Color Cast in print but not on screen

[vinniesworld]

Hello, Just found this site and I'm amazed at the level of expertise from what I've read so far. I have a question that I've been trying to figure out and I'm sure someone here can help. I've been playing with PhotoShop for a few years, doing a few restorations for friends and family. I've finally started my own restoration site and trying to make a little extra cash. I have a friend that has a photo that was printed from a studio that is water damaged, the studio is now out of business so I told him that I'd fix the photo, wouldn't be a problem. I restored the photo and it looked fine on screen, but when I printed it out, it had a pink color cast. I'll like to know what causes this and is there any way to remove a color cast on a studio print that you can't see on screen.
Thanks,
VinniesWorld

[Vikki]

Sounds to me like a color profile issue. I don't mean to leave you hanging, but there are many threads here about it, so no sense in me rewriting.
Things to check for:
Your monitor is calibrated.
Photoshop has the correct settings in the "color settings" section.
Your output profiles are set for the media and printer you are using, and you are converting your image to that profile before you print.

Could also be that you may need to do a nozzle check on your printer. (It's recommended to use your printer at least once a week to keep nozzles clear. )

[WideAngle]

Color management (profiles) can be a huge headache sometimes. I'm always worrying about my monitor to printing press color shift. And since I got a new monitor, things tend to print with a yellow cast which was before red. So I hear you loud and clear.

There are many ways to go about handling a color output problem....but what I ended up doing is getting an "electric eye" for my monitor. http://www.monacosystems.com/ This makes sure my monitor is perfectly calibrated....but then I go in and edit the profile to match what ever my prints look like. You can also get a device to actually read your printed output and put it back into the computer to correct the problem for you.
There's more to it than that...of course. Here's a website that might break it down for you.... http://www.colorvision.com/sol_beginners.shtml

Anyways...it's worth looking into.
Hope that helps.
WideAngle

[vinniesworld]

Thanks for the info, but the problem only happens on studio prints, the rest of my photos print fine. As a test I tried several other photos from various photo studios including Walmart. Some came out with a yellow tint and others with the red. I understand that you can not reproduce a copyrighted photo, but in certain circumstances like I mentioned before there is no other option as the company is now out of business and the photo damaged. I'm trying to find out if this is done on purpose to prevent copying the photo and if it is how they are doing it and to determine if there is anyway to correct the problem.
Thanks,
VinniesWorld

[roger_ele]

I don't know of any way to create a print that produces a color cast to prevent copying.

Find a nuetral - the most 'non-color-should-be-greywhite-or-black' area in the photo. Look at the info pallette while hovering your mouse over that spot. Are your RGB numbers all the same? or is there a color cast ...

Let us know, that is the first thing to check.

Roger

[WideAngle]

Finding a neutral gray would be a great place to start. If you can't find a neutral gray (as some photos just don't have anything that should be neutral)
You might try this.

this is basically color profiles without all the tech stuff....
-Pick a studio where you got a color cast from...let's say the one with the red cast.
-Now, open YOUR photo so it looks good on your screen.
-Then, while looking at the "red" studio print....create a curves or levels adjustment layer in photoshop. Adjust so that the screen photo looks as "red" as the studio print. Try and match as close as you can.
-Ok...now create another curves or levels adjustment layer on top of the previous one....now adjust so that the photo looks normal again on your screen...by removing the red. (sounds counter productive..but it's not).
-Finally, delete the 1st adjustment layer you made(the one that made it red)...this should leave your photo looking kind of blue.
-Flatten your image and send the blueish one off the Same studio....hopefully it comes out looking correct.

You can also use different adjustment layers such as hue/saturation doing the same thing.
This is basically just compensating for the way it comes out at the studio>
I doubt there is anything really wrong with your file if it comes out nicely when you print it out yourself......

WideAngle