Washed out prints...

Ricardo Penna from Brasilia, Brazil, using Photoshop cs with Windows xp, writes in with:

[Quote:] When printing a photo what I see on the screen is much
> darker than the result I get on the paper.
> Thus, what seems a nice picture ends up as a
> "washed" photo.

Looks like you need some printer profiling...

Washed out prints can be caused by several things... Let's see if we can sort it out.

It could be your printer, or it could be your monitor giving you false readings.

Printer Profiles: If you do not have the correct printer profile, then your prints may turn out faded. This is a gamma thing. You are encouraged to calibrate your monitor, and go to the printer manufacturer web site and look up your printer to see if they offer the correct RGB and CYMK printer profile.

Poor quality paper: most likely the problem is a poor quality paper. You did not indicate what printer and what paper you are using, so we cannot help much. However, try a sheet of the high quality photo paper and see if the colors print more vivid and saturated.

If the above doesn't help, I suggest you find someone else with a different printer who is willing to bring it over and print from your computer. That will proof the printer either in or out of the equation.

If none of this helps let us know and we'll walk you through the creation of a custom printer profile and custom color space.

Comments

[Ron Murray]

Has anyone experimented with recreating in Photoshop the effect of using "printing out papers?"

That is, to simulate the self-masking effect of contact printing a negative developed in a tanning developer onto a special very slow paper that is exposed to sunlight "until it looks right."

Ron Murray - Preservation Reformatting Division
Library of Congress

[PS 911]
Greetings, Ron -- the references you sent refer only to chemistry effects in traditional photography; when applied to specific specialty papers. However there were no examples.

Generally, when duplicating a process from traditional photography darkroom methods, you need a 'sample' of the effect you're trying to achieve before planning the Photoshop effects. However several of our team members have lab experience using numerous papers and chemistry.

The effects you speak of can be achieved by
1. selecting a very light color which matches the "tint" desired,
2. Click the "New Layer" button in the Layers Palette
3. Fill the layer with the color (Option/Delete, Alt/Delete)
4. Set transparency (Opacity) of the layer to 10% to 20%

Some "Blending Modes" can be tried, but generally speaking the tint affects all of the color (Black to white) ranges of the photo.

Thanks... hope we helped. If you have an actual sample, we'll take a look and advise.

PS 911 Team