Magnolia prints badly

[crockny]

This was one of my first attempts at macro - handheld. Although I like the look of it online, it prints out badly -- really ugly! I'm assuming it's just because it's not sharp enough? It looks delicate online but gross when printed ...



Camera Canon EOS 7D
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 100 mm
ISO Speed 500

[i speak in math]

where did you have it printed? looks okay on my monitor here in the photo studio.

[crockny]

Home printing on Epson R2880 - and it looks Ok on my monitor too ... printing is another story

[ravncat]

can you describe more than "ugly" - it's impossible to judge print sharpness from your web sized image. It does have delicate colors and gradation that may be difficult to print - what kind of paper are you using? What is your color management workflow?

could be the specular highlights all have to go to paper white...

[JFSanders]

May have a lot to do with what paper you are using and your print settings more than the softness. What size are you printing at? And did you resample the image at anytime?

Jim

[crockny]

No resampling -- it is cropped to maybe 2/3 of original size ... I was printing on 8.5 x 11 for starters. I calibrate with SpyderPro3 and I was having color management problems anyway so that was part of the problem - using Epson Luster paper.and using their profile. Aside from color issues, the texture of the petals seemed rough and ugly in the printout ... maybe it all has to do with color management and paper - maybe a matte paper would be better? I am experimenting with letting the printer manage color, with print preview, and then tweaking the brightness and saturation from there ... seems to be working better ...

[JFSanders]

Make sure you don't have both the image editor and the printer color management enabled. This will definitely mess up your print. Epson's color management is pretty good and unless you are printing from CS or lightroom, Capture. I would use it.

Jim

[crockny]

I was printing from CS4 but it was coming out really garish. I was careful to not have both printer and photoshop enabled for color management ... all those menus are a pain though ...