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Hi I love your software it saved me from my hell, I did my first gig with your software and I am have a minor problem.

In the past my Sony UPDR150 could be set to use its own internal software to adjust color and exposure, but using your software overrides the Sony settings.

Is there a way I can I make some standardized settings to work with my flourescent lights or do I need to color correct them so they are 5k daylight with no cast.

Hi DFPhoto,



Yes, you are correct. Depending on the Printer Driver (and platform you use) would determine if these controls are used or even present.
In some cases, you can set your default in your printer settings directly. PrintRipper does not interfere with these settings (which is good) but depending on your printer, you may not be able to access color correction through the page setup window (not so good).
We're constantly looking for ways to improve this without favoring a brand of printer or locking out printers.


This is going to take a little trial and error on your part, including doing a color sync of your monitor. Below are links to PrintRipper 1.2.5 Beta (Mac and Windows) that allow numeric input for color controls.
This should make it easier to duplicate once you find your printer's sweet spot- All you'll have to do is plug in your numbers when you create a new process.

PrintRipper 1.2.5 Beta for Mac
PrintRipper 1.2.5 Beta for Windows

I hope that helps a little.

Cool will test it on Monday and report back I'm on a Mac OSX 10.6 so this should be helpful to the Mac users...

Since i'm asking is the greenscreen feature pretty usable in a booth or is it designed for a normal set such as an amusement park studio setting.

Thanks

Hi DFPhoto,


Our green screen controls have surprisingly high tolerance to what you might consider to be less than adequate conditions.

That said, you'll do well with it if:

• Light your green screen as evenly as possible.
• Light your subject reasonably well.
• Distance your subject from your green screen to avoid unnecessary spill onto hair and skin.
• Shoot from a reasonable distance where you would need to use zoom on your subject. This creates nice depth of field and will further smooth the lighting and tonal qualities of your green screen backdrop (making it very easy to key it out!)

Most important is to do a test shot, import it into PrintRipper to really tweak your controls. The sample image may differ in tonal qualities when compared to your own backdrop.

I know these are standard practice items, but you would be surprised with how many professionals forget or disregard them and end up with less than optimal product.

I hope that helps- Good luck!

Thanks so much! You guys are awesome....

Cheers- we do what we can!

Let us know how things turn out for you.

Hi group, I tried using my color meter and filters to color correct my compact flourecsent lights and although the meter said 5500k it looked magenta and once I tried a shot the images came out purple or yellow it was a mess. I also noticed due to starting outside the light was coming into the booth and changing the color temperature enough to cause issues. I really wish the auto Sony color adjustment would work with the AC software.

I really was sweating on this situation, in the end I made it look ok but definitely not what I was hoping for. I don't think I understand how the Mac uses a web cam and what dictates the color balance. I use photobooth software and a logitech web cam to take the shots and I think it does a nice job when only my lights are working but I need more control over my final images.

Can you guys help me? I wasn't able to try to the beta 1.25 as I was running late working on my booth... This is a bit frustrating...

Thanks David I can email files off forum if needed.

Orange shot was at 6pm with daylight mixed the other is in the evening but still not perfect.....

Hi David,

I think we've managed to over-complicate the issue for you, making things far more difficult than it should be. An email has gone out to our Sony contact, with the hope that we can get our hands on a UPDR150 to give detailed instruction. The driver alone doesn't provide what I need to really guide you through.

Calibration
I think this is where your color issue really took a turn for the worst. While I do advise calibrating your system, this can be useless if you're often in different types of light (outdoor vs. indoor, for example).
All you're really looking to do is to have a decent starting point where you can adjust color accordingly.

Here's an example where my lighting was not favourable, but able to get decent exposure on my subject:

Image straight from camera.


Image through PrintRipper, unadjusted.

This image is quite a bit darker than the original. Let's assume that I want output closer to my original photo. I can scan in my print and adjust in PrintRipper:

In this case, I chose not to saturate as much as my original.

From this point on, I can make a reasonably good guess on how my prints will look, allowing me to make my judgement as I shoot rather than doing post-process work (which time rarely allows in event photography anyway).

Maybe we can get other users to add their input as well.

In the mean time, I will see what I can do after I speak to someone at sony. I'll post as soon as I have something for you

Hi, thanks for the reply, I have used your adjustments and did so to make the images useable but still not what I was hoping for, I'm starting to wonder if Print Ripper is using my last adjustment or saved profile in the Sony driver. (Hope that makes sense), I can't remember if I had did something to the color but with your software, I cannot see the Sony Printer settings.


I will have to take a look, Sony hasn't updated the driver in 3 years and since the UP150 was replaced by the 200 they probably will not update.

I wish I understood how the web cam works as far as color and exposure.

Thanks David

David,

I did hear back from Sony and there's nothing new on the horizon with a driver update. I do want to apologize as I re-read this thread carefully and just now realize that you are using you webcam for capturing images. After a few tests, I did note that using Apple's built-in webcam did have an issue with ambient light (from a window, for instance) when it came to the color temp of my output. My comparison was with images shot with a Nikon D70 through Image Capture (tethered). The SLR shots ended up with a much better balance and tolerance when compared to the webcam shots; really no surprise there.

To better understand what's happening: When you choose to print in another application, it invokes the standard OS Print Dialog, presenting features that are application-specific and features specific to the driver only available through this OS Print Dialog:

After creating this preset and printing (I didn't actually print- I paused the print cue), I called for a print in Safari, which automatically selected my last used settings (GR 700 Preset 1):

Even though I don't have a 150 to test, I would imagine its driver has similar controls.
I want to try something that may help, but will take a day or two to build into PrintRipper. I will contact you off-forum for the download.