My wife uses a Panasonic FZ5 and is very pleased with the results. I am new to printing stills.
She uses Picasa and the pc printer is an Epson C42. Colour looks ok using gloss or matt paper, but faces do have a slight spotty effect even though the boxes are ticked for digital camera, and “people†selected in the drop down menu.
I have a new Epson D92 printer. With the same set-up, on screen photos look ok but the prints are cold/blue looking.
Picasa has some basic colour correction, and although you see the effect on screen, this is not the same as the print out. There is an additional tweak in the printer driver for smooth skin, which does give an improvement.
I'm thinking of changing the printers round. The Cyan and Red inks are very low, yellow is about 25% and black is about 50%.
I do have new Epson ink, and the red light is flashing….any ideas please.
There's a whole world of software and hardware dedicated to trying to get RGB colours on a screen to match the CMYK generated output of a printer. You may have to do what the pro photographers do and calibrate your monitor, something like a Pantone Huey might pay for itself if you're starting to waste paper and ink
http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=monitor+calibration&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
John,
you mention gloss and matte papers but you don't mention who the manufacturers are and the range. I have found with experimentation that there is a world of difference when printing on to different manufacturers papers, you also should try and use a paper profile for your paper. I have had really good results with the Ilford Galleria range of papers and they also have various profiles available for download.
A monitor calibration tool is also good advice, they are not that expensive when you consider the amount of wasted ink and paper that you can go through, I bought mines for approx £60, it is the spyder express 2 which has since been replaced by the spyder 3.
You may also want to experiment with "sharpening" your images when you are going to print them as this can/will make a huge difference to the amount of clear details displayed in the image.
To be honest though, I think the two printers that you have mentioned may be limited when it comes to printing images, especially if you are looking for "photo lab" quality.
Cheers John
John D, I find that I get good results using Epson paper and ink on my Epson sylus Photo R340. The Epson website has been offering good deals on some papers and if I remember correctly the postage is free as well. (As already mentioned, you may be limited by the particular printers you use). Tony C. ( epson.co.uk )
Thanks Chris, John and Tony.
As my pc is for video editing, I have set it up roughly the same as the external TV.
I will set up the monitor again, but it seemed too bright last time.
I found that selecting the different photo paper made a difference—so still learning. I have Jessops matt ink jet 125 gsm, Jessops gloss 240 gsm and Staples glossy everyday photo quality. This was bought because Jessops only had 20 or 50 sheet packs, and was a good price.
The glossy paper gives a better picture, and there seems to be enough detail. I don't expect photo lab results, just a decent looking print.
Both monitors are LCD, so will have another play with them and let you know.
The wife is hankering after a printer she can plug the camera into, and get a quick result…another can of worms!!!
Have you considered online or store printing? Photobox is very easy to use and possibly works out cheaper than printing your own. If you uploaded shots today you'd have them tomorrow morning. It's very easy to use too.
If you want speed and quality at home, you need to forget about inkjet and get a DyeSub printer, there's models to suit every budget and you get photolab quality http://www.systeminsight.co.uk/HiTi-ModelRange.html
Thanks Chris.
Had thought of that, and there's been some talk on here.
I can do a DIY at Jessops and there is a local shop that does a good job. Having got printer and paper, it makes sense to try.
There is a program on the Epson driver CD, and the prints from that are better. I am just trying to replace the printer inks when it will let me.
Looked at that site, and the prices are a bit above my needs, but nice thought!!!
I have installed the Epson D92 on the wife's pc, and replaced the inks.
Using Picasa I have printed two 6x4 prints to a page, and they look much better especially skin tone after increasing saturation slightly.
Printing a few is ok. But if printing a larger quantity, I think I would look at one of the sites recommended.