Best way to order prints from MPIX

[Liz]

After some researching - including here - I decided to order some prints from MPIX.

I tried ordering online before, but got confused with the ordering process. I would like my images processed without their post-processing, editing or automatic process (or whatever they call it). Olympus colors straight out of camera are much better than what I've gotten in prints from various printers, including MPIX (a long time ago). I do some post processing myself, and think this is enough for what I'm looking for.

Cropping: Previously I had cropped some images myself prior to ordering. When I got the prints, the heads were cut off. What did I do wrong? What is the best way to crop an image the way I want it?

Uploading - sending to MPIX: Do I upload the original size to their website?

Thanks for any help or advice - even above and beyond what I've asked for. I just want the best I can get, but because this isn't my area of expertise' I sometimes mess up when ordering. And.....I need to do it the easiest way I can......

Liz

[mjs1973]

Hi Liz,

I use Mpix almost exclusively. I believe the option to have them color correct your images is turned on by default. You can change this so it is turned off by default. To do this, log in and go to My Account. Then click on Site Preferences. Scroll all the way down to the bottom where it says Shopping Cart. There you will find Default Color Correction and you can select do not color correct from the drop down window. Every time you go to your shopping cart this will automatically be set to do not CC. On a side note, they do not use an automatic process to color correct your photos. If you do have them color correct your images, they have a real live person look at each individual image.

As far as cropping goes, I typically don't crop my images prior to uploading them. I send them my full res images. If I order a print that requires cropping, I use their cropping tool to set the crop that I want. You do this once the prints are in your shopping cart.

You can get a "monitor calibration" kit from them too for a few dollars. They will send you a CD with some images on them along with a print of those images. You can pull up the digital image and then adjust your monitor until what you see on screen matches the print.

Also, Mpix uses the sRGB color space to print, so I always make sure I upload sRGB files to them.

[Ray Dockrey]

You can specify no color correction when you order. Just make sure your monitor is calibrated because if it is not then the colors will be all wrong.

When you crop a photo you crop it for a particular size. If you order a different size they have to crop it to that size. When they show you the photo close to the end of the ordering process it will have a red box around it. This will be their crop. You can go in and edit the picture to move the crop where it looks right. So if you cropped for 4x6 and then you order a 8x10 it is going to remove quite a bit off the top and bottom. You can go in and change their crop to keep from cutting peoples heads off.

Yes, you upload the original full resolution their website and then order.

I have ordered many photos from MPIX and have had no issues with them. You just have to follow the above advice. Good luck to you.

[Ray Dockrey]

Mike beat me to the post so I apologize for repeating what he said.

[Liz]

Hi Liz,

I use Mpix almost exclusively. I believe the option to have them color correct your images is turned on by default. You can change this so it is turned off by default. To do this, log in and go to My Account. Then click on Site Preferences. Scroll all the way down to the bottom where it says Shopping Cart. There you will find Default Color Correction and you can select do not color correct from the drop down window. Every time you go to your shopping cart this will automatically be set to do not CC. On a side note, they do not use an automatic process to color correct your photos. If you do have them color correct your images, they have a real live person look at each individual image.

As far as cropping goes, I typically don't crop my images prior to uploading them. I send them my full res images. If I order a print that requires cropping, I use their cropping tool to set the crop that I want. You do this once the prints are in your shopping cart.

You can get a "monitor calibration" kit from them too for a few dollars. They will send you a CD with some images on them along with a print of those images. You can pull up the digital image and then adjust your monitor until what you see on screen matches the print.

Also, Mpix uses the sRGB color space to print, so I always make sure I upload sRGB files to them.

Mike,

Thank you for this valuable information, and for the clarity in your explanation.

Color correction: I thought they automatically color corrected all images unless you request otherwise.

Calibration: I don't have my monitor software calibrated. So this brings up another question. Since I'm quite happy with the colors on my monitor - and the colors look similar to other photographers who use the same brand/model camera, doesn't that mean that they are close enough? I just remember getting photos back that looked nothing like they had looked on my LCD screen - and especially my monitor.

So.....then I would assume the calibration software they send you will bring the colors on my monitor to match those that MPIX uses?

Sorry if these are kind of dumb questions - but I do need the "explanations for dummies."

Thanks for telling me about the cropping tool. I can see I made a lot of mistakes when I previously used online services.

Liz

[OldClicker]

This is my workflow for prints that are used mounted to a foam board with no frame or matting for competition. The mount boards are 11”x14” or 16”x20”. I like to do as much resizing and cropping as I can in Photoshop and have them do as little as possible.

MPIX prints from a jpg at 250 PPI. I crop my image to my liking and then add a black border to get the right format. If I want an 11"x14", I:

- Crop the image to include what I want to show regardless of format.

- An 11x14 @ 250PPI is 2750x3500.

- Add any border you want to show. I usually would have a 0.5% (of the long dimension) white border plus a 1% black border. (Add borders by pixels, not by %.)

- Add another 1% black border for any size print in case it is not printed dead center. This will be about 1/8” on an 11x14 and I can use this 1/8" to trim.

- Resize the image so that it is no bigger than 2750x3500. One direction will still be to short unless I happened to crop to an 11:14 format.

- Add a black border in the short direction to make the image a full 2750x3500.

- Do you final sharpening.

- Save as the original format if desired.

- Convert to sRBG if necessary.

- Combine the layers and make it 8 bits/channel if necessary.

- Save as a jpg with maximum quality (minimum compression).

- Upload to MPIX.

- When you get the image, cut the excess border off.

Also, MPIX will send you the ICC profile for their two printer/paper combinations if you request them by email (free). You can then use these to proof your final image to see how the color will look.

I have been very happy with MPIX. Hope this helps.

TF

[Liz]

You can specify no color correction when you order. Just make sure your monitor is calibrated because if it is not then the colors will be all wrong.

When you crop a photo you crop it for a particular size. If you order a different size they have to crop it to that size. When they show you the photo close to the end of the ordering process it will have a red box around it. This will be their crop. You can go in and edit the picture to move the crop where it looks right. So if you cropped for 4x6 and then you order a 8x10 it is going to remove quite a bit off the top and bottom. You can go in and change their crop to keep from cutting peoples heads off.

Yes, you upload the original full resolution their website and then order.

I have ordered many photos from MPIX and have had no issues with them. You just have to follow the above advice. Good luck to you.

Thank you Ray - I really appreciate you taking the time to help out here. In my previous post to Mike, I asked about the monitor calibration. My monitor isn't calibrated, but the colors look fine to me as on my monitor they really look natural - - just like the subject I photographed - and close to what other images I see from people who have the same/similar Oly equipment. However, I will get the software that Mike referred to from MPIX and give it a shot.

Thanks for the cropping information - and explaining the "how-to" in detail. This really helps me. I printed out both Mike's and your posts - and will do it tomorrow.

I'll let you all know how it turns out when I get them. :thumbsup:

Liz

[Liz]

This is my workflow for prints that are used mounted to a foam board with no frame or matting for competition. The mount boards are 11”x14” or 16”x20”. I like to do as much resizing and cropping as I can in Photoshop and have them do as little as possible.

MPIX prints from a jpg at 250 PPI. I crop my image to my liking and then add a black border to get the right format. If I want an 11"x14", I:

- Crop the image to include what I want to show regardless of format.

- An 11x14 @ 250PPI is 2750x3500.

- Add any border you want to show. I usually would have a 0.5% (of the long dimension) white border plus a 1% black border. (Add borders by pixels, not by %.)

- Add another 1% black border for any size print in case it is not printed dead center. This will be about 1/8” on an 11x14 and I can use this 1/8" to trim.

- Resize the image so that it is no bigger than 2750x3500. One direction will still be to short unless I happened to crop to an 11:14 format.

- Add a black border in the short direction to make the image a full 2750x3500.

- Do you final sharpening.

- Save as the original format if desired.

- Convert to sRBG if necessary.

- Combine the layers and make it 8 bits/channel if necessary.

- Save as a jpg with maximum quality (minimum compression).

- Upload to MPIX.

- When you get the image, cut the excess border off.

Also, MPIX will send you the ICC profile for their two printer/paper combinations if you request them by email (free). You can then use these to proof your final image to see how the color will look.

I have been very happy with MPIX. Hope this helps.

TF

Yes, these steps - and information - help a lot! I am printing all of this info out so I can follow it along with the other 2 valuable posts.

Question re:

Convert to sRBG if necessary

How do I do that?

Thanks again, TF. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Liz

[OldClicker]

Convert to sRBG if necessary

How do I do that?
---------------------------------------------------------
In Photoshop CS4:

Edit>Convert to Profile...

In the Box the Destination Space would be sRGB.

TF

[Liz]

Convert to sRBG if necessary

How do I do that?
---------------------------------------------------------
In Photoshop CS4:

Edit>Convert to Profile...

In the Box the Destination Space would be sRGB.

TF

Whoops......I don't have PS CS4 - I just have PS Elements7.....I'll see if I can find it.

Thanks!

Liz

[mjs1973]

Liz,

Chances are you may be shooting in sRGB. Most DSLR's will give you the option in camera to shoot in Adobe RGB or sRGB.

As far as the "calibration software" software from MPIX goes, there is no calibration software that they send you. What I was referring to is simple a print that they send you along with a CD with that image file. You can then adjust your monitor using the controls built into the monitor to match what you see on the screen to what the print looks like. It's a very basic "calibration" attempt but it's better than nothing.