Printing Pictures

“Indiana-- sounds like I need to talk to you about color calibration.. I still dont' think I've got it figured out....

but I use my MACs at home and seem to be used to what to expect now... (I understand that the screens have to be dimmed, or all of the prints come out considerably darker!

I've taken about 8300 photos in the past year-- so I think I've finally gotten the knack of photoshop to where I can edit (quickly) a snapshot within minutes... LOL

Let's "talk shop" sometime!”

“ooh... the feature of being able to print on an inkjet printable CD sounds cool! :-)”

“This looks like the one my boss bought last year. We printed some pictures off of it and they came out good. It was pretty much user-friendly, too...”

“so what do you think of the one I posted?”

“I don’t mean to distract from the Tree's questions but can anyone help me out with the driver problem I'm having with my printer? I had to add a new ink cartridge to it and I noticed that the cartridge align was no longer available. I’m running Win XP, but the driver is for Win 2000 (HP doesn’t have an XP driver). The 2000 driver worked fine before, but now it won’t install properly. I think the service pack 2 security futures are preventing the driver to install all the way. Now I have to boot to my second hard drive with win 2000 to print. Any ideas.”

“Let me mention the Canon i9100 I purchased this spring. It prints up to 13x19. Does a wonderful job. Has full bleed available.

It has six inkjets. I had looked at the Epson 2200, which I believe has seven... and costs twice as much (true, it does accept the roll of paper, as Freedom said)

I've hung out on photo forums and many MANY people will tell you it's cheaper to have digital prints done at a store. Replacing inkjets is not cheap. Keep that in mind, too... For example, I am near NO ONE who carries the specific Canon inkjets I need. I had to order online. Needed a magenta replacement, but ended up ordering all six -- at $12 a pop -- to make the shipping more economical. (actually this had free shipping over $75, so ya know, I just had to get some Canon paper to try too. LOL!)

The upside to "printing your own" -- hahaha -- is what I like. I tweak those colors in Photoshop. I took one shot of two windmills and did a two-tone sepia print from it (think that's why I now need magenta... keep printing it till I liked it. Even though I do "proofs" on 3x5s, it still uses ink)

Still... I like my Canon i9100! It's not just an Epson or HP world! (I do have an old 722 or 720 HP that works wonderfully, also... just leaves a bit to be desired on serious photos)
last edited: 12/14/04 5:50:18 PM”

“didn't read through all this...but...
tell ya... by the time you buy the ink and the paper...hummm...you'll be paying much more then 24 cent per pic.

still good to have just in case you want to a quick print... i have a regular epson photo printer, looks like a regular printer, prints other stuff too, and the pictures are not bad either....still i don't print a lot on it because it COSTS much more then if you get them done at walmart.

maple, the printer you showed, is kind a like the one i have. i dont' have the digital crap, and i don't have slots of my mem cards, but i do it on the computer before i print them. worked too. i don't use mine alot, and have to clean the ink thingies alot...but that's it. it's not bad, not the best, but it'll do for a quicky picture if i need one.
last edited: 12/14/04 5:57:50 PM”

“I have heard that Costco is the best deal for getting your images printed.

I've got an Epson 2200 which cost me $750.00 a couple of years ago. I also pay about $13 for each ink cartridge. There are 7 of em. Paper is another expense. Good photo paper is atleast fity cent per 8x10 sheet.

As convenient as it is to have a printer on hand, I've learned to print only the things that are needed.”

“Gemini, is right it will cost you more to print them yourself. If you are going to print a photo for a keepsake, say a family photo, have it printed in a pro lab,using traditional methods, as far as I've seen the archival quality of the inks just will not stand the test of time.”

“M-Pix!
http://www.mpix.com

They make excellent enlargements too!”

“heck even Krogers is getting in on the digital film pictures. .29 for a 4x6, you pick it up at your local grocery”

“I can't seem to find a link to it right now, but Canon has this cool printer for printing 4x6 pictures that's just that big, and it fits into your pocket. I remember seeing an ad on TV and thinking that that was the coolest little thing...”

“Talking about being a photo addict--
I once took in 66 rolls of film to Costco.

would have cost about $500-600 at a "regular" processing store...

Cost me only $300... LOL

Nowadays, I have taken about 8300 photos in the past year with my digicam... I've taken about 60 with my regular SLR....

Whenever I print a roll of regular film, I have them burn me a CD in the process--

What I like is being able to tweak my photos in photoshop (my version of a "color darkroom"....

Sam's and Costco both have decent prices for re-prints.
If I need anything more professional, then I go to a professional custom photo lab....
(Of course that's a gazillion times more expensive)”

“What I don't like about having photos printed at Costco, at least the local one -- they carve off 1/4 inch from around the photo so heads can get a bit weird and they only print JPEG files so detail is lost on an enlargement. What I don't like about the other local printing source in my area -- the finished photo is 98% of what you see on the monitor and the colors are different, but they do print TIFF files.

IF I were to get a printer, would I still have the same issues? I like the idea of quick results, doing it at home, cutting the paper to weird sizes and shapes, just being able to play around but it's a costly pastime. And unless my photography improves, I gotta wonder if it's worth it.”

“aaaah pink, I shoot landscapes... Had around over 55 rolls of slide film developed after a big Utah trip in 2000. Don't know if ya caught my post, but I "tweak" too. LOVE THE TWEAKING!!! :-) (oh yeah and I can get rid of red eye in probably 20 seconds *pats self on back* LOL)”

“wannabp - you can do whatever you want at home. If experimenting I use a cheap sheet of copy paper and "low" quality output (to use less ink and to be faster) so I can check out the final product before committing to a high-quality print on photo paper. Using photoshop, etc. what you see is what you get as long as your print is smaller than the max size your printer can output. My printer is usually a little less than the stated max size of 8.5 X 11.”

“Thanks, Techntrek. I may spring for the printer, but first I have to pay off the laptop I got to tweak the prints on. This is one expensive hobby!!! The Epson 2200 (the $620 one, I think) is the most recommended one around here. Any opinions -- other than I['m nuts to think of spending so much money? I already figured that part out.”

“I shoot 4x5 at a cost of $2 to $5 per frame( not to print, but just to process the negative). The trick is once you get familiar with your format of choice and you can see what the camera sees. On a day trip I might only shoot 4 frames, I have eliminated the other shots, without setting up the camera. Slow down and think about the subject and enjoy the scene.”

“Nige, we have an HPdeskjet 5550. It does a very good job at a very reasonable price. We just found that we can buy ink in three packs at costco too. I just finished reprinting wallet size photos for Christmas cards. Birch wanted to take one to work for the bulletin board and could figure out which was the reprint and which was an original.”

“Wanna, I don't know what kind of camera you have, but if you have a digital that can be set to an aspect ratio of 3:2, then that should solve the problem of having your pictures cropped by the machine at Costco.”

“Kodak, has come out with a photo printer for some of their digital cameras. You just place the camera on top and pick the photo. It downloads and prints out a 4 x 6. The printer also acts as a charger for the camera”

“wannabp, I researched... I got the Canon i9100 for HALF the price of the Epson 2200. Take a close look at the i9100 before you go and buy the Epson. See if the $300 more of Epson features are worth it. I didn't think so.”

“Wannabp... LOL I prefer to call it an addiction... LOL...

Hi, I'm Pinkbubelz and I'm addicted to photography...

I was excited to notice that Sam's club's "Digital format" photo printers appear to read RAW format (.nef files from my nikon) as well as the .jpg...
I didn't try printing from it, but maybe then next time I'm in there, I'll take a peek.

regarding the cutting off of edges--Isn't there a way to zoom out the photos on those machines? Admittedly, that means the overall picture is smaller, but wouldn't that solve the problem of the edges being cut off?

My Nikon's photos are in 4 x 6 size to begin with, so maybe it's due to the format of your digicam?


Lizs... I rarely have to remove red-eye--I generally try not to get it in the first place... :-)

My camera's a Nikon D100 (or N80) and I use the Speedlight-- so generally, not the flash that's built in-- it helps to keep the redeye at a minimum....”

“Pink... I use my camera most any day of the week taking people shots since I'm a reporter. Like with all the Christmas sheeyat in the past couple weeks, I've probably shot 120 photos of people. Many are not set up. For example, I had a shot I took during an elementary concert where probably all nine kids had red eye.

All that said, I had read in reviews before my purchsae that the Canon G5, which I have, had a reputation for being very bad for red eye, even when it does the pre-flash supposed red eye reducer. I weighed that against its other features that I wanted and went with the purchase.

But it sure as h e ll gives red eye. When I don't have to shoot tons of people photos -- like I'm doing now -- I don't mind getting rid of one or two. But it does get old when there's 9 sets of eyes in one shot and four sets in the next, etc.

The G5 does take the Canon SLR flash, one reason I got it. I have a flash (380EX, I think) from my non-digital Canon EOS ElanII that should work with it, however, due to non-use or whatever, it does not work right. Makes we wonder if even the use of that type flash might help a lot.....”

“I've got the Canon i900. The prints are great. You can't get them wet but I wouldn't spill water on a conventional photo either.

I've gotten deals on paper so it doesn't cost much. The ink is a different matter. I like being able to print at home, even though it does cost more.

This is a good article that will cover the topic more than a bunch of stupid backpackers can: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,116623,00.asp
last edited: 12/15/04 11:49:03 AM”

“Lizs--
I think I need to talk to you-- I want to get into free-lance photography!

I've been taking photos of the band The Romantics over this past year.

Got a 70-200mm lense (3 lbs!) just to be able to take photos at their concerts...

I try not to use the on-camera flash-- the Nikon Speedlight bounced off the ceiling does a great job (when indoors-- obviously, you can't do that outdoors!) I haven't tried it, but I hear that putting a piece of white tissue paper over the flash or one of those little white cardboard things to "bounce" the light will really help in minimizing the redeye.... (Will try some experiments over my holiday break!)

Redeye on a crowd really sucks. Luckily I have Photoshop CS and they have a "redeye" tool, which is really helpful!”

“Viol one, I take it you mean i9100?? (or will he have time to correct it, if wrong?? lol)

Pink, yeah, I'm at a paper, writing and taking pics and editing. We have a gropu of weeklies. I've freelanced some travel stories and pics. Had a nice landscape shot cover 3/4 of a double truck in the glossy, color Iowan magazine. Once I went on a hike in a new addition to a local national park.... Enjoyed the day; did a freelance piece, plus a couple photos for an area daily; and a couple photos appeared in the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundatoin glossy mag. It was a great, superb day and I made probably $250 when all was said and done. That's making one's love and hobby pay off! :-)

I don't do much freelancing now, because I write much more at this job... don't necessarily want to tie up all my free time writing.

Am still getting the grasp on what my digital camera can do as far as attempting any freelance photo sales. It seems a number of places wanting landscapes want them in RAW.”

“Send me an email-- I'm thinking about freelancing, but I don't have any idea what to charge...

I'm on aol as pinkbubelz.”

“Bitpusher, I have a Canon EOS10D. The instruction manual doesn't have aspect ratio in the index. Go figure.

Lizs, I may be giving the wrong number for the Epson. I looked into it before Thanksgiving when I was getting desparate. At that time, the Canon printer that did 9 X 13 was about $500 and the Epson was $620 locally. The Epson was one recommended by a local developer as what they use and they supposedly do fine art photography.

The whole thing is a headache, another learning curve after the camera, after Photoshop. I thought I had learned enough until I got my first enlargement. It's been downhill from there. But I'm not giving up yet.”

“wanna, I looked up the specs on your EOS10D, and it's already taking pictures in a 3:2 aspect ratio, so unless you're changing the aspect ratio of the photos it takes during editing, Costco's processing shouldn't be cropping your pics when printing to 4x6. I'd complain to the manager if I were you.”

“No lizs, I have the Canon i900 which is similar to yours, but only takes up to 8.5 x 11 paper. I was really tempted by the i9100 but I take my serious work to the photo lab across the street anyhoo.”

“the Canon i9100 does put to 13x19... it musta been typed in wrong somewhere along the way... lol.

Maybe it was more like 2/3 to 3/4 the price of the Epson. I got a great deal, bought the G5 at the same time and with the purchase of both got $150 back. Look at Canon for rebates!”

“Go to a library or bookstore and look for the 2005 Photographer's Guide. It should be on the shelves, at least at Barnes & Noble. I always buy it, but have only spent the big bucks to this point on the 2005 Writer's Guide.

Just looking through those books will give you a wealth of information.”

“Bitpusher, you are fast becoming my favorite TTer. I will take this matter up with Costco tomorrow because their extremely small print notices do say that 3:2 ratio does eliminate that 1/4 inch cropping. However, the photos I took at a work event and had developed at Costco made my co-workers half-headed in some cases and I still need to remedy that somehow. (No, they aren't half-headed ordinarily.) Thanks, Bit.

Lizs, I was probably looking at a different Epson or a different Canon or our local retailers are both undercharging and overcharging. Ha, I bet that's it.”

“If you use a flash bracket to move the flash as far as you can from the camera this will do away with the red eye. But being a reporter this may be in the way of the work. some of the ones that I know who work in bad spots hand hold the thing over their head.The camera to somethimes.”

“wanna,

Here is the page from Steve's Digicams on the Canon EOS10D

At the bottom of that first page is a table that has the aspect ratio of 3:2 in it.”

“Bit, I have Steve's Digicams bookmarked........

I got to thinking. Maybe the problem is that I skewed my 3:2 aspect ratio when I cropped stuff in Photoshop and those photos came out weird. 'Cause all of them weren't affected. What's supposed to happen when you crop and then print? Like does what remains expand to fill the space? I guess you must alter the aspect ratio some, huh? Would you be surprised to hear people are always telling me I should take a class?”

“thank you all for the input.
But I am going to get the Epson printer today (i think that is the one)
I do not have the time or the urge to go to a store and wait. I do not belong to sams club or costco or have a wally world near me.
I enjoy doing it myself
as for the cost of the ink cartridges and paper
i get a HUGE discount from my compnay. I buy in bulk and do not pay taxs or s&h.
The joy of being a purchasing agent :)”

“maple-- that's cool that you get a discount! buying retail generally sucks, and unfortunatly Costco or Sam's or even Walmart sometimes don't have the right printers....
let us know how it goes!


Flatlander-- you are right about keeping the flash as far from the lens as you can, to avoid the redeye. I generally (bounce the flash off of the ceiling, if I'm in an building--unless the ceiling is a weird color or very dark, it leads to a more pleasing light... :-) I haven't tried doing the off- camera thing, but I understand that my Nikon Speedlight is set up for "infra-red" sensing, so that it can be used as a "slave flash" (i.e. it will flash as a secondary flash when another flash goes off, as long as it's set up properly.) Might be something I will have to try over my holiday break! :-)”

“wannbp, ya silly thing, yes, you messed up the aspect ration when you cropped it. :-)

I've been printing some stuff at home at 3x5 and some at 4x6. Enlarge to 5x7 or 8 x10 and you have yet more ratios. So I have to recrop it each time to get the right ratio.

Save your basic shot as a TIF, so you don't lose quality. Then open it and save each as a different file, and crop as need be. Put the ruler on the edges of the photo (I think you do that under "view") and you'll readily see what you're setting up for your crop.

It's a pain, eh??

And Pink and flatlander matt, thanks for the reminder about getting the flash away from the lens. I just hadn't even thought of that for awhile. I should get the 380EX fixed or look for a used flash.”

“Lisz-- I usually shoot in RAW mode (.nef files) and when I open my photos, they make a .pdf file... after I make changes, I save as a .pdf or a .jpg (at the highest resolution possible)... that's okay, isn't it?”

“Oh geez, I just figured out why mapleleaf is so hot to print her own pics instead of taking them to a store.

Naughty, naughty, mapleleaf!”

“ME???
what about pink?





Lisz-- I usually shoot in RAW

pinkbubelz
11:03:15 AM


at least I put cloths on when I take pics.”

“Liz, what kind of camera do you have. I have an off camera flash bracket with sync cord for Canon cameras. I got rid of all my cannon stuff and I'm using Nikon now. I'd be willing to pass it on CHEAP to someone who could use it.”

“Hey now, I said RAW, not nude... LOL

Indiana-- which Nikon do you have?”

“Pink, I have the Fuji S2 Pro with Nikon lenses and recently purchased the Nikon D70 (a sweet little digital camera)
I also have an old minolta manual focus film camera and a newer Minolta film camera that is a good lightweight camera for trips.
Also, a Canon Powershot A70 digital which I've been using a lot for backpacking. (Slides in a pocket)”

“Thanks, Lizs. It is all rather obvious once it's pointed out. And a pain. But I think I can manage a ruler.”

“hmm? wonder where my post went? MUst be in the same place as all of those "lost socks" from the dryer.... LOL


IJ-- I have a D100 (like the D70, but I bought it about 4 months before I heard about the D70-- Doh!!!) I love it, but it's pretty heavy to hike with (adds 5-8 lbs, when I include my big telephoto lens...) I used to have an Asahi Pentax-- all manual-- until I burned out the gears twice... Now it is just a "museum piece" (albeit a scratched and dented one!) and I use my Nikon N80 when taking photos with film....

I'm thinking of eventually getting a Nikon Coolpix for hiking, carrying the big DSLR is a pain-- but I'm not sure if I will be able to go back to lower resolution photos after being spoiled with the D100....”

“pink, I had never shot in RAW till a few weeks ago. Then I had a question on my Canon G5 thread about how the hell to handle RAW cuz my old Photoshop wouldn't open. The fellow G5-ers said to use the Canon software provided with the camera, which worked like a dream. I can only shoot RAW in one mode, I think.

I'm not sure on how things need to be filed. I just know that TIF has no compression, so you can resave and resave without losing quality, which you would with a .jpg”