Displaying Digital Images on Screen

Has anyone got any tips on displaying and manipulating images I ahve down loaded from my digital camera.

I download the images to my pc (Dell Laptop) as .jpg's and take them in to photoshop. I then tinker about with them until they look just how I want them on screen. When I come to print the images they never look as good. The colour and constrast will look pixelly and grainy, where as on screen they look like good photos.

I have tried down loading other images off the net and printing these directly and they look fine so I am happy that my printer is able to produce good quality photo images. I therefore presume that somewhere in the workings of the computer it is not translating the screen image to the printer.

Does anybody know of a technique or piece of software that will calibrate my screen to show my exactly what I am likely to see when I print?

Anybody else had similar problems or have any advice on how to improve?

A good start is Adobe Gamma - but eventually you may need to calibrate your monitor.

To run adobe gamma ( you have it if you have photoshop) go to your control panel and double click on Adobe Gamma. Follow the directions.

As you've discovered, you have a lot to learn about monitor settings and printer profiles in order to get "true" digital prints.

Go to photo.net (or is it popphoto.net) and do a search on "Mastering digital color"

HTH

James

Adobe Gamma, I think is designed for VGA screens and not LCD types.

It sounds as though the problems you are experiencing are due to the following:-

1. LCD Monitors and digital camera images have only a very fine line compatibility. It is better to work on a VGA or Plasma screen for correct colour renditions. I find the Apple Plasma extremely good.

In general it is advisable to trial & error all of the various settings to find one you consider the best and most faithful - long job!

2. Image sizing and resolution: What resolution does your camera download? Most including my tiny C-100 offer only 72 dpi, but at crazy sizes like 39" x 27". This will affect your ability to work on certain aspects of the image with regard to colour sharpening etc. drop the size in image - image size to A4 or 10 x 8 and bump up res to 150. This reduces the size of the working pixel, it's faster to edit and prints nicely. If possible when printing tell the printer you are using glossy film media, whether you are or not - this produces a good rendition and saves lots of ink too.

Thanks fella's I'll give your advice a wirl tonight. Sadly I am working on an LCD. Maybe it is time to invest in a cheap CRT in order to edit images.

Good pt about the LCD screen Bob. I missed that one. My comments apply to a CRT only.

Cheers

James

I'm confused by something. I thought that digital cameras only downloaded files. Not files at a particular DPI (i.e. 72). The default on the software you are using to view the image is what sets what DPI the image occurs on your screen.

When I open an image in PS it is at 72 dpi and I just resize it to fit the screen for working on it. If i e-mail it or put it on the web I convert it back to 72 dpi and leave it at 300 if I am going to print it. :ph34r:

Actually, some cameras set the DPI of the output to 72, 300, whatever. Some let you select a DPI.

All that matters is the number of pixels of course and that doesn't change.

Cheers

James

Katfish, buying another monitor is probably not a high priority. Many of us find an LCD screen quite satisfactory for working with digital images.

Have you tried printing some pics from your original files (just as downloaded from your camera) without making any changes in photoshop? This should show whether the grainy effect is a problem of the original files, or a result of unintentional changes you may have made in photoshop.

To get good results when printing on paper you need to start with high resolution in the original files (best to look for camera setting with most pixels and ignore dpi which is a confusing term when used for digital pics) and highest "quality" setting that your camera offers. In this context "quality" refers to how much jpg compression is used, and higher "quality" means less compression. High res/high quality means you will have big files and less pics before your storage card is full.

If your original files are already high res/high quality, then the next step is to understand better what changes you are making in Photoshop - you can find lots of good info in online help and by web search for photoshop tips.

Best wishes,

Jules H

you can also get a great monitor callibration device from:

http://www.colorvision.com/cgi-bin/shop.cg...tem_id=GEUSB102

It works with both lcd and CRT monitors, Not chepp but it will last you a long time!

I highly recommend the Colorvision product. I have had very good luck using their monitor profiles in conjunction with printer/paper profiles to get color matches.