canon DPP and Mpix question

[DarkHorse]

if im in the wrong group, please tell me,
otherwise, i need help,

i shoot in raw mode, on my 50D,

what steps am i supposed to take with the "raw" CR2 image in DPP
to get it ready to send to a printer like Mpix,

ive not a clue,

i had one of my favorite pics done by a local, he charged me 50 bucks, to tweak the raw file,
then he printed it,
looked good,

i sent the same jpeg to Mpix, for a 16X20
and it came back washed out looking,
no contrast, too white, and no color, a big waste of money on
1 reg, and 1 matallic print,

i need to learn what to do in DPP so i can send out my own jpegs
for cards and posters,
I usauly do this for posting here on the groups,

1-i move the left histogram bar to meet the pic info,
2-i adjust to what the light conditions was, or leave it at "shot settings"
3-adjust contrast
4-brightness if i have to
5-color
6-sharpness,
7-play around with all till i get what looks good,,,,

8-convert to jpeg, and post, send to friends on nett,

but
i need to be able to send to a printer now,
and i dont know what or how to go about it,
the right way, step by step

thanks,
john


thanks,

johnp

[DoublyDan]

I guess DPP is Canons Raw conversion software? I own a canon but use either Adobe Camera Raw in Bridge or Photoshop or I use Lightroom to tweak my Raw files.

Just because you like what you see on the screen doesn't mean that it will print out that way. Before you start playing around with your RAW file I would suggest calibrating your monitor. The fastest, easiest and cheapest way to do this (especially if you are printing through MPIX) would be to buy their calibration system, which is $3. You can find it on their site under prints and products then under merchandise...

Other Calibration hardware/software can cost hundreds of dollars. If you Calibrate it knowing that you are going to print it with MPix in mind I would suggest going this route.

I have also used other printers after calibrating my monitor to Mpix and have had no problems.

One more thing, MPix has a color correction option you can use when printing with them and they will color correct your images. It cost a little more and I have no idea how much playing room they will have with a JPEG after you have converted it (i.e. they may not be able to get it where they want it to go if your monitor is way off)...

After you have calibrated you can feel more secure about editing your RAW images yourself. I would say $50 for editing per image (if its just basic edits) sounds HIGH!!!!

Send me the RAW files and I will give you a good price if you need them done before your calibration kit comes in...

[Peacock]

This page will help you, right from Mpix.com website:
Mpix.com - Help
read that page, they also have icc profiles available for download...