Rejecting prints

[AJLynn]

I've got some framed display boards back from our friendly neighborhood print shop, and on one of them the color profile is a bit off - not enough that you'd notice it was wrong if you didn't really know the photos, but enough so that if I hold up an original print of one of the photos (from our photographer's good printer) next to the board everybody says "wow, yeah, we've got to do something about that." And the files on screen are the same as in the original prints. So I've called them and asked them to try again.

 

How do you guys handle situations like that? How wrong does it have to be for the shop to be expected to do another run at their expense (and as a rush job)? I want to maintain good relations with these guys, and they're usually quite good, but with what these things cost I can't be getting bad prints.

[Matt McDonald]

Did they print other things at the same time that looked good? If so, you might point that fact out and see if they would be willing to reprint a small portion to determine if the problem was the printer or the file.

[Ernest Burden III]

How do you guys handle situations like that?

 

I think you say this:

 

I want to maintain good relations with these guys, and they're usually quite good, but with what these things cost I can't be getting bad prints.

 

I would only add that you must provide the print that you think is 'right' to give them a target. That, and avoid saying "you screwed up" and go with "how can we work together to make this process better?"

 

If they blow you off, find a new shop and send the new sales rep's card to the old shop. I don't know who you're using but I used to use ColorWheel, before I decided to take my printing in-house. They're usually pretty good, though not always cheap or fast.

[Devin Johnston]

Ernest is right; if the print is that critical then you need to send them a proof print so they can tweak their print process to meet what you expect. I've had a lot of experience trying to get printed materials to match what is shown on my screen, if your get a print back that is about 90% there generally speaking that's probably going to be the best your going to get. There are several factors that come into play which cause print colors to vary even from the same machine, different ink's, different papers, different operators and differently calibrated displays all play a part in the final output and unfortunately most if not all of these are out of your control.

[AJLynn]

Thanks guys. I just spent some time there reviewing proofs (ours and theirs) and they were having some technical difficulties, but now they have of "good" prints of the photos on the board and they'll work on it and get us something better. I realized that what was on the board was an exaggeration of a difference between what was on the screen and what was on the photographer's print - in the printing he had desaturated greens and some extra warmth, in the files we had everything normal and the board had way too dark green.