I am asking for guidance about an issue that I have when printing astrophotography using an online printing service.
I have posted this issue on the old AF forum and got some ideas, but I have failed to improve the quality of my printed astro photos.
My images look nice, bright and colorful on my pc monitor. When I print them with an online service ( I have only tried Walmart and Snapfish), they are washed out , very dim, and generally look like crap. On the pc monitor, the have good “snap”, but in print, they look like they have been left out in the rain.
I have since upgraded my monitor and graphics card (nothing fancy -Acer SB200q/nvidia geforce GT710).
I have only used Windows color calibration along with the Lagom test patterns. I have not purchased a display calibration device.
I am not looking for perfection at all, but I would like to hang a few images on the wall eventually.
I did email an online photo printing service (
“Brightness/luminance – 80 cd/m
Gamma – 2.2
White Point – D50 or 5000k”
The only setting that I can set using the Lagom test patterns is the gamma at 2.2. I have read that the Acer monitor that I have has a default factory brightness setting is >200 cd/m, so I set my brightness to about 30 just to tune it down. I am still not getting anywhere.
Anyone having this issue?
Has anyone here tried printing Astrophotography on metal? I have read that images really pop when printed on metal.
Any ideas welcome!
Thanks,
Jim