BLURB book VS. Digitally Printed Prints

[bosch1057]

I just got my first BLURB book yesterday and I love it! I purchased the image wrap with premium (100lb silk) paper and I'm very happy with how the images look, practically identical to how I view them on my monitor. However, the same images that I have in the book I have printed out on 4 x 6 matte paper and they pretty much do not match the same colors as the books prints. I had the 4 x 6 prints printed at a local photo shop, is it there printer or is Blurb just that good?

Seriously, the book I created is a portfolio of images that I plan on printing out, framing, and hopefully placing on a gallery wall. That said they need to look identical to what is in the book and what I see on my computer screen. Any ideas, suggestions, or comments on why there is a difference? I have read that every brand of printer can print differently, how about the paper? I was thinking of taking my images to a different photo shop and having them printed out just to simply compare them to the others.

Thanks

[acedrew]

Originally Posted by bosch1057

I just got my first BLURB book yesterday and I love it! I purchased the image wrap with premium (100lb silk) paper and I'm very happy with how the images look, practically identical to how I view them on my monitor. However, the same images that I have in the book I have printed out on 4 x 6 matte paper and they pretty much do not match the same colors as the books prints. I had the 4 x 6 prints printed at a local photo shop, is it there printer or is Blurb just that good?

Seriously, the book I created is a portfolio of images that I plan on printing out, framing, and hopefully placing on a gallery wall. That said they need to look identical to what is in the book and what I see on my computer screen. Any ideas, suggestions, or comments on why there is a difference? I have read that every brand of printer can print differently, how about the paper? I was thinking of taking my images to a different photo shop and having them printed out just to simply compare them to the others.

Thanks

It's all about the ICC profiles used, they are printer and paper combo specific. Most labs publish their ICC profiles, and/or just use the default srgb profile and convert to their printer for you. Blurb recommends you use the srgb profile, but they also provide a color profile for their printer. If you used their bookmaking software, it may have done profile matching automagically. At any rate, if you output your files as JPEGs using the default srgb profile, and get them printed using any of the web based print shops, they should turn out pretty well. INTERNATIONAL COLOR CONSORTIUM will explain how ICC profiles work to make your monitor, printer, and friend's printer all show the same thing.

Andrew Rodgers
Perfected Perspectives -- Photography by Andrew Rodgers | Andrew Rodgers (acedrew) on Twitter