Printing photos from DSLR.....

shawn474 · 03-10-2009, 05:08 PM

Well I got some really good shots this week taking my kids to the zoo. I am trying to print a few of the photos and when I do, the colors are WAY off. Whites and grays are pink, everything has an orange hue to it; the photos look nice on the screen of the DSLR but the colors are all out of whack when printed. I have an Epson Stylus Photo R200 printer. Is it a setting on my computer (using Picasa), my printer or DSLR? HELP PLEASE!!!!!!

Shawn

AndrewG NY · 03-10-2009, 07:11 PM

How do the colors look in Picasa? Can you test your printing to verify that none of the ink colors are clogged or empty?

*jglover* · 03-10-2009, 07:44 PM

It could also be that your monitor is out of calibration as well, thus the colors you see on screen are not the colors you monitor is sending to the printer.

Alfisti · 03-10-2009, 08:02 PM

Man this could be anything, this is a VERY tricky process.

I assume you're shooting jpg? First check the colour space and make sure your rpinter is printing in the same space, you should be using sRGB as a starting point.

We'll figure this out but it's gonna take a while.

nanok · 03-10-2009, 08:04 PM

describe exactly what you do to get from file on the card to print you hold in your hands, so we can try to debug it for you.

monitor calibration can be an issue, but it is unlikely imho, i am rather betting on some color profile used by the printer. to isolate the issue, try to print one picture which came from elsewhere (not your camera, not your processing, not your raw converter), and see if it does the same. you could also try to use auto color balance in picasa, or even better, do white balance automatically using something in the picture you _know_ is white (can picasa do that?), this way you can put the monitor calibration out of the question (because your software does not know what your monitor outputs, all it knows is that, for instance r=g=b=128 means some midle grey, for a random example). you can also try to get a color test chart from the net and print it, see how it comes out. it could well be your monitor calibration, but i honestly doubt it.

shawn474 · 03-11-2009, 04:10 AM

Thanks for all of the replies. I will post the settings and do the printer test when i get home later this week. I appreciate all of the people willing to help.

Take Care,
Shawn

shawn474 · 03-11-2009, 05:48 AM

Initially I shot on RAW. Then to test I shot on jpeg (6mp). Both had the same problems when printing. My ink levels are all 1/2 full on the printer. I may try to clean the heads and try again to see if any of the ink heads are clogged. The pictures on the monitor look identical to the ones on the screen of the LCD when reviewing the pictures.

I will post the settings on the camera once I get home. Thanks again for all of your help.

Shawn

bychan · 03-12-2009, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by shawn474

Well I got some really good shots this week taking my kids to the zoo. I am trying to print a few of the photos and when I do, the colors are WAY off. Whites and grays are pink, everything has an orange hue to it; the photos look nice on the screen of the DSLR but the colors are all out of whack when printed. I have an Epson Stylus Photo R200 printer. Is it a setting on my computer (using Picasa), my printer or DSLR? HELP PLEASE!!!!!!

Shawn

Whilst not answering your question, sorry, my question is;
Why bother trying to print your photos yourself, what with the cost of proper photo paper and ink?

Why not send the photos to an on-line lab, and let the professionals do the work for you?

I am sure that this would work out cheaper, and with much better results; after all this is what photo labs do for a living.

In the UK, my preferred choice is Truprint.

Regards.
Adrian

*alderfall* · 03-12-2009, 04:29 PM

From a technical standpoint, it sounds like a printer issue really. Whether it is paper, ink cartridges of the color calibration I am unsure at this time, but monitor and camera LCD can't be both that far off. I'd imagine the camera is just fine, monitor is most likely alright and as a result it sounds like a printer to me.

Do you use brand name ink and matching paper? If you do anything else you are inviting complications like this...

Good luck, let us know what you find out...

Originally Posted by shawn474

Initially I shot on RAW. Then to test I shot on jpeg (6mp). Both had the same problems when printing. My ink levels are all 1/2 full on the printer. I may try to clean the heads and try again to see if any of the ink heads are clogged. The pictures on the monitor look identical to the ones on the screen of the LCD when reviewing the pictures.

I will post the settings on the camera once I get home. Thanks again for all of your help.

Shawn

**Damn Brit** · 03-12-2009, 04:49 PM

I'm moving this to the printing section of Post Processing and Software, hopefully you will find your answers there, look through that forum as well, your question has probably been already answered and it's probably due to calibration or printer profile.

roy · 03-22-2009, 11:36 PM

you know??
everyone starts printing thinking you hit the print button and all is well.....
prob is, that's dead wrong... i'd suggest spending about 10 hours minimum reading about accurate printing.. you'll be surprised about what you know nothing about..

*Clicker* · 03-23-2009, 12:01 AM

Colour profile check?

nanok · 04-03-2009, 05:00 AM

Originally Posted by bychan

Whilst not answering your question, sorry, my question is;
Why bother trying to print your photos yourself, what with the cost of proper photo paper and ink?

Why not send the photos to an on-line lab, and let the professionals do the work for you?

I am sure that this would work out cheaper, and with much better results; after all this is what photo labs do for a living.

In the UK, my preferred choice is Truprint.

Regards.
Adrian

that is a valid point, however some of us decided they need full control over the end result. it's a matter of choice really. some people also print occasionally, so worrying about DIY printing doesn't make much sense. as far as i am concerned, i have been through this with film (i ended up tooling my own darkroom and spending hours/nights at a time in it to get what i wanted), and with digital, the result for me was the same: i either take control over the whole process, or it's like the lottery. i thought it would be easier (better standardized) with digital, it turns out it is not. of course, your mileage may vary and all that.

*graphicgr8s* · 04-05-2009, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by nanok

that is a valid point, however some of us decided they need full control over the end result. it's a matter of choice really. some people also print occasionally, so worrying about DIY printing doesn't make much sense. as far as i am concerned, i have been through this with film (i ended up tooling my own darkroom and spending hours/nights at a time in it to get what i wanted), and with digital, the result for me was the same: i either take control over the whole process, or it's like the lottery. i thought it would be easier (better standardized) with digital, it turns out it is not. of course, your mileage may vary and all that.

It doesn't have to be a lottery. Find a shop where you can talk to the people. Arrive at settings that work then patronize that shop.