After laboring long in post-production to achieve exactly the look I want, I have sometimes been disappointed in the printed results. This usually occurs in images with vivid and saturated colors. Compared to the screen image, the print appears dull and undersaturated.
I keep my monitor calibrated, and use custom profiles for my printer. Indeed, the color fidelity is very good. It's as if there is a dull gray layer over the image that steals the pop.
I'm wondering if this is just the nature of light versus pigment: that no printer can achieve what we see on the screen. I hesitate to jack the saturation in the final image, which would ruin it's screen appearance. I also hesitate to create a special version for print-only, which would quickly become an asset management nightmare. I have not experimented with changing printer settings to increase saturation, as I disable the color management settings in the printer driver.
Many of my images have muted color palates, and none of this is an issue. But for those occasional shots where vibrant color is key, I have trouble achieving my goal.
Any words of wisdom out there?
