kuad82001 Posted January 6, 2020 Share #1 Posted January 6, 2020 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi there! Just got back my book from Blurb and the images are all messed up. Green tinge, magenta streaks, ect. I know that they print as if it is a color image but wow. Anyone have recommendations on a place that handles images from MM1 better? Grateful, Dennis Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 6, 2020 Posted January 6, 2020 Hi kuad82001, Take a look here Best place to print a book from M Monochrom?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
tommydom Posted January 7, 2020 Share #2 Posted January 7, 2020 I used Google to print a few books for me and got good results. My photos were from my 246 with APO 50mm at my niece's wedding in 2018. I generated good quality TIF files using Gray Gamma 2.2 as the color profile from Capture 1. I had a couple of highly cropped images that Google "warned" were not "big enough/high enough resolution" but even those did well in the final product. It may be worth a try unless someone else has another suggestion. Tommy. https://photos.google.com/printstore Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Olivier Posted January 7, 2020 Share #3 Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) https://www.bayphoto.com/books/baybooks/ Bay photo (link above) is a very good printer, I've used them a lot. But (and I'm sure you already know this, I'm just pointing this out in case anyone might not) a good printer is only half the battle. Working on a calibrated monitor during post to prepare the files for printing is essential. Here's a quick primer on the subject: https://www.iloveblackandwhitephotography.com/always-calibrate-your-monitor-if-you-want-beautiful-bw-prints/ Edited January 7, 2020 by _Olivier 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkcampbell2 Posted January 7, 2020 Share #4 Posted January 7, 2020 Sorry, I don't have any experience other than Blurb but they did do a great job on my project. https://www.blurb.com/b/9643879-the-doors-of-winona These were all shot with an M10. Raws processed in Lightroom and output as JPGs. I also used Blurb's online layout tool. All in all pretty a easy process. Best of luck with your project, jc Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuad82001 Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted January 7, 2020 8 hours ago, jkcampbell2 said: Sorry, I don't have any experience other than Blurb but they did do a great job on my project. https://www.blurb.com/b/9643879-the-doors-of-winona These were all shot with an M10. Raws processed in Lightroom and output as JPGs. I also used Blurb's online layout tool. All in all pretty a easy process. Best of luck with your project, jc Thank you for all the replies so far.... I received this reply from Blurb..."I do see a slight color shift in the images you sent. However, some color shift is normal for print on demand since we use color printers for all our printing. We don't use a dedicated black and white press (except for our Economy Trade books) so black and white images may not print totally neutral." It is definitely not slight at all. jkcampbell2, I am wondering since my files are from the M Monochrom (pure black and white) and not a M10 that is causing the issue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgo2 Posted January 7, 2020 Share #6 Posted January 7, 2020 About two years ago, I printed a B&W book using Blurb, and I have to say that the results were quite good. However, I have heard from others that Blurb's quality is spotty. I am interested in BayBooks, as they look to be at a higher level. I suspect that they may be more expensive as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted January 7, 2020 Share #7 Posted January 7, 2020 Advertisement (gone after registration) Never had a problem with Blurb when they have printed the Forum's Charity Books, either in colour or B&W. It might depend upon where they print them as they will have printers in various parts of the world. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko.Fe. Posted January 7, 2020 Share #8 Posted January 7, 2020 I have ( as gift) Blurb book by known M9M photographer based in Chicago. I have photo zine from known film photographer based in Talent, Oregon. BW film scans. Also from Blurb. Both are no problems. M9M blurb book is quite shocking by its bw quality. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuad82001 Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share #9 Posted January 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Ko.Fe. said: leI have ( as gift) Blurb book by known M9M photographer based in Chicago. I have photo zine from known film photographer based in Talent, Oregon. BW film scans. Also from Blurb. Both are no problems. M9M blurb book is quite shocking by its bw quality. Did you send them the files from Lightroom? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko.Fe. Posted January 7, 2020 Share #10 Posted January 7, 2020 11 minutes ago, kuad82001 said: Did you send them the files from Lightroom? I haven't dome it personally, but I remember how Colton Allen noted somewhere about special way to prepare bw file to be printed in color. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuad82001 Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share #11 Posted January 7, 2020 20 minutes ago, Ko.Fe. said: I haven't dome it personally, but I remember how Colton Allen noted somewhere about special way to prepare bw file to be printed in color. If you happen to come across it let me know, I would be grateful. A good friend of mine helped me out and prepared the files as he has done numerous times but somehow the images came out wrong. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bags27 Posted January 7, 2020 Share #12 Posted January 7, 2020 Bay is one of the premier photo publishers. A lot of professionals use them. They were terrific with my somewhat pathetic photos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkcampbell2 Posted January 7, 2020 Share #13 Posted January 7, 2020 10 hours ago, kuad82001 said: Thank you for all the replies so far.... I received this reply from Blurb..."I do see a slight color shift in the images you sent. However, some color shift is normal for print on demand since we use color printers for all our printing. We don't use a dedicated black and white press (except for our Economy Trade books) so black and white images may not print totally neutral." It is definitely not slight at all. jkcampbell2, I am wondering since my files are from the M Monochrom (pure black and white) and not a M10 that is causing the issue. I don't think so but I'm not sure what your process was. For my book I started with M10 Raw files. A little editing in Lightroom then Silver Effects Pro for the final tweeks. From Lightroom I exported the files as JPGs with a RGB color space. I then imported the images one at a time into Blurb's online layout tool. I only ordered 1 copy just to see what the quality would be like and actually was surprised at how great the printed version looked. The images have absolutely no color cast, super sharp, deep blacks and great contrast. This was a few months ago and I recently ordered a second copy and the quality was exactly the same. Hope that helps, best of luck. jc Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/305105-best-place-to-print-a-book-from-m-monochrom/?do=findComment&comment=3887114'>More sharing options...
kuad82001 Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share #14 Posted January 8, 2020 3 hours ago, jkcampbell2 said: I don't think so but I'm not sure what your process was. For my book I started with M10 Raw files. A little editing in Lightroom then Silver Effects Pro for the final tweeks. From Lightroom I exported the files as JPGs with a RGB color space. I then imported the images one at a time into Blurb's online layout tool. I only ordered 1 copy just to see what the quality would be like and actually was surprised at how great the printed version looked. The images have absolutely no color cast, super sharp, deep blacks and great contrast. This was a few months ago and I recently ordered a second copy and the quality was exactly the same. Hope that helps, best of luck. jc Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Thank you kindly for the information. I am wondering if the fact that the MM only shoots in B/W is an issue with Blurb; they use color printers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted January 8, 2020 Share #15 Posted January 8, 2020 A quick search regarding b/w blurb book issues, and how to get the best blurb b/w, will bring up similar color tint / magenta problems, along with suggestions. Monochrom not required. Here’s one of many links... https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic/true-b-w-for-blurb-books/td-p/8918092 Jeff 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuad82001 Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share #16 Posted January 8, 2020 10 hours ago, Jeff S said: A quick search regarding b/w blurb book issues, and how to get the best blurb b/w, will bring up similar color tint / magenta problems, along with suggestions. Monochrom not required. Here’s one of many links... https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic/true-b-w-for-blurb-books/td-p/8918092 Jeff Thank you very much. It seems that the answer lies in using PS (which I do not have)..."This color shift can be reduced (but not completely eliminated) by using a custom CMYK setup in Photoshop." Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted January 8, 2020 Share #17 Posted January 8, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, kuad82001 said: Thank you very much. It seems that the answer lies in using PS (which I do not have)..."This color shift can be reduced (but not completely eliminated) by using a custom CMYK setup in Photoshop." That’s just one line of thought. The other comments in that article offer other experiences, and there are many other discussions on the issue. I just wanted to alert you to the prevalence of the concern in case you wanted to dive deeper. Many have talked with Blurb, with varying degrees of satisfaction or frustration. Jeff Edited January 8, 2020 by Jeff S Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmx_2 Posted January 8, 2020 Share #18 Posted January 8, 2020 On 1/6/2020 at 6:35 PM, kuad82001 said: Hi there! Just got back my book from Blurb and the images are all messed up. Green tinge, magenta streaks, ect. I know that they print as if it is a color image but wow. Anyone have recommendations on a place that handles images from MM1 better? Grateful, Dennis Maybe a stupid note, and maybe you are already aware of it, but if you use Lightroom, Lightroom will change to RGB-colorspace when exporting. This will mess up the printers and typically create magenta cast. The workaround is after exporting from Lightroom to take your jpg through Photoshop (or any other good software like Affinity) and “discard all color information”, then you will end up with a true black and white jpg. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuad82001 Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share #19 Posted January 8, 2020 2 hours ago, mmx_2 said: Maybe a stupid note, and maybe you are already aware of it, but if you use Lightroom, Lightroom will change to RGB-colorspace when exporting. This will mess up the printers and typically create magenta cast. The workaround is after exporting from Lightroom to take your jpg through Photoshop (or any other good software like Affinity) and “discard all color information”, then you will end up with a true black and white jpg. Thank you kindly! I have a friend who has Photoshop and can help me out on that end. But he questioned if I should give him the files as a jpeg or something higher; concerned about degrading the IQ. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmx_2 Posted January 8, 2020 Share #20 Posted January 8, 2020 1 hour ago, kuad82001 said: Thank you kindly! I have a friend who has Photoshop and can help me out on that end. But he questioned if I should give him the files as a jpeg or something higher; concerned about degrading the IQ. jpegs are just fine, there is not really any noticable degrading. Export your files with 100percent quality and you should be fine. It's a bit odd that Lightroom does not have this feature and even more odd that Lightroom is shipped with the Monochrom given the fact that it is not the best tool for B&W (convient though!). Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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