I have a calibrated monitor and print with profiles on an R1800 printer. When the printer isn't clogged I get very nice prints, but they are costly.
I have downloaded the dry creek profiles for my costco, but there are a couple of things I do not understand.
With the Epson, you do your thing relying on the monitor and (as I understand it) the profile applies the needed correction for the printer.
Obviously you don't print direct to costco. Does this mean you print to file (applying the costco profile) and send those images, or do I have to redo the images?
A simple explanation from someone familiar with the process would be helpful.
FYI I use a D300 at 16 bits (reducing to jpg for transmission), Adobe rgb, CS-3. Have I left out anything critical?
Basically you save your edited image with no profiles selected. This is your master.
Then rename the file and apply the profile so you can soft proof. Make edits as needed so you like the results, then use Edit-->Convert to Profile. Save. This is the file you give Costco.
FYI, my local Costco matched my soft proof almost exactly. I walked in, uploaded my file, and made sure the operator knew not to apply any auto color correct settings.
I've done prints at Costco with the Dry Creek profile.
What you want to do is install the profile onto your computer so CS3 can use it for conversion. Costco printers are not profile aware so what you need to do is take your master edit copy in Adobe RGB and use "Convert Profile" to change the color space of the file to the Glossy or Lustre Costco profile. But the color space of the printer pretty much conforms to sRGB, as the wireframe comparison below reveals, so if you converted to sRGB you'd probably get very similar results...
Then you want size the file to the size of the print per the resolution of the printer. The Drycreek site will tell you what type of printer is used and the file prep instructions will tell you the native resolution of the file. For example my local Costo uses a Noritsu which has 300ppi resolution, so I will crop a file for an 8 x 10 print to 2400 x 3000 pixels. Costo printers actually print at about 103% to avoid white edges if the paper is misaligned so Drycreek suggests after cropping to increase the canvas size by about 36 pixels on the long dimension and 24 on the short.
I've found it best to burn the files on a CD and give it to the operator with a note which says" Cropped and edited in Photoshop per (profile name) profile. Please turn off all media corrections when printing.
The resolution of the printer is such that saving the file as a level 10 JPG should be sufficient. 16 bit and TIFF will just make the files bigger without any gain in print quality you could see. Print the same file both ways to judge that.
I just upload it and tell it not to autocorrect anything on the order page. Even w/o converting to the profile, it's pretty accurate if you have a profiled monitor...
