Shadows are off

[Star]

Hi there, I have followed the listed instructions for calibrating with the Spyder4Pro on an Apple iMac and have test prints sitting in front of me. My prints look good except these two, the top photo on each

attatchment is from mpix while the bottom of each is from Shutterfly. I am noticing that the darks or shadows are noticeably darker on the photos from Mpix, whereas the photos from Shutterfly are lighter, the

snow has a blue tint and almost seem to have a loss of clarity. This seems to at least be consistent in differences from one photo to the next but I would like to know what I can do to get consistent results from both

labs? Is this something that I am doing wrong?

 

[Samantha LaRue]

Shutterfly does not count as a reliable lab and will not work for the purposes of calibration. Sometimes they print well, other times they don't. Mpix is better, but not quite a professional lab either. If you can only choose between those two, I'd trust the Mpix prints. 

And just to make sure, you did print without color correction applied, correct? I think Mpix applies it by default, and I'm pretty sure Shutterfly does as well. If you forgot to order these without color correction, then you'll need to order new test prints, this time preferably from a professional lab. 

[Star]

I often use Shutterfly for quick family prints so thats why I chose them as a lab for calibration, but I understand what you are saying as far as the print quality and I will choose Millers  or some other pro level lab to have some new test prints.

 I did make sure to take my time and select "do not color correct" when placing my order.

Thank you for the reply and I will go ahead and place a new order of test prints and see what I come up with.