLUTELY dark rooms. The slightest light source will distort the calibration results entirely.

my best advice: if you bought your iMac in the US and the date of purchase isn't further back than 14 days, contact Apple and tell them you want to give the computer back for these reasons. They'll give you a refund and you can get one of the white iMacs that still had good screens.

kis

 

[AlexisV]

Woah there.
The issue here is getting a vibrant printout, not professional colour matching as far as I can gather.

A good looking photo on a glossy screen will not just print out 'dull and lifeless' because there's a sheet of glass in front of it.

What printer do you have tttexxan?

 

[RevToTheRedline]

Color accuracy has nothing to do with the glass sheet on top of the lg.philips s-ips panel on the new 24" iMac. It has to be calibrated like any monitor on the market to obtain proper color profile.

All this talk about the glass display not being photography worthy is starting to piss me off, it has nothing to do with it. On the other hand, glossy laptops are near useless for photo work.

 

[tttexxan]

Im using cosco's printers....I have never had issues in the past with them on my pc....I got the PC due to my mac book pro not giving good results either, but when my bro got his IMac I just had to have one....I returned the PC and was hoping I would not have issues.....I have a spyder 2 but having trouble finding the serial code and hace contacted thier support. Today I set the monitor for Srgb and did some more prints until I get the serial from spyder. Hopefully this works....

Lastly the pics have color, but not accurate to what Im seeing on the screen. This was the same problem with mac book pro...I would edit the pics and skin tones looked great but in print at cosco skin tones were sepia...I tried 4 different print shops all with the same results. After getting the PC with no calibration and printing at same labs skin tones right on???? Just want the mac to work but willing to return if cannot

 

[bousozoku]

Color accuracy has nothing to do with the glass sheet on top of the lg.philips s-ips panel on the new 24" iMac. It has to be calibrated like any monitor on the market to obtain proper color profile.

All this talk about the glass display not being photography worthy is starting to piss me off, it has nothing to do with it. On the other hand, glossy laptops are near useless for photo work.

If someone can calibrate it to turn down the overbearing saturation, it might work and will just be annoying with the reflections.

Im using cosco's printers....I have never had issues in the past with them on my pc....I got the PC due to my mac book pro not giving good results either, but when my bro got his IMac I just had to have one....I returned the PC and was hoping I would not have issues.....I have a spyder 2 but having trouble finding the serial code and hace contacted thier support. Today I set the monitor for Srgb and did some more prints until I get the serial from spyder. Hopefully this works....

Lastly the pics have color, but not accurate to what Im seeing on the screen. This was the same problem with mac book pro...I would edit the pics and skin tones looked great but in print at cosco skin tones were sepia...I tried 4 different print shops all with the same results. After getting the PC with no calibration and printing at same labs skin tones right on???? Just want the mac to work but willing to return if cannot

I'd suggest that you take a look at some older, already colour-corrected photos on the iMac to see how tremendously overblown the saturation is to see how much you'll have to correct the current photos with which you're having problems. Do lots of comparisons and you can figure it out, even without calibration of the monitor.

 

[Cave Man]

3.) In Photoshop's print box, try selecting 'Let printer determine colours'

This can be very challenging if you're using third-party papers, such as those from Ilford or Red River. If you're using such papers, then you need to let photoshop manage (in PS's print dialog box) and make sure you have the appropriate profile (usually a free download from the paper manufacturer) for the printer you own. You also have to have the proper settings in the OS X printer dialog box (which are included with the profile's instructions). I use Red River papers exclusively now (switched from Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl) and Red River has profiles for their Arctic Polar Satin and Glossy papers for my Canon i9900. In combination with my Spyder2Express, I get colors and brightness that are spot-on with my prints.

 

[ParishM]

This is the exact reason why graphics professionals tend to sway away from glossy screens. Their color accuracy is way off. LCDs are never really that great in general although higher end ones can be... glossy... not so much.

that's interesting because i can't find one (1) full size display that has a glossy cover like the iMac. I walked around 3 major computer retailers yesterday and none had any glossy displays. what full size displays have the glossy coating ?





P....

 

[bunger]

I recently purchased and Imac 4days ago....today I downloaded and edited pics with Photoshop CS3.....To my dismay the photos in print look nothing like what Im seeing on my 24 inch new Imac....They appear dull and lifeless...

I encountered the EXACT same issue - used a PC and never had any issues, switched to the 24" iMac and the "pop" that I could create on the PC disappeared. I posted an inquiry over on Apple's forums and here was a very helpful reply:


That said, if the images are looking flat (and not-so-contrasty) on your Mac, check the gamma setting. You want 2.2 gamma rather than the default 1.8 "Mac" gamma. The latter is an anachronism and should not be used unless you specifically have a need for it dating from the 1980's in the print industry ;-) you can change under the display preferences -> color and then calibrate ...


That made a pretty big difference for me and I haven't done the hardware calibration route. They still don't pop quite as much, but it is a big improvement!

 

[rjphoto]

Im using cosco's printers....

You might be able to find the printer profile for Cosco's printer and load it into PhotoShop.

I haven't done that in years. Maybe someone can give you specific directions.

Are you changing the color balance or saturation after you open them in PhotoShop? What does the images look like when you open them in iPhoto or Preview compared to PhotoShop?

As for the mouse jumping around, what kind of mouse pad are you using? Is it a multi-color mouse pad, like a flag or photograph? If so try a solid color mouse pad.

 

[AlexisV]

3.) In Photoshop's print box, try selecting 'Let printer determine colours'

This can be very challenging if you're using third-party papers, such as those from Ilford or Red River. If you're using such papers, then you need to let photoshop manage (in PS's print dialog box) and make sure you have the appropriate profile (usually a free download from the paper manufacturer) for the printer you own. You also have to have the proper settings in the OS X printer dialog box (which are included with the profile's instructions). I use Red River papers exclusively now (switched from Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl) and Red River has profiles for their Arctic Polar Satin and Glossy papers for my Canon i9900. In combination with my Spyder2Express, I get colors and brightness that are spot-on with my prints.

Depending on your printer, either letting PS or the printer software determine the colours will give the best results. At work, the postscript laser gives bad results if you don't let PS determine the colours, and it's exactly the opposite on my Canon inkjet at home. It's trial and error.

Lastly the pics have color, but not accurate to what Im seeing on the screen. This was the same problem with mac book pro...I would edit the pics and skin tones looked great but in print at cosco skin tones were sepia...I tried 4 different print shops all with the same results. After getting the PC with no calibration and printing at same labs skin tones right on???? Just want the mac to work but willing to return if cannot

Please tell us what you have tried. Have you tried the suggestions that have been given in this thread?
What are your settings in the Photoshop print dialogue box? What settings are you trying in the CostCo printer software? Are in you in CMYK?

 

[tttexxan]

Update for those following....

I havent been able to calibrate my monitor with my spyder pro due to lost serial number...However colorvision emailed serial today and will calibrate when getting home.

I did try this tech early today...I switched my profile to Srgb from Imac in settings on the new Imac. I took the same pics that looked flat and dark into photoshop once more and converted to Cosco printer profiles and then hyper lighten and hyper saturated. I stoped by Cosco to pick up the prints and noticed a dramatic difference. The pics looked much brigther than previous pics done yesterday. However, with my old Pc I never had to hyper lighten or hyper saturate my pics prior to sending to cosco which seems odd.

 

[tttexxan]

Depending on your printer, either letting PS or the printer software determine the colours will give the best results. At work, the postscript laser gives bad results if you don't let PS determine the colours, and it's exactly the opposite on my Canon inkjet at home. It's trial and error.




Please tell us what you have tried. Have you tried the suggestions that have been given in this thread?
What are your settings in the Photoshop print dialogue box? What settings are you trying in the CostCo printer software? Are in you in CMYK?

Take a look at this site for Cosco Printer Profiles http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/using_printer_profiles.htm..

When using them with my PC I made no calibration changes with the monitor. I only changed to Cosco profiles using Photoshop.

The settings I used on my Imac today to get the pics better are

1. Loaded Cosco profiles for photoshop from drycreekphoto
2. Decreased the brightness to zero on my Imac
3. Open photoshop and adjusted pics brightness using levels and adjusted saturation. The brightness levels and satuaration were much much more than regular work flow in the past.
4. Convert over to Cosco profiles and adjust brightness and saturation one last time if thier profile was less than I wanted.
5. Save to Jpeg and upload to Cosco site.

Im trying to upload a pic so you can see what Im refering to

 

[tttexxan]

This is not the best example but all I could do from work....The top pic is much lighter and bottom dark exp in face area...For example the pic above is what Im seeing on the web but when printing getting bottom pic...

Upon hper lighting and hyper saturation getting top pic. You can see more in person

 

[tttexxan]

Here is one more pic....same setup...
Can you see how dark the bottom is compared to the top

 

[Italchef]

I have a similar problem printing from iPhoto to my Epson R300. My shots look great on the iMac but when I print they change colors. Skin tones are slightly pinkish as our beige tones. Can anyone suggest how I can get my printer to reproduce what I'm seeing on the screen in iPhoto?
Thanks in advance,

Mick

 

[mavis]

I have a similar problem printing from iPhoto to my Epson R300. My shots look great on the iMac but when I print they change colors. Skin tones are slightly pinkish as our beige tones. Can anyone suggest how I can get my printer to reproduce what I'm seeing on the screen in iPhoto?
Thanks in advance,

Mick

Are you using the correct profile for your printer/paper/ink combination? Is your monitor profiled (using a colorimeter)?

 

[AlexisV]

I'm not sure what a CostCo printer is actually like, but by the sounds of it it's some sort of cut price job?

Have you considered a brand such as Canon or Epson? My Canon Pixma ip3000 is superb. I'm also not sure how good these 'CostCo' drivers are for OS X?

 

[tttexxan]

If ur going to print from home you need to have the printer profiles for your printer. I recommend the epson 1800 printer, but i dont see the rational to printing at home! Tge price is way to high. Cosco does a great job but i think part of the problem is the mac screens are so bright. For instance in photoshop the pics appear bright but when printing there is a difference no matter what printer. Im going to keep trying. However i went to get a pc last night to do a side by side comparison. Sams club has a 6 mo no questions asked return policy and the guy at local apple store giving me over 14 days to figure what i want to do wiyh no open box fees if i need to return

 

[sananda]

I'm not sure what a CostCo printer is actually like, but by the sounds of it it's some sort of cut price job?

Have you considered a brand such as Canon or Epson? My Canon Pixma ip3000 is superb. I'm also not sure how good these 'CostCo' drivers are for OS X?

costco is a chain of shops with minilabs.

 

[Sam Spade]

Take a look at this site for Cosco Printer Profiles http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/using_printer_profiles.htm..

When using them with my PC I made no calibration changes with the monitor. I only changed to Cosco profiles using Photoshop.

The settings I used on my Imac today to get the pics better are

1. Loaded Cosco profiles for photoshop from drycreekphoto
2. Decreased the brightness to zero on my Imac
3. Open photoshop and adjusted pics brightness using levels and adjusted saturation. The brightness levels and satuaration were much much more than regular work flow in the past.
4. Convert over to Cosco profiles and adjust brightness and saturation one last time if thier profile was less than I wanted.
5. Save to Jpeg and upload to Cosco site.

Im trying to upload a pic so you can see what Im refering to

What is "Cosco?"

Do you mean Costco, as in the big chain membership store?