The following 4×6-inch test file can be downloaded at the link below:

http://www.andrewdarlow.com/ctest.zip

The file contains color and black and white images sized to 280PPI on a 4×6 canvas and saved with the sRGB working space.

You should then save the file as a JPG file (quality 9, 10, 11 or 12 is recommended-12 is best, but will create a larger file) and send the target image to your lab to print.

Because this tip is primarily for continuous-tone printers like those found in professional photo labs, the file is in the sRGB working space and Photoshop PSD format. Saving a JPG on top of a JPG is a no-no because you will keep introducing more artifacts as you save a JPG on top of a JPG. The image includes some text, which also helps to judge the sharpness of the lab’s output.

Note: It is very important to instruct your lab to turn off any color correction, or you won’t be able to properly control the color and density of your prints!

I have a similar file here with the same test image in AdobeRGB color space, which is ideal for inkjet printer testing.

Enjoy!

If you qualify for a free subscription of After Capture , it will be delivered to you in hardcopy form. The June/July issue has a number of excellent articles (including one very helpful one about Lightroom, metadata and what happens behind the scenes in the application). I highly recommend taking a look at the website-AfterCapture.com. All the PDFs from the current and past issues can be downloaded there.

If you’d like to download the PDF of my article without having to visit the site, you can do that by clicking HERE.

On the show I answered some questions about how inkjet papers can be used for things other than traditional prints, and I covered some suggestions regarding image resolution.

The site is filled with a lot of photo tips and info, and I believe it is well worth a look for newbies to professional photographers. Visit this page on the site to listen to the show and read the show notes, or you can subscribe to the podcast on their site.

When you install a printer driver from a CD, or by downloading it from the printer manufacturer’s website to make sure it is a current version (recommended), printer profiles are generally a part of the install. For Mac users using OSX, the profiles will usually be placed in one of three places:

1. /Library/ColorSync/Profiles (visible and usable by all users).

2. In your User folder (next to the house icon)/Library/ColorSync/Profiles (visible and usable by just the current User).

or here:

3. Main Hard Drive with your OSX system files/Library/Printers

What’s interesting is that OSX Spotlight searches for the profiles in Number 3 above don’t appear to work (at least they didn’t for me). Files in that section may be considered special files, and I’m sure a Unix/OSX systems expert will know exactly why that’s happening.

Also note that you will need to restart Photoshop (or any other color management aware application from which you are printing) if Photoshop is open when you add profiles to your Profiles folder. That will allow the profile list in Photoshop to refresh.

A more efficient way to find all the profiles on your system is by using a great application that comes free with your Mac. It is called “ColorSync Utility” and can be found in your Applications/Utilities folder.

One section of the Apple ColorSync Utility with the “Profiles” icon selected.

After launching the application, choose “Profiles” from the icons at the top of the screen, and then look down the list on the left of the screen. If you look inside the item named “Other” you will see the path to the “hidden profiles” that I mentioned in Number 3 above. You can also take a look at the profile in 3D color space.

To receive all the Inkjet FAQ’s as they are added to the website (and to receive all the posts on inkjettips.com), visit this page and add your e-mail address.

It is an invitation only event, and an RSVP is requested to attend. To RSVP, please visit this page.

I hope to see some InkjetTips readers there.

All the best!

Andrew

You  can find the article on The Imaging Buffet here.

Inkjet FAQ 001: My Monitor is Too Bright, Even After Calibrating and Profiling. What Do I Do?

After working with a client recently who has an Intel Core 2 Duo iMac 24″, I wrote an article about how to adjust the contrast in a way few people realize is available. The iMac 24″ does not have a specific on-screen display menu with Contrast, Brightness and specific that is common on virtually all CRT monitors and many LCD monitors. For monitors that do have adjustments, you can often tone down the display brightness with a combination of adjustments to the Contrast, Brightness and in some cases, individual RGB color controls.

Here are a few excerpts from another article I wrote on the topic:

After adjusting the contrast bar to a point nearly all the way to the left, and then calibrating and profiling, the iMac’s screen was still too bright (even at minimum brightness), so I installed a freeware application by Charcoal Design named Shades. Just a small adjustment did the trick. I recommend turning on Shades (you’ll find it in System Preferences after installing) after doing a hardware calibration with a device like the Spyder 3 Colorimeter or the X-Rite i1 Display 2 Colorimeter. It is important to only run shades after you do a hardware calibration. You can also use the built-in calibration/profiling options on your  Mac, or Adobe Gamma on Windows, but a hardware calibration is better.

I recommend using a standard image that contains a range of color images, plus a neutral gray step wedge to determine how well your monitor is displaying images. You can find one that I assembled at www.andrewdarlow.com/calib.html. If your screen is well calibrated and profiled, you should be able to distinguish individual tones in all of the 21 boxes of the step wedge.

There are a number of differences between the R2400 and R2880, including two USB 2.0 ports that allow two computers to simultaneously connect to the printer (the R2400 has both a USB 2.0 and FireWire (IEEE 1394) port). A welcome improvement is that Epson Stylus Photo R2880 will allow direct printing on CD/DVDs. Also welcome is a new ink-repelling coating on the print head, which according to the company, will prolong the life of the head and decrease maintenance time.

I do wish that Epson had added another ink channel to avoid the need to switch between Photo Black and Matte Black (a manual cartridge switch is necessary for optimum results on both semi-gloss/glossy and matte/watercolor papers).

An excellent hands-on review of the printer can be found here, on photo-i.co.uk, a site that contains many excellent reviews, tutorials and DVD user guides.

The Epson R2880 is now available for an estimated street price of $799.99 through direct market resellers, specialty photo stores, computer superstores, online retailers, and Epson’s retail Web site at www.epsonstore.com.

The 4 page PDF with additional information about inkAID and the bookis available here for download: http://www.inkaid1.com

or you can download the PDF directly here.

I recently contributed a tip from my book, 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques for their Earth Day article entitled: 10 Tips for Being a Greener Photographer. There is a lot of helpful advice there. The tip I contributed from the book covers recycling inkjet printers and cartridges.

Related Stories: NBC Universal, HP and Staples Make it Easy to Recycle Outdated Technology During Earth Week in New York City
-Great podcast by the folks at DL.TV with many suggestions for conserving energy and recycling Compact Fluorescent Bulbs.