printing pictures

hi guys,

just joined the forum and the ranks of digital photography so please excuse me if this has been asked a few times before.

I would like to know any recomendations for getting my pictures printed, possibly online by uploading my pictures.

I have an EPSON Stylus R200 printer, but to be honest the results are pretty bad (colour shifts all over the place) not at all as they appear on the screen.

This is costing me a lot of time and frustration ( just like starting to print from colour negatives then, did someone at the back just say.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Phil

This one is a very good pro lab, you wont be disappointed link

If you want to do it at home, this might be helpful link

DSCL get my vote - excellent quality & good pricing

On the R200 I used to own one and always found it produced very good results...are you using a calibrated monitor & the correct printer driver/profiles/ink/paper ?

simon

I don't know, The monitor was changed some time ago, and the printer came as part of the package with the computer.

Do you know how would I check/go about calibrating etc etc?

Thanks for tip about DSCL

Phil

Phil, if you need to ask that question then nothing is calibrated.
The company providing your computer and the rest simply don't do that.

Calibration you need to do on your own, you will need some tools like the one in my link.
It can calibrate your monitor and your printer but if you stick to the orginal inkt and paper then the standard profiles of the company of the printer are mostly good. You still need to calibrate your monitor though, look for a pantone huey, they aren't that expensive.

Hi Phil

Welcome to the forums. Yes, your question has been asked several times before but this is one of the most generous, helpful online communities I have found. No one will mind helping you out - as proved by the above posts.

I second Anvh's post. If you have not calibrated your screen yourself then it won't have been done. If you don't calibrate your monitor then you'll get disappointing results from any pro printing labs.

Colour Collective have a free guide to colour management, details here. I've glanced at the guide, it is probably more detailed than you need but will certainly be useful.

I use an X-Rite EyeOne Display 2 to calibrate my screen, there are plenty of other choices however. The EyeOne Match software bundled with the Display 2 is not strictly the best but it is very user friendly and was perfectly adequate when I started out. Colour Confidence has a basic comparison of several calibration solutions here.

Finally, when you've sorted the calibration also check out Pro Am Imaging for prints.