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Not happy with prints


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Hello,

I've been dissatisfied with my prints for the last few months. I edit on a desktop with an Asus PA248Q monitor. I calibrate with a Spyder 4pro, monthly. I would say my editing style is clean and I like my colors to match what I photograph. On my monitor they look vibrant and well saturated but my prints are darker and not as colorful. I'm stumped at what to do. I print with McKenna Pro in the US. I've worked with their gal about with calibrating my monitor and my prints matching my files. They are almost always within the acceptable range, a few times they have needed to bump contrast and saturation. I'm really stuck. Please advise me on what to do next.

 

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Hi Misi, are you following my instructions here?

33 minutes ago, misi525 said:

On my monitor they look vibrant and well saturated but my prints are darker and not as colorful.

You need to understand that your prints are ALWAYS right.  Whether you like them or not, they are correct.

So, if your screen doesn't match your prints, it's your screen that's wrong.

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The last time I calibrated was after a window 10 update. It totally threw off the color of my monitor. I uninstalled and started from the very beginning, that was a month ago. Now I'm ready to do the monthly recalibration. Should I just do the regular recalibration, or start from scratch?  And once I recalibrate, will all my edited images that clients haven't ordered from need to be re-edited?

 

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15 minutes ago, misi525 said:

The last time I calibrated was after a window 10 update. It totally threw off the color of my monitor. I uninstalled and started from the very beginning, that was a month ago. Now I'm ready to do the monthly recalibration. Should I just do the regular recalibration, or start from scratch?

If in doubt, always start from scratch.  Including this.

15 minutes ago, misi525 said:

And once I recalibrate, will all my edited images that clients haven't ordered from need to be re-edited?

I guess that remains to be seen, doesn't it?  Depends how bad they are.

By the way, please don't wait a moment longer to take the Sharpening Class.  If you have clients, you need this class, period.

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I've calibrated and it's worse now than before. I've done it twice and am only getting 93% SRGB when I usually get 98 or 99. I have a few questions. After I calibrate and get this screen do I leave the calibration device on the screen when I adjust my sliders? And do I leave the room dark? That's what I've been doing. 

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Now my target brightness says 89 not 120 but my current is 90. Not sure how that happened and if it matters. Also when the calibration device is profiling it's taking like 15 minutes in the past its been much quicker. Should I be concerned there's an issue with my Spider? it's a couple years old. Thanks.

 

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1 hour ago, misi525 said:

I've calibrated and it's worse now than before

In what way?

1 hour ago, misi525 said:

After I calibrate and get this screen do I leave the calibration device on the screen when I adjust my sliders?

I'm so sorry, can you elaborate on this question?  Which sliders?

1 hour ago, misi525 said:

Now my target brightness says 89 not 120 but my current is 90. Not sure how that happened and if it matters.

Oh yes, it matters.  90 is excellent.  If you were at 120 before, that was definitely part of your problem.  120 is always too high.

1 hour ago, misi525 said:

Also when the calibration device is profiling it's taking like 15 minutes in the past its been much quicker. Should I be concerned there's an issue with my Spider? it's a couple years old.

Oh, good question.  Yes, all calibrators fail eventually, although we like to get more than a couple of years out of them.  It shouldn't take so long, that's for sure.

To check, you'd need to calibrate another computer with it, and see if it does the same. Do you have another computer in your house?

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When I say it's worse, I mean my colors are off. The last family session I took the family had shades of rust on. When I pulled up their photos they looked washed out and looked like they were wearing a shade of pink.

When I asked about the color sliders, it was in relation to this screen. At this point, I go into my monitor and adjust the red, green and blue so those graphs are within the skinny bar. Also, on this screen you can see where the target brightness is 120 and my current is 90. After I adjusted the colors and clicked continue the next screen is where it takes so long when I run the calibration device to profile see the second photo. 

In the second photo the green bar doesn't advance. Shouldn't it complete that bar 100%? And see how it says target brightness is now 89%. Is that okay? 

Screenshot 2016-10-31 20.22.52.png

Screenshot 2016-10-31 22.11.06.png

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2 minutes ago, misi525 said:

When I say it's worse, I mean my colors are off. The last family session I took the family had shades of rust on. When I pulled up their photos they looked washed out and looked like they were wearing a shade of pink.

Remember, what you "think" or "like" or "remember" is completely irrelevant.  We can only discuss the direct print to screen comparison.  How does your screen compare to your prints?

3 minutes ago, misi525 said:

When I asked about the color sliders, it was in relation to this screen. At this point, I go into my monitor and adjust the red, green and blue so those graphs are within the skinny bar. Also, on this screen you can see where the target brightness is 120 and my current is 90. After I adjusted the colors and clicked continue the next screen is where it takes so long when I run the calibration device to profile see the second photo. 

In the second photo the green bar doesn't advance. Shouldn't it complete that bar 100%? And see how it says target brightness is now 89%. Is that okay? 

Screenshot 2016-10-31 20.22.52.png

Screenshot 2016-10-31 22.11.06.png

Are you remembering to press the "Update" button?

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I've ran the calibration 4 times tonight and have had my husband and daughter look over my shoulder in case I was forgetting something. I've never had this much trouble, usually recalibrating goes pretty smoothly. 

 

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