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Question: How do I get my pictures to look like they do on my computer!?
I have a Nikon D40 that takes beautiful photographs; they look great on the camera, and great on my computer when I download them!. However, when I burn them to a CD, take it to CVS and get my photos back, they look like crap!. Not nearly as clear as they look on my computer, and not even the same color!. How do I get better prints!? Print from the SD card or go to a different store for prints!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
It's entirely possible that the lab you are using is not calibrated the same as you are!.

What you want to provide them along with your CD is Your Screen shot of White so they can print to your RGB calibrations!.

It's not uncommon for a lab to have a different (printer) CMYK representation of (monitor) RGB!. This will give them something to go from!.

Great question!.

also, NEVER provide a CD that is anything less than a 300ppi resolution (pixels per inch) for printing purposes!. That is considered the minimum resolution for quality prints!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Or you could check your image resolution on photoshop or whatever program you use!. Change the ppi to around 300 instead of 72, which is the default for most programs!. This should help a lot!. And if you can, save and edit in !.tiff format instead of !.jpeg, which can cause data loss, that will help as well!. And the kodak machines at Wal-mart and CVS aren't the best places to get prints!. If you have a Wolf Camera/Ritz Camera or other photo printing place near your home, use them instead!. Or an online site for professional prints sent to you!. Hope this helps!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Your monitor and the printer are not callibrated the same!. If you profile your monitor and get the icc profile for the printer then you can soft proof in Photoshop to see how the final print will look like!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You should try printing them from B&H photo, you can do that online!. The store is located in NYC, but you can order prints online, and I hear it's supposed to be very high quality stuff :DWww@QuestionHome@Com

You will need to purchase a monitor calibrator such as a huey Pantone and do some test prints to see if they match!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You need to calibrate your monitor!.Www@QuestionHome@Com