If you choose to print your photos at home on a desktop or portable printer, the process can get complicated. The most common problem with home printers is that the colors and exposure may not come out in print the way they look on a computer monitor. These tips will help you get the results you want and produce prints that will last.
1. Calibrate your monitor. To see the brightness and color of your photo accurately before you print it, you need to ensure that your monitor is set to the appropriate brightness and color settings. To do this, purchase a monitor calibration package. Prices start at about $60. A package includes a small device to put on the front of the monitor and software that guides you through the calibration process, which takes just a few minutes.
2. Set the appropriate print (or output) resolution. With a decent printer, resolutions as low as 200 dpi can produce excellent results. Using 240 to 300 dpi is usually a safe bet, and you can go to 600 dpi or higher for nuanced photos or your best prints.
3. Use high-quality paper. For the best archival quality, choose an acid-free 100 percent cotton rag or alpha cellulose paper.
4. Use good ink. Don’t buy cheap ink jet inks sold under office-supply and other third party brands. They can produce unpredictable results, are likely to fade more quickly, and may even clog your printer nozzles. Stick with the printer manufacturer’s inks or a high quality alternative that has been reviewed and tested for print longevity.
5. Buy a printer that uses more than four inks. All photo ink jet printers have at least four inks—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The printer mixes the inks in different amounts at each pixel to create a wide range of colors. However, some colors are hard to render with just three color inks. Higher-end printers add more inks to render greater nuance and accuracy in colors.
6. Rely on automatic tools if you’re a novice. Preparing images to print can get complicated if you’re making manual adjustments with image editing software. Fortunately, the automatic tools for image enhancement and print preparation in many software programs are usually quite good. Some printers with built-in memory card slots or printers that can connect directly to a camera also provide automatic image enhancement functions. Look for features for automatically improving exposure, color, and contrast before you print. Then look for automatic layout tools to help you place one or more photos on a page.
7. Soft proof if you’re an advanced photographer. This lets you see an onscreen simulation of how your photos will look when they are reproduced with a specific printer and paper combination. If you’re using advanced image editing software, download the ICC profiles for your printer and paper types from the manufacturer’s Web site. Then use your image editor’s soft proofing functions to preview your image before printing. For example, in Photo shop, go to View, Proof Setup, and Custom, and select the profile for your printer and paper from the Device to Simulate list. Select Simulate Paper Color. Selecting Perceptual Rendering Intent usually works well.
One Response
very helpful indeed