Online printing question
Discussion
I am thinking about trying to put together a photo book, and after reading previous threads, have decided to use blurb books.
However, my question is, how do I know, if what Im seeing on the screen at home (in terms of colour, contrast etc) will be interpreted in the same way the other end?
Ive heard of something called a 'spider' but unsure whether this will calibrate my screen with a printer thats not mine?
Many thanks
However, my question is, how do I know, if what Im seeing on the screen at home (in terms of colour, contrast etc) will be interpreted in the same way the other end?
Ive heard of something called a 'spider' but unsure whether this will calibrate my screen with a printer thats not mine?
Many thanks
colour profiles give me a headache.
the first step is to calibrate your monitor, so white is colour neutral, all your colours are about right, and your brightness and contrast are set appropriately. having a decent monitor also helps! The spider youve mentioned, is a calibration tool for this purpose.
Thats half the battle.
Blurb will can supply you with a colour profile of their printers. You can use this profile to do a 'soft proof' in photoshop- this will emulate what your photo would look like printed on their printer (provided youve got a colour calibrated monitor). You can then adjust contrast/ brightness accordingly, and you can check if any colours are out of the printers colour gamut, and make adjustments accordingly.
In the real world though, after all this, its still best to order a small photobook as a proof, make adjustments if neccicary, then get the large one ordered. blurbs small non hardbook photobooks arent too costly, and are printed on the small printers as their larger books.
I pt really deep into this- even downloaded their indesign templates, but i just got too freaked out my colour gamuts, profiles, srgb colour space, bleed edges etc
so i gave up and did it in iphoto, with its built in photobook facility. It arrived yesterday form apple. was so simple and esy to do, and i could not be happer with the results- they are identical to my monitor- im seriously impressed. It probably did help that ive made sure my monitor is calibrated pretty accurately
hth
the first step is to calibrate your monitor, so white is colour neutral, all your colours are about right, and your brightness and contrast are set appropriately. having a decent monitor also helps! The spider youve mentioned, is a calibration tool for this purpose.
Thats half the battle.
Blurb will can supply you with a colour profile of their printers. You can use this profile to do a 'soft proof' in photoshop- this will emulate what your photo would look like printed on their printer (provided youve got a colour calibrated monitor). You can then adjust contrast/ brightness accordingly, and you can check if any colours are out of the printers colour gamut, and make adjustments accordingly.
In the real world though, after all this, its still best to order a small photobook as a proof, make adjustments if neccicary, then get the large one ordered. blurbs small non hardbook photobooks arent too costly, and are printed on the small printers as their larger books.
I pt really deep into this- even downloaded their indesign templates, but i just got too freaked out my colour gamuts, profiles, srgb colour space, bleed edges etc
so i gave up and did it in iphoto, with its built in photobook facility. It arrived yesterday form apple. was so simple and esy to do, and i could not be happer with the results- they are identical to my monitor- im seriously impressed. It probably did help that ive made sure my monitor is calibrated pretty accurately
hth
Edited by Fordo on Wednesday 30th September 19:54
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