Developing Digital Images

[booker]

Ok, so I have this great 7.1MP image, 3072x2304, made some minor hue/saturation and contrast adjustments in photoshop, but I want to print the sucker.

Did a first-run trial on a photoprinter on decent paper, had the hookup through a friend that works at an architectural firm. Turned out okay, but the colors aren't quite right. It seems like the whites and greens are washed out, blue is fine, and I was able to mitigate a fair amount of that "digital image haze" that you might be familiar with. There are also patches of grainyness, which may be the printer or toner cartridge, I don't know much about printers (I don't even know if it was an emulsion-type or laser, to be honest... should get educated on that).

So the next step I'm thinking is to go to Ritz or the Camera Shop, 8x10 glossy from digital is $12. Before I go, however, can anyone provide me with some tips/insight/information/etc on things I can do to the image in photoshop before going to Ritz, to improve the output quality?

ps I can attach the image if you really want to see it.

[devilspost]

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...ital+Images%22

[john FVC]

First thing you need to do is check you have your monitor calibrated correctly. Use these three sites to do that.

http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/

http://www.ltlimagery.com/monitor_calibration.html

http://www.easyrgb.com/calibrate.php

If you are not seeing the colous right to begin with you will never get prints looking right. Basically you want to set everything up in such a manner so as what you get in your print is the same as what you see on your screen. Because of the huge amount of variables this can take a long time to do.

Your monitor calibration is the first step though...

[booker]

Wow Devilspost! That's great, what site did you use to get those results?

johnn FVC.. thanks, I will definitely look into the cal first. I'm working with a decent 19" Viewsonic CRT, the A90f+.. not professional by any means, but not bad.

In terms of what's next, if you don't mind, lay it on me. I work in applied physics by day, so a huge amount of variables don't intimiate me, and it's something I want to learn. Please drop me an im or icq, might be easier than this. Cheers!