Damien Symonds

Before we start, have you made it clear to them that this will incur an extra fee?

I assume that light-medium grey would be best, but I'm going to move this question into Brian's area, since he knows a lot more about studios and lighting than me.

This is such an annoying thing, and it happens to a lot of people. You might need to completely uninstall and reinstall the Spyder software.

Well, that's good news, at least. For my reassurance, can you tell me how you're comparing the screen to the prints? I mean, what program are you viewing the files in on both screens?

Did those help?

A couple of relevant articles ... http://www.damiensymonds.net/art_facebook.html http://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/10/how-ive-been-sharpening-for-web-lately.html

Hi Jacquelyn, before we get into the calibration issues, have you checked your screen against some older prints that you know were ok? What I mean is, have you established if this was a rogue batch of prints?

Oh, great question! Technically speaking, as long as you design it properly (that is, entirely made of vectors) the size shouldn't matter. However, to be safe, it would be a good idea to make it reasonably big - maybe 4000px wide. The first step is to literally sketch some ideas with pencil on paper. Have you done so? If so, may I see? Here's some related reading: http://www.damiensymonds.net/2012/01/creating-saving-and-using-watermark-ps.html This is also relevant: http://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/05/making-pdfs-from-photoshop.html

The laptop that Brian linked you to has an IPS screen (I own the same laptop, it's awesome) so angles aren't an issue. However, yes, running an external monitor off a laptop is great.

I've moved this into the Lightroom section. Christina will be along in a bit to help you out.

I think it looks great! So much colour!

Yeah, that's more like it! Well done. I think you have a little further to go, though. Always remember to periodically zoom out and look at it smaller, it will give you renewed perspective.

I see no reason to do any pixel editing. Just use the Handyman Method.

Yeah, that's much too smooth, isn't it. You can't get away with that. May I see a 100% crop of the unedited one?

May I see it at 100%? http://www.damiensymonds.net/2013/09/grabbing-700x700px-100-crop.html

Hmmm ... have you made it a bit too smooth?

Wonderful! I don't have an instant fix for this, sorry. You'll need to use your frame master file to create (by chopping, moving and masking) various other frame master files at the exact required sizes. Thankfully, the transparency will make this easier.

Ah, never mind. Leave it. Ok, great, so the background is transparent?

NEVER crop!!!!!! Ok, show me a close view of the cellulite.

I'm curious why you've singled out her right arm in particular? Both arms look roughly the same to me. Her left arm (our right) has a nasty dark patch on the outside. May I see the SOOR?

Hi Sharon, what file format do you have the frame in? I just noticed the frame is in Adobe RGB. For God's sake fix that before doing anything else.

Let me SEE!

Hi Lucy, I've moved your post into Brian's area, because he's the guru with this. He'll be along shortly.

I'm not saying that. I think you should swap the sky. But when you do so, don't make it too strong.

Is this the method you're using? It's vital to respect the reality of the light - the sky wasn't blown out by accident. It really should be bright.