Glossy iMac and printing photos

Yup

This has been covered a number of times and technology may improve, but here is the received wisdom:

1) Glossy screens - started with Sony - are highly seductive. They are very contrasted, the colours are very saturated and the blacks are very deep. Unfortunately, paper is none of those things, so you will never get anything close even with glossy paper. Just get used to it!

2) You can improve things in two ways: first by calibrating your screen and second by using an application like photoshop that allows a proper view of paper-dependent proof on screen

3) Think hard about how many pictures you actually print versus show on screen. Prints tend to be low nowadays, or they are numerous but for people who don't care much about colour accuracy. Think fridge magnet

4) You can get the best of both worlds by connecting a computer to an external monitor. I know, it's a bit of an overkill, but if you have one hanging around anyway and you take the trouble to calibrate it...

Hey I just realised it was you Pelao. Talking about teaching you to suck eggs...

As an 'advanced user' have you downloaded Michael Reichman's tutorial on printing? It is well worth the money. These guys are a bit on the beer gut rambling side but they sure know what they are talking about! :clap:

If others read this: From Camera to Print

Yes, it looks like the iMac is questionable if you like to print your images. Sadly, I do.

Here's one guy's efforts and results at calibrating both the 20" and the 24":
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1017&message=24321625

When I upgrade it looks like I will need a second monitor.


Moscool,
Thanks for the comments on the printing tutorial. I downloaded the Lightroom Tutorial and also found it very useful - although I do agree with you about their style. These guys do real-world stuff that you can use right away. I think I will get the printing one.

Wanna see how much reflective is the iMac!

Wanna see how much reflective is the iMac, I just saw this gallery from Macworld:

http://gallery.mac.com/mwmagazine#100012

There is a few pictures there where you can see the glass effects quite real. On one you see the cameraman next to the window, and on another you can clearly see the room's light in the screen!

I really don't think I'll love that...

Very subjective light sources, at best. I don't consider those shots as "real world" examples. But thanks for the link, anyhoo.

Pelao said:

Here's one guy's efforts and results at calibrating both the 20" and the 24":
First iMac calibration impressions...: Mac Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Click to expand...

Very interesting. FYI I found that 2.2/D65 just doesn't work on my MBP. I just cannot get it right. On the other hand 2.2/Native is near perfect.
(Using a Spyder2)

By the way...

Received the Photoshop CS3 book by Scott Kelby. I now understand what you mean. I would make two remarks:

- It is very well produced. Every tip is gorgeously illustrated and very easy to follow. Yes it is painting by numbers, but it encourages you to try other things too.

- A high proportion of the techniques can be transferred straight to Lightroom (obviously anything involving camera raw and a few basic retouching techniques too.)

Thanks for the recommendation!

Moscool said:

By the way...

Received the Photoshop CS3 book by Scott Kelby. I now understand what you mean. I would make two remarks:

- It is very well produced. Every tip is gorgeously illustrated and very easy to follow. Yes it is painting by numbers, but it encourages you to try other things too.

- A high proportion of the techniques can be transferred straight to Lightroom (obviously anything involving camera raw and a few basic retouching techniques too.)

Thanks for the recommendation!

Click to expand...

You are welcome!

I followed my own advice and purchased a copy!