Get Started with JD Econo Printing

If you want to take advantage of Econo printing prices, it is important to send JD Photo Imaging a test job before you start to send paid work to the lab. Test jobs are free, and they insure that you won’t be disappointed with your first Econo print order.

To make a good first test image, follow the steps below. These steps assume you are shooting in a studio setting; once you are confident of the prints you get back from the lab, you can move this process outside the studio.

1. Set your camera to S-RGB and 5200K. The Adobe workspace is best used for commercial products or press photography. However, Adobe's color space does not produce pleasing skin tones necessary in portrait photography. This would also be a good time to look in your manual and find what "look" or parameters your camera manufacturer suggests for producing skin tones. You can play with this later, but to start use the Natural or Neutral color setting.
2. Set the file size. Generally speaking, a portrait image with a resolution of 2,400 x 3,000 (8x10 at 300ppi) will make beautiful 16x20 or smaller prints. Some of the newer cameras on the market are capable of shooting extremely large files but the time needed to handle hundreds of these huge files must be weighed against the subject and product you are targeting.
3. Select a white balance type. For shooting in the studio we recommend shooting JPG format images with a custom white balance. If you learn to properly set your custom white balance and do it often you should never have to shoot raw in the studio. Remember, shooting raw produces very large uncompressed images that you must later properly convert to JPG before submitting for printing. Never use AUTO white balance.
4. Perform a white balance. We highly recommend the use of a collapsible target to set white balance. There are many on the market that work well but we like the type that have a white, gray and black stripe on them like the one from Photovision. The cameras will not auto focus on these, so you will need to manually focus the camera. However, the histogram they produce is very easy to quickly evaluate.
5. Light a typical head and shoulder scene in your studio. Set your camera to manual exposure and the settings you would typically use in this situation. Place the target at the subject plane oriented so that when you fill the viewfinder with the target all you see are approximately equal parts of the three stripes and photograph it.
6. Now set you cameras display to show you the histogram of the image you have just taken. You should see three distinct spikes if the image is properly exposed. If the spikes are off to the right you are over exposed, to the left you are under exposed. Keep in mind that if you are only seeing two spikes, you are so far over or under that one is off the monitor. Adjust the exposure until all three spikes are evenly centered (the middle spike is in the center of the display and the outside two are near the edge but inset by equal distances).
7. Once you have achieved this, you have optimized your exposure and should use this image to set your custom white balance. The exact procedure for selecting an image for use in white balance varies from camera to camera so you will need to consult your cameras manual. After you have set the white balance you should shoot the target again so you can evaluate it on you computer.
8. Evaluate the target. Open the target you shot after setting your white balance in any software that will display the RGB values. In the black stripe you should see numbers between 25 and 30 with little or no variation between the RGB values. When all three values are the same you have a perfectly neutral color. 28,28,28 would be great. Keep in mind that any color much below 25 will not have any detail in the final print. Next your Gray should come in at 118 to 125. Again the most important thing is they are neutral like 122,122,122. The white stripe should read around 240 to 245. Anything over 245 will blow out the print to paper white.
9. If everything checks out you are now ready to submit some test prints to the lab. Use this procedure and photograph a subject in various typical scenes.
10. Create a new job in ROES or LabPrints and order one 8x10 print from 3-5 different studio scenes. Be sure to use the Econo catalog in ROES, or choose the "Studio Color Correct" option in LabPrints. Send us the job with the phrase “color calibration test - do not alter color” in the instructions so you are not charged for the prints.
11. If you have properly calibrated your camera, you should get a good set of prints.

Calibrating your Monitor

Once you are comfortable controlling your own print density and color, you will want to take control of your color and density in your studio so that you can show images to customers for in-studio sales or soft proofing.

The simplest way to calibrate your monitor is to open our lab calibration file and visually match it with the calibration print included in the Welcome Kit. To order your free calibration print call us at 888.858.8084 or click here. This will get you close enough to view images that at least somewhat resemble the prints you will receive.

If you want to seriously think about controlling your own color you must to take monitor calibration to the next level, we recommend you purchase either the Gretag-Macbeth Eye-One or X-Rite Optix monitor calibration tools. These will allow you to calibrate your monitor to the industry standard of 6500k with a 2.2 gamma. In addition to calibrating your monitor you will need a print viewing light box set to 5000k near the monitor so you can view prints in the light box and on the monitor for evaluation purposes.

Start by making sure you are viewing both the image and the photograph in a neutrally lit room. You can approximate neutral lighting by using both indirect neon and incandescent (light bulb) fixtures in the same room. The resulting light should be bright enough to read in, but should not create any hot spots or reflections on the monitor.

Now that you have the basic tools needed you should test the system. If you add a little density and submit and image for Econo printing does it come back looking a little darker? If you add some cyan and reduce the contrast is the print you get back a little flatter and less red?. Once you can control the results from your studio, you have created a workflow that is calibrated and repetitive. Now all you need to do is make sure nothing changes and look at all your images before submitting them for printing.

Note that while monitor calibration can aid in soft proofing and matching multiple monitors in the same studio, it is not a quick solution or a substitute for controlling your own color.