Problems with pro labs

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Davidj1

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David
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Can anyone tell me why I can’t get commercially produced enlargements that colour match the prints I produce at home?

Using a Nikon D90 (12mp) camera, iMac computer, Photoshop 3 and a sub £100 Canon Pixma printer, I produce beautiful A4 prints at home which have real depth and sparkle. My computer has been calibrated using a Pantone Huey and the prints perfectly match the colour seen on screen.

And yet, the 16 x 20 inch enlargements produced by commercial labs come nowhere near the quality of my own A4 prints.

For example, enlargements from Photobox were horrible; flat, dark, dull and lifeless. This despite the fact that the files were sent in sRGB colourspace as requested, and set to 300dpi. Even the trial 6 x 4 prints from Loxley Colour, a company highly regarded by pros, couldn’t match the vibrant reds of my Pixma.

Am I doing something wrong? Any thoughts and comments would be very much welcomed.
 
Davidj1 said:
Can anyone tell me why I can’t get commercially produced enlargements that colour match the prints I produce at home?

Using a Nikon D90 (12mp) camera, iMac computer, Photoshop 3 and a sub £100 Canon Pixma printer, I produce beautiful A4 prints at home which have real depth and sparkle. My computer has been calibrated using a Pantone Huey and the prints perfectly match the colour seen on screen.

And yet, the 16 x 20 inch enlargements produced by commercial labs come nowhere near the quality of my own A4 prints.

For example, enlargements from Photobox were horrible; flat, dark, dull and lifeless. This despite the fact that the files were sent in sRGB colourspace as requested, and set to 300dpi. Even the trial 6 x 4 prints from Loxley Colour, a company highly regarded by pros, couldn’t match the vibrant reds of my Pixma.

Am I doing something wrong? Any thoughts and comments would be very much welcomed.
Click to expand...

I recommend you try DS Colour Labs (DSCL). They are way and above anything Photobox can produce and pretty cheap too. You can download profile for each paper from their site, so you can make sure the prints you get back match the colours on your monitor.
 
Not being funny but I wouldn't class Photobox as a pro lab!

I use a local printing firm. Fully colour managed process. My monitor is calibrated and I get exactly what I see on the my screen printed by him.
 
Your problem lies with using Photobox in the first place, in my opinion.

Sams Photo Labs are pretty much spot on for me, with DSCL and Loxley close behind.
 
Are you sending your images to the labs with the correct profiles/colour space attached to them? Are you asking the pics to be colour corrected.. or not? If your pics are coming back from all commercial labs poor quality, the issue may be at your end with your colour management.

I use Loxleys and they come back spot on (I ask for no colour correction to be done). Check with your labs what profiles should be used. As an example, Loxleys state that your images should be SRGB colour space. Some labs ask you to use their specific profiles.

As previously mentioned, Photobox 'aint really a pro lab.
 
:agree:

If your colour profiling is right and you keep getting the same thing back from pro labs (once you try Loxleys and DSCL you should have a good idea of what is coming back) you should be getting the right prints.

If your own printer is giving you something different you may have to look at your printer actually giving the wrong results but you have gotten to like it :thinking:
 
I don't have an issue with Photobox and I use a variety of labs depending on what I want to produce. My system is calibrated and I check it against photobox's test print. I've had one duff batch from photobox but they reprinted fro free.

I've had some real lifeless, dark prints from one lab that I won't use again.
 
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