Back To Reality...

Got back two more 16x20's from the lab yesterday- and came crashing back down to reality. One is way too dark and contrasty (the scan perfectly exposed with proper highlights and midtones), the other is also darker than the scan but perhaps not that bad in print (a slightly lighter scan played nicely on screen). Interestingly, they mistakenly reprinted the first scan I gave them (which they kept)- and again, it was spot on!

Goldilocks Scan.

Way Darkened Inkjet Print

Now I've read enough about the trials and tribulations of people trying to get their prints to match their scans, I just wish that would have happened my first go around. That first print proved that inkjets were, in fact, a viable, quality alternative to silver gelatin. Still, I had my suspicions as to the absolute ease of how that print came about- nothing in my life ever came about that freakin' easy! These two additional prints (even though they may raise as many questions as they answer) were to further test the ease and reliability of that quality.

Darkened Print.

Goldilocks Scan.

Now, it's more or less back to being the crap shoot I initially imagined- though still not as bad as the analogue days, when each and every print could be slightly different in each and every crucial area of concern. I guess a calibrated monitor wouldn't hurt, although I can already hear myself screaming- "It shouldn't be this dark. It shouldn't be this anything- I Have A Calibrated Monitor, Godamnit!"

Nevertheless, lesson learned- order small 8x10 test prints before going bust into big boy territory. And if I was ever to have the capital to make a large order- consult with the printer him or herself.  My initial over the top, "beginner's luck" enthusiasm has now been officially tempered by reality, and that's a good thing. And though I won't be spending any more money I don't have on prints anytime soon, now I have a considerably better accounting of the quality that can be achieved, and the extended effort necessary to successfully guarantee that that quality is reproduced on a continued and reliable basis.

Update: After some cursory correspondence it seems that sometimes the printers at this particular establishment make "judgement"  calls as to "corrections" they think should be imposed! I'm uhhhh... speechless- I thought the whole point of post editing was to get it down to your own exact specification, your own style of seeing and presentation, so that if it doesn't, in fact, come out right and the printer stayed faithful to what was presented- it's no one's fault but the person who made the scan in the first place!

Fortunately, seems they are willing to make this right- to be continued...