Trouble importing TIFF files...

[baldrick777]

Ok, so I've done a print at our local photo lab. It looks as if the colours are definitely better, but the pics still look as if they would if viewed on a monitor with the backlight set to dim. Is that usual? Or what else do I need to do to make them pop?

To prepare them to be printed, I created a 7x5 white background in Gimp 2.9, scaled my image to a little less than that and pasted it onto the white background to create a border. While I was creating the white background, I set the settings to 300dpi, 16-bit gamma integer, but the only color space options available were RGB or Greyscale - ProPhoto (what my subject images were made in) wasn't available. Could this also be why my test pic wasn't as punchy when printed? Incidently, should I even use 16-bit gamma integer, or would 16-bit linear integer be a better option? There are also 32-bit options, which are probably a bit excessive?

Finally, what's the difference between gamma integer, linear integer and floating point?

Sorry for all the questions, particularly the non-asp ones, but you guys seem way more technically knowledgeable than people I know closer at hand.

Cheers.

[afx]

Ok, so I've done a print at our local photo lab. It looks as if the colours are definitely better, but the pics still look as if they would if viewed on a monitor with the backlight set to dim. Is that usual? Or what else do I need to do to make them pop?

How bright is your screen? It should be 120cd/m² or less. Most fine art printers use something like 85cd/m².

but the only color space options available were RGB or Greyscale - ProPhoto

ProPhoto is not really a color space but an RGB Profile for an RGB color space. Two different things.

Incidently, should I even use 16-bit gamma integer, or would 16-bit linear integer be a better option? There are also 32-bit options, which are probably a bit excessive?

16bit with gamma should be just fine.

Finally, what's the difference between gamma integer, linear integer and floating point?

Gamma curve or none and integer vs. floating point data format.
Stay away from floating point unless you really know what you are doing.
And linear formats are also not what you want to use to process already rendered images as they do have a gamma adjustment.


Before you send stuff off, make sure the final file looks the same in Gimp and AS, if not something is broken.

cheers
afx

[baldrick777]

Ok, so I've done a print at our local photo lab. It looks as if the colours are definitely better, but the pics still look as if they would if viewed on a monitor with the backlight set to dim. Is that usual? Or what else do I need to do to make them pop?

How bright is your screen? It should be 120cd/m² or less. Most fine art printers use something like 85cd/m².

but the only color space options available were RGB or Greyscale - ProPhoto

ProPhoto is not really a color space but an RGB Profile for an RGB color space. Two different things.

Before you send stuff off, make sure the final file looks the same in Gimp and AS, if not something is broken.

cheers
afx

To be honest, it's only now that I'm putting all these measurements together, making sense of it all; so I didn't really take notice of how bright the screen was when the calibration was running. However, discalGUI 'told' me to reduce the screen brightness to 85%.

So, if I have a screen brightness of 120cd/m2, and a printer can only handle say 85cd/m2, would the difference likely result in duller pics when printed (as if the back light of a monitor was reduced)? Because this might just be my problem. Perhaps I ought to either...

a/ reduce my screen brightness further and edit with that setting, or;
b/ get my photolab to increase brightness at their end ...to help compensate for the difference?

I certainly made sure the final pics looked as good as each other between AS/Gimp/gThumb

Cheers.

[afx]

To be honest, it's only now that I'm putting all these measurements together, making sense of it all; so I didn't really take notice of how bright the screen was when the calibration was running. However, discalGUI 'told' me to reduce the screen brightness to 85%.

But what was the target for DispcalGUI? 85% is completely useless as we don't know to what baseline it refers to.

So, if I have a screen brightness of 120cd/m2, and a printer can only handle say 85cd/m2, would the difference likely result in duller pics when printed (as if the back light of a monitor was reduced)? Because this might just be my problem. Perhaps I ought to either...

The printer can't handle anything at all. It is a reflective media that comes out of it.

You might want to read this article over at LuLa: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutor ... dark.shtml

a/ reduce my screen brightness further and edit with that setting, or;

Reduce it under control of the measuring device so you know what you are using.

b/ get my photolab to increase brightness at their end

That will not happen. It is your job to give them a reasonable file.
(Unless you pay a pro lab for explicit adjustments, not a cheap option).

I certainly made sure the final pics looked as good as each other between AS/Gimp/gThumb

Good, so we do have a consistent base.

cheers
afx