Photobox Printing

Rollo · 10 Mar 2009 at 18:04

I ordered an A3 version of the below because it seemed cheap and I was wondering how my d40 pics would stand up to this kind of size. I received it today and it seems a bit darker and duller than the original I sent.

Is this something I should expect with an image such as below? Do I need to mess about with my monitor? Or is it just a case of Photobox being rubbish?!

Thanks in advance

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 10 Mar 2009 at 18:09

Well how much darker are we talking?
Photobox are deffo NOT rubbish.

Don't forget that a flat print has no light behind it. a monitor does as it projects your image.

Try n take a photograph of the print out.
Your image looks fine to me and I am monitor calibrated.

Mud · 10 Mar 2009 at 18:15

Image looks fine but I'm not surprised you lost some detail...there's a lot of low detail there and printing can convey fewer stops of information than the image on a screen. I found Photobox actually print slightly brighter than Jessops for one photo I had printed by both, but as always your mileage may vary.

Amp34 · 10 Mar 2009 at 18:33

Phototbox are known to be dodgey with their printing (flatter and darker generally being the main complaints). Have a look at printing it with Loxley Colour. They are better and also cheaper than Photobox.

Having said that I have had the same problems with all of my prints, and my monitor is calibrated, I just gave up and now before I send prints off bump up the brightness by about 20%. It's not ideal but it's the only way I have found to get prints with enough detail.

Rollo · 10 Mar 2009 at 22:03

Thanks for the help guys

rG-tom · 10 Mar 2009 at 22:32

prints will ALWAYS be slightly darker than even a properly calibrted monitor due to the luminance of a backlit display. Ive had a fair few prints from photobox and they've always come out spot on.

robertgilbert86 · 11 Mar 2009 at 07:15

Like rG-tom is saying, if you're working on an LCD monitor it doesn't actually show black, so things will always look lighter. The colours are also a little murky in the photo, up the exposure/brightness and saturation a bit. If you've got a CRT monitor you can view the photos on it would help.

a1ex2001 · 11 Mar 2009 at 11:07

This is the most common complaint about photobox and the reason I for one will never use them again, they seem cheap but it is obviously for a reason. Before anyone jumps me I do have a clibrated monitor and have had EXACTLY the same images printed elsewhere and they have come back as a much better representation of what I see on my screen. I now use DSCL for 99% of my printing.

martinturner · 11 Mar 2009 at 11:32

I think Photobox' service is excellent; in terms of packaging and speed of delivery. As a whole the print quality is very good. I have also had to speak to customer service and again, excellent, no quibble replacement.

That said ... prints from Photobox always seems to come out noticably darker than anywhere else, which for me proves it is not a fault at my end.

Rollo · 11 Mar 2009 at 17:21

As a indication of how much darker it looks, I can re-create the photo on screen by setting the exposure in lightroom to around -4.

rG-tom · 11 Mar 2009 at 19:40

lol ok not THAT dark! send them an email?

Munromax · 11 Mar 2009 at 20:53

martinturner said:
That said ... prints from Photobox always seems to come out noticably darker than anywhere else, which for me proves it is not a fault at my end.

If they were using an Epson 7400, they would go bankrupt through ink usage!

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 12 Mar 2009 at 10:01

Rollo said:
As a indication of how much darker it looks, I can re-create the photo on screen by setting the exposure in lightroom to around -4.

jesus!

sepulchre · 12 Mar 2009 at 10:47

I have found a lot of my prints from Photobox to be much darker than I would expect recently so much so that I'm loking elsewhere which is a shame as the rates and delivery times are excellent.

Rollo · 12 Mar 2009 at 14:08

Anyone tried to send anything back because of this?

Smit · 12 Mar 2009 at 14:27

Rollo said:
Anyone tried to send anything back because of this?

I will hopefully have a few prints from them over the next few days so I will let you know

If they are too dark then I will attempt to send them back.

sepulchre · 12 Mar 2009 at 14:36

Rollo said:
Anyone tried to send anything back because of this?

I got a full refund when I complained. I also asked about calibration profiles to match my screen output to their printers, they sent me the 6x4 calibration print at which point I gave up LOL

martinturner · 12 Mar 2009 at 14:59

Rollo said:
Anyone tried to send anything back because of this?

I took a series of photos of my little boy and the backgrounds went from a pink hue to a mid grey, except they were all B&W shots and all the backgrounds were white? and white on screen. A call to customer services and they sent out a new better batch with no quibble. Just phone them up and explain the situation, they are a really good company.

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 12 Mar 2009 at 16:47

the thing is. these prints are probably all automated and they are tuned to a general profile. If you contact them then a user at their end is going to adjust the print to better match the system..
When they did the 30x20s for a 5er I got about 10 done and was very put off by the output as they were very dark and looked poor.
Once I purchased a color spyder and requested a 6x4 calibration card I sent a £150 order of 18x12s which have all come out outstanding. Very little difference from the screen.
My only niggle with photobox is their matt photo media option. Its hardly matt at all.
more semi gloss.
Bung a proper matt option in and I am back onboard baby!!

balls · 12 Mar 2009 at 17:00

When ever I get anything printed from Photobox I generally increase the exposure in LR by 2 stops and things generally come out similar to my screen.