Requested No Adjustment but Lab Print Colour Still Off

[Clark75]

Hi All,

I sent my digital photos for lab printing and requested that they print without alterations. However, when I got it back in 4R size, I noticed that the white border that I had was very slightly greenish-yellow. Compared with my original photo in digital form, other colours within the printed photo were also slightly off. Unfortunately, I only have a LCD screen at home and not a CRT one, so no calibration was done. However, I had used Photoshop to ensure that the white border was 255 for all R, G and B. So I don't think it is the digital photo that is incorrect, right? Can someone please advise? Thanks!

 

[igpenguin]

check the back of your photo print for the status string. if there was no adjustments you ought to see something like "N N N N" as part of the string printed.

 

[Clark75]

check the back of your photo print for the status string. if there was no adjustments you ought to see something like "N N N N" as part of the string printed.

Thanks igpenguin, will do that when I get home tonight.

 

[Clark75]

igpenguin, just checked and there was no NNNN on the back! Should I bring it back or just forget about it?

Anybody has experience bringing back to a lab and asking for reprints??? Thanks!

 

[igpenguin]

you mean there's totally no status string printed on the back? or instead of "NNNN" you see some other combination as part of the string..

if you are quite sure the lab somehow forgot to stick to your request you can always try asking for reprints the way you originally wanted it ie no adjustments.

 

[Clark75]

you mean there's totally no status string printed on the back? or instead of "NNNN" you see some other combination as part of the string..

if you are quite sure the lab somehow forgot to stick to your request you can always try asking for reprints the way you originally wanted it ie no adjustments.

Totally no 'status string' at all. And I've found out why...

Infact, I just came back from the shop and am quite disappointed in my encouter with them.

10 minutes ago, I went there and told them (there were two ladies there) that my photos were off colour from my digital original. And that I had asked them to print without adjustment (also written on the CD itself). She (one of the lab ladies) looked at it and said that digital and what is printed out is never the same.

Then I said that on the back of the photo should have "NNNN" (thanks for your info!). She then said that theirs do not have because it is printed by... wait for the surprise... ONE OF THOSE INSTANT DIY MACHINES!!!

Not sure if you know what machine I'm talking about, but it looks kind of like a small version of Neo-prints machines we had in the past. Anyway, she demonstrated by going to the machine, slotting in my CD and printing one of my photos. Unfortunately for her, when it came out and was compared with the other one she had printed earlier, there was an obvious difference but still not the same colour as previewed on the machine's screen or my own screen at home.

Obviously, I told her to print all again and she refused because she said that I might end up rejecting all again. Keeping my anger under check, I told her I will call Kodak myself and ask them to go down to calibrate the machine! She then changed her tune and said that she will send it to another place to print.

I was told to wait three days and collect it on Saturday.

I can accept mistakes, but what I would like is better attitude from them.

 

[Clark75]

Oh yah, thanks again igpenguin for your advice! :thumbsup:

 

[erictan8888]

care to share where you went so we can avoid such shops?

anyway, read on some web page that recommends DIY machines.... saying they print pretty accurate pics...

dun know about this... never tried before....

 

[Clark75]

care to share where you went so we can avoid such shops?

anyway, read on some web page that recommends DIY machines.... saying they print pretty accurate pics...

dun know about this... never tried before....

I would like to, but I'm not sure of legal repercussions. But I'll PM you.

 

[erictan8888]

thanks....

 

[Shodan99]

Care to share what does all these "NNNN" mean?

For example one of my photos: N+1 N-2---AC-01

 

[Oxygen]

me encountered the same problem... and their response was quite simple... "you never tell us not to adjust then we adjudt for you lor" .. well after this bad experience i will tell them "not to adjust" but still found the prints vary ......

 

[nemesis32]

Care to share what does all these "NNNN" mean?

For example one of my photos: N+1 N-2---AC-01

N+1 N-2 etc if i am not wrong are exposure compensation..... I think these days not all labs will have the status behind. I believe only for Fuji Frontier or Noritsu machines then it's indicated so dun jump to conclusion.

As for Clark case, it's quite clear they use the direct printing machine and hence the effect is different from the high end printers.....

 

[Shodan99]

At the moment, my LCD screen is not calibrated. So in this case, is it advisable to let the lab to adjustments?

When I eventually purchase a calibration device like eyeone, then I can tell the lab not to do adjustments?

 

[Clark75]

I learnt from a digital photography course that calibrating a LCD screen is pointless. Although I'm still not sure why. Apparently, using CRT is still the best. Anybody can explain the science behind it? Thanks!

 

[igpenguin]

decoding status strings...

http://forum.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=49443&highlight=status+string

the frontier link in the above is outdated. try:

http://tartamillo.altervista.org/foto/frontier.eng.php

 

[shojibake]

Legal repercussions? I had similar experiences in soo kees all over singapore. But if you go back once or twice and grill them for every mistake, they'll remember. But i must say they generally can keep their cool even if you hantam them jialat.

 

[showtime]

check the back of your photo print for the status string. if there was no adjustments you ought to see something like "N N N N" as part of the string printed.

you will only see NNNN if its a print from film. digital prints do not display those fields.

 

[showtime]

Care to share what does all these "NNNN" mean?

For example one of my photos: N+1 N-2---AC-01

printing machines use CMYK color management.

C for cyan (as opposed to red)
M for magenta (as opposed to green)
Y for yellow (as opposed to blue)
K for black (as opposed to white)

what your fields mean is that

Cyan - no correction
Magenta - Add 1 correction value
Yellow - No correction
Black - Minus 2 correction values (adding brightness)

hope this clears up your doubts and helps you to know your prints better and thus make you a better photographer... cheers.

 

[Clark75]

printing machines use CMYK color management.

C for cyan (as opposed to red)
M for magenta (as opposed to green)
Y for yellow (as opposed to blue)
K for black (as opposed to white)

what your fields mean is that

Cyan - no correction
Magenta - Add 1 correction value
Yellow - No correction
Black - Minus 2 correction values (adding brightness)

hope this clears up your doubts and helps you to know your prints better and thus make you a better photographer... cheers.

Thank you showtime for sharing that info. Anyway, whether they use RGB or CMY, if part of my digital photo has a white part (255 on all R,G and B), then there would not be any print on that area at all right? Shouldn't it be as white as the original paper they use? Thanks!