I just opened my photo book of my project – well, Volume One. I haven’t even started Volume Two. I got the book from Picaboo, which I chose because it allows so much flexibility in the layout of each page. I’m feeling very let down by the way my photos look on the pages. The colors look wrong, and many photos are darker than they appeared on my screen. Quite a few of them even look dingy, and I -- if you must know-- have a tendency to over-saturate at times – I can’t even imagine what they would look like if they were all SOOC. I notice that the surface of the pages seems to be one to prevent fingerprints – almost a matte finish, and as a result, some photos look not just grainy, but almost blurry! I’m not gonna claim that I always have crystal clear focus (I’m still learning), but the photos just look so much better on my computer monitor! I’m feeling so sad, and I’m not even sure that I want to make a second volume. I should probably wait until tomorrow to post this. As I write this, I’m looking at a page, and as I get used to it, I like it better than I did 10 minutes ago. Maybe I was expecting too much.
My question is this: Have any of you found the quality of your photo books to be better with one company than another? I’m so tempted to go out and get real photographs printed, but the whole idea of a photo book is to avoid the HUGENESS of a real photo album! I’m thinking now I should just print out my favorites so that I can show them off with pride. How many of my friends would even want to look at the whole year’s worth of photos anyway? The photo book is really for me because I can relive each day just from a glimpse of the photo of the day. I think I solved my own problem. But I still do want to know if any of you have found great quality in a photo book. Thanks in advance for any advice!
ellen, i've used "my publisher" for several, and absolutely loved them all. Two were soft back, one hard cover, and I was very impressed with the quality of all three. if you sign up they often give you the first one for half off, and run specials from time to time too.
Another thing is to make sure your pictures are in sRGB color space, as most inexpensive book makers do not use printers that can recognize all the the colors in aRGB or one of the other color spaces with too large a gamut.
what program do you do your edits in? and what do you use to view your files on your computer? somewhere you should be able to view the exif info, and it will say something like adobe RGB or sRGB (sometimes followed by this IEC61966-2.1) under color space. i'm pretty sure picnik saves in srgb, but in Photoshop it could depend on what your camera is set to shoot in, and what your working color space is. @ellen
@pixelchix
I looked it up for the ones that look particularly bad, and it appears that they are all sRGB. I remember someone mentioning in a discussion here something about the fact that what we view on our monitors differs greatly from each other, depending on some specific parameters. It was on a discussion about how 365 seems to de-saturate our photos, something I've definitely noticed. As a result, I sometimes over-saturate the ones I plan to post here. I wonder if I should over-lighten photos I plan to put in a photo book...
@ellen Before you start fiddling with the photos..have a look at where your monitor is. If you have a lot of light leaking around it it will make your photos look much lighter than they really are. Check windows and some of those funny new light thingies. If you are (for want of a better term) darkening shots to make them look better on your screen...it could actually be a fault with your screen (or where it is)...Hope that made sense.
printing photos is a very complex ... you've just had your first lesson do not get discouraged instead use this as an opportunity to advance your skills and learn about color management. i print a lot of my photographs and even though i calibrate my monitor at least once a month and still need to tweak my shots in order to match what prints and what i see on my monitor.
with that in mind have others used this company? that would be my first question. there can be a vast difference in quality in publishing houses that print photographs. i'd also contact the comp. and tell them you are not satisfied - most high end photo printing companies provide photographers with test prints in order to synchronize the color management between the photographer's monitor/ computer and the printing comp.
i did a photo book of my 365 from last year on shutterfly; it is a 12x12 book with some photos that take up the whole page, and i'm really happy with the quality.
I've made 2 books of my travels at Blurb.com - what I see on the sceen is what I got delivered...can't comment on other suppliers as I haven't used any others.
I've used paperkiwi (in the US) and was very happy with my book. It was actually made with digital scrapping layouts that filled each page, and although if you look closely it is very slightly grainy it's pretty good on the whole. They also stand by their products. My friend has used shutterfly and was happy with her book too, although I haven't seen it so I would be interested to compare it to mine. In Australia I did a few through Harvey Norman and they also came out well.
You can also buy programs to calibrate your monitor. Huey Pro has been recommended to me (although I haven't done that myself), but there are others out there too. Good luck, and don't give up. It's trial and error, and definitely worth getting advice from others!
I have had prints made and books by both Photoworks and Shutterfly and have never been dissatisfied.
I have my screen resolution at its highest, and the color mode is set at 32-bit. If I do a calibration, will that calibrate color and brightness? I am quite clueless and have never even thought about calibrating my monitor. 365 is changing my life! I’m wondering how often others calibrate their monitors. I’m assuming that you (Cynce) do it once a month because you are doing this as a business?
Sue – what do you mean by “those funny new light thingies”?
Again, I so appreciate that you all took the time to contribute to the discussion. I know everyone is busy!
@sparkle@kiwichick
Hi! You were writing while I was writing! Thank you so much! I'm wondering if paying for a calibration program makes a difference. Just starting to research it, I see free programs.
I'm wondering too if I'm being too picky because when I made my other books, they were personal memory books, and I wasn't thinking about clarity or even terribly much about quality for that matter. Since I started 365 I have started to really work on improving focus, choosing shots based on clarity, and actually take time to look at post-processing. Speaking of that, I have been debating about taking a photoshop class, and I think I just decided to go ahead and spend the money!
the screen has a back light so will be brighter. i done m collag project on a book from jessups came out fine..cos i printed out 1st to see how the colours would come out
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Another thing is to make sure your pictures are in sRGB color space, as most inexpensive book makers do not use printers that can recognize all the the colors in aRGB or one of the other color spaces with too large a gamut.
I looked it up for the ones that look particularly bad, and it appears that they are all sRGB. I remember someone mentioning in a discussion here something about the fact that what we view on our monitors differs greatly from each other, depending on some specific parameters. It was on a discussion about how 365 seems to de-saturate our photos, something I've definitely noticed. As a result, I sometimes over-saturate the ones I plan to post here. I wonder if I should over-lighten photos I plan to put in a photo book...
with that in mind have others used this company? that would be my first question. there can be a vast difference in quality in publishing houses that print photographs. i'd also contact the comp. and tell them you are not satisfied - most high end photo printing companies provide photographers with test prints in order to synchronize the color management between the photographer's monitor/ computer and the printing comp.
You can also buy programs to calibrate your monitor. Huey Pro has been recommended to me (although I haven't done that myself), but there are others out there too. Good luck, and don't give up. It's trial and error, and definitely worth getting advice from others!
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
I have had prints made and books by both Photoworks and Shutterfly and have never been dissatisfied.
I have my screen resolution at its highest, and the color mode is set at 32-bit. If I do a calibration, will that calibrate color and brightness? I am quite clueless and have never even thought about calibrating my monitor. 365 is changing my life! I’m wondering how often others calibrate their monitors. I’m assuming that you (Cynce) do it once a month because you are doing this as a business?
Sue – what do you mean by “those funny new light thingies”?
Again, I so appreciate that you all took the time to contribute to the discussion. I know everyone is busy!
Hi! You were writing while I was writing! Thank you so much! I'm wondering if paying for a calibration program makes a difference. Just starting to research it, I see free programs.
I'm wondering too if I'm being too picky because when I made my other books, they were personal memory books, and I wasn't thinking about clarity or even terribly much about quality for that matter. Since I started 365 I have started to really work on improving focus, choosing shots based on clarity, and actually take time to look at post-processing. Speaking of that, I have been debating about taking a photoshop class, and I think I just decided to go ahead and spend the money!