Help - Costco Printing Color is Off

[helenfleur]

Hello,

I print my layouts at Costco. I use PSE 3 on a Mac. I have PSE 4, but could not get the link layers function to work, so I went back to PSE 3. My photos appear much darker on the print outs than they do on my computer.

I printed out some 4 x 6s of the photos I used, just from Iphoto, not using PSE and the color is good. So, that makes me think it is not my monitor or the photos themselves. I printed out my layout on 4 x 6, wondering if it is just costco's enlargement printer that is off, and those were too dark too. So, it makes me think that something is happening to the photo color in PSE, but I have no idea what to try next or what to check. I save the layouts for uploading as jpeg files, with maximum quality.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Helen

[twinsmomflor]

I use PS CS3 and sometimes I have the same problem. I read in their site to use their printer profiles but I haven't try that.

[isshinryu_mom]

I haven't had any color problems with Costco (using ps7).... are you unchecking the box that says "auto correct color" (or something like that)? I always UNcheck that.

[Emma]

yes, using the printer profile of your intended printer, matching your monitor to those prints instead of those from your home printer, and turning off Auto Corrections is usually the key. However, make sure you look at the prints before paying for them and refuse any that aren't right. Work with the staff there to make sure you get consistent results! They're happy to help you.

[helenfleur]

Thanks, folks. :love3:

That gives me some things to try! The problem started sometime in the past year, and I couldn't think of what may have changed in that time.

Helen

[Emma]

could be their printers, you never know! Always remember you do NOT have to pay if you don't like the prints! Get a staff member to help you troubleshoot and have them reprinted to your satisfaction.

[debbers]

And I can't stress enough to use their color profiles.

Find out if they prefer them to be RGB or CMYK images when you send them to be printed.

Printing is ... an art unto itself.

deb

[helenfleur]

Hi,
I just wanted to update that the problem was solved by turning off the "auto correct" feature when ordering the photos from Costco. I hope this information might help someone else! Thanks again for all your help.
Helen