Finally–I had some images printed!!

[ravnostic]

I decided to take the plunge and took some images into Tempe Photo for printing. I picked an assortment; couple b/w’s, couple landscapes, macros, astrophotos, etc. I had them print each as 8x10s, once without doing anything but printing, the other ‘lab’ corrected in case my monitor(s) were skewed.

I gotta say–I’m really happy with them. I can see I need to brighten my images (not very much, really, but it’s perceptable in comparing mine vs the lab’d shots). My colors are pretty spot-on overall (one had a green tint I’d not noticed.)

I won’t be paying the extra for lab corrections, though. I can make those changes on my own. Now to put together some portfolio albums of imagery I’d like to share.

I all just makes me giddy, and want to go out shooting more.

//getting my own printer is not an option, especially during cat shedding season, which seems to last from early January to around Christmas in these parts.

One question for the more experienced; I had one shot that was tack-sharp at full res, but appears somewhat blurred in the print. It’s a snowy egret shot. Any idea why that might be?

[ennuipoet]

//getting my own printer is not an option, especially during cat shedding season, which seems to last from early January to around Christmas in these parts.

One question for the more experienced; I had one shot that was tack-sharp at full res, but appears somewhat blurred in the print. It’s a snowy egret shot. Any idea why that might be?

My Printer is encased in plastic sleeve like a grandmother’s couch for exactly that reason, the cats love it for a napping spot.

What was the megapixel vs enlargement ratio? If it was an 8×10 there shouldn’t be any image loss. Sometimes camera shake and unsharp areas show up in a print you never notice on a monitor, it is technology’s way of giving you the High Hard One when you didn’t ask for it.

[chupathingie]

First question that comes to mind for me is what rez are they printed at? Some printers default to less-than-optimal DPI in my opinion… I specify 300DPI, their “default” looked to me to be more like 100DPI. I want to be able to see details up close, as well as from 6 feet away. I didn’t know until recently that Apple seems to share that philosophy; Retina Displays are 300DPI.

[ravnostic]

Now that I’m home, I can see I’d cropped the offending image; it’s about 1/3 less the DPI of the others (since they all got printed 8×10). That makes sense, then. Thanks guys!

[chupathingie]

…my DPI statement assumes of course that the original is high enough rez to support 300 DPI… so for 8X10 you need 2400X3000 minimum (~8MP), which is well within the resolution of most any recent P&S or DSLR. If the printer spits out your image at 150 DPI, you’re only getting 1/2 that resolution to the page regardless of the original’s pixel count.

[Yoyo]

I would caution anyone not to confuse DPI with PPI. The color space conversion algorithms used by printers are closely guarded industry secrets. Also, paper has a good deal to do with the quality of prints on a given printer. On my Canon MP280 (cheap, almost disposable, inkjet), there is a noticible difference between the Canon Pixma GP-502 Photo Paper Glossy ($0.10 per 4×6 sheet) and the Fujifilm Premium Plus Glossy Photo Inkjet Paper ($0.05 per 4×6 sheet). Ultimately however, both papers are good enough for refrigerator worthy prints of family and friends. If you’re aiming for a gallary show, YMMV.

[Author]

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