Question about Printing ATCs

[photojenic]

I'm hoping someone can give me a few ideas for tweaking my printer output. I know all about monitor/printer calibrations, but it's not really the *color* that I have problems with as much as the *brightness.*

For example, I made this ATC today. http://www.digitalartquirks.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1539&limit=recent
On the monitor you can see all the different layers. However, the printed copy is much darker, and you can barely see the images on either side of the tomb in the middle.

Is there any tweaks or trick to getting the printed version to come out lighter? Thanks!

[kygirl]

Love the layout, but I can see where a regular printer might have trouble picking up the subtleties of color. You might make sure that you're using the paper suggested by your printer manufacturer. Believe it or not, they really do formulate their papers to work best with their inks and machines, and it can make a huge difference in quality.

If that doesn't work, you might be better off taking it to your local Wal-Mart or Costco for printing.

Good luck with this.

[photojenic]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I actually printed it off using my all in one printer. It's really not a photo printer, although it does okay. I would have tried printing it on my PictureMate, since it's only an ATC, but that printer is down with some kind of problem.

I've been debating buying an actual photo printer. I rarely ever print anything out, and usually send LOs out to some place like MPIX or WHCC. However I'd really like to get into making smaller projects at home, cards, bookmarks, ATCs, microscope slide projects, etc.

I'm also a cheapskate, and hate the costs of buying ink. I wonder if it would be cheaper to just take the projects to some place like Office Depot? Hmmmm.......

[webchyck]

Paper and ink combos really make a difference. Were you printing on cardstock, matte photo or glossy photo? I've been using a matte photo paper and that works so well. But, I have a photo printer. I use Costco for 12 x 12, but just the regular Snapfish for 4 x 6 (4 x 5.33 for digital)--that would work great for ATCs probably.

[photojenic]

(Darn it, I've lost the package...)

I was printing on a type of paper that was slightly heavier weight than regular paper, but not stiff photo paper. I think it was called something like digital silk, or brochure paper. I would consider it to be more of a matte.

I tried using curves to lighten the piece, almost to the point of blowing out the highlights. I noticed that if it looks too light on the monitor, it has a better chance of coming out close to what I wanted it to look like originally.

I need to get my PictureMate working again, and then try it there. It could just be that the Lexmark just isn't sophisticated enough.

[kygirl]

Anymore, I think it's probably cheaper to have your 4x6s printed externally. By the time you consider the cost of paper and ink, it's hard to beat 13 cents a photo. On the other hand, it is nice to have the creative control that ensures your photos are cropped correctly.

Good luck with this.