colour casts on prints but not on my screen?

[sarahkaye]

I have just came back from a lab with some test prints. On his labs screen my images look fine. In print the colours are terrible. These have to be ready for my client in a week. What is most confusing is that now I am looking at the prints in my home the casts don't look as bad but are still unacceptable?? Trying to match my screen to the prints using adobe gamma and display settings to the test prints but finding it extremely difficult....should I use a different lab?

Any advice greatly appreciated

Sarah K

 

[fletch5]

yes, a decent lab would colour correct for you or inform you if they are bad. do you have a shot you can upload for people to check for you, just to make sure it is the printers as opposed to your monitor

 

[pxl8]

Adobe gamma isn't up to much when it comes to correcting colour balance, it will get pretty close with black/white points and gamma curve but finding a neutral tone is a bit of a lucky dip.

Posting an example will get you some opinions on the possible source of the cast (image or print) but the only real solution is to get a proper calibration device and use a reliable printing company

 

[Chappers]

To be honest Adobe Gamma is not the best way to calibrate a screen. It simply sets a visual white point and one position on the screens response curve. This means that there is no linearity over the whole screen. The only way to really calibrate a screen is with a proper device, such as a Eye -1 or Huey.

If I understand you correctly that when you visited the lab , your images looked good on their monitor but the prints looked nothing like the display. That's worrying and I'd ask the lab why the discrepancy. Screen to print match is a prime requisite of any lab with a hope of producing professional quality prints.

Personally I'd change lab. Get one that will make corrections for you.