Rangefinder Book - All B&W photos are purple :(

[rover]

Tom, do you have book 1 to compare the images from both?

 

[RayPA]

sonofab****

I made sure all the files were RGB format as Lulu requires.. everything looked great before I uploaded, and there was no image conversion in the PDF process

!!!!!!

IIRC, the black and white images in the first book had a slight magenta tint to them. Those were barely noticable, and as Vincent intimates, moreso under different/particular light sources.


🙂

 

[back alley]

if i recall correctly, there were a couple of comments about a pinkish tint from a few members re.the first book.

joe

 

[ch1]

Dealing with "issues" to raise with Lulu.

I never before had the first book as I wasn't in it.

But I ordered it with the second.

If the first was "OK" then Lulu should know that the second should have used the same printer settings as the first.

 

[Bertram2]

yeah.. that's my thought, too.. their printing process is to take a full-RGB file and have the printer (a Xerox Docutech laser printer) do the RGB-to-CMYK conversion with the printer's hardware

sounds like they didn't calibrate the printer and the color shifted.. the problem now is that they probably printed a whole batch of books at once because everyone ordered within a day or two, initially.. so we might have a couple dozen books like that

If so, what shall we do if our copy arrives withthe the same "toning " ? Can we send it back and ask for a correct print ? These guys should have anything like a quality control, shouldn't they ? I mean anybody who checks if the print looks like the image file ? My book is on the fly since last Friday.

Maybe you should contact them and stop the production prozess for a correction ?

Regards,
bertram

 

[Honus]

The Lulu return policy does not look promising...

Because of the production expense of print on demand manufacturing, Lulu cannot cancel orders, accept returns or provide refunds on these products.

Lulu Return and Cancellation Policy

 

[T_om]

Tom, do you have book 1 to compare the images from both?

No, unfortunately, I do not. Had book one looked like this though, SOMEONE would have noticed. 😉

Tom

 

[JoeFriday]

are the b&w images just a slight tint, or are they way into the purple range?

 

[peter_n]

The first book did have a slight pink tinge to it. A graphic designer that I work with noticed it immediately then noticed a yellow banding in almost all the B&W prints in the book. Once she pointed it out I couldn't look at the book without seeing it. The worst!

Anyway, lets wait for other copies to arrive. Mine was shipped today so presumably it was printed today too.

 

[T_om]

are the b&w images just a slight tint, or are they way into the purple range?

They're purple Brett. It looks just like they were all processed as 'purple sepias' instead of B&W. Almost a duotone look.

Tom

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

OK, if some of us see this, and then others don't, perhaps a case could be made if those with a tint problem seem to be printed during the same timeframe, indicating operator error. It may be easier for those that ordered multiple copies separately (i.e. not in the same order).

It's pretty easy to blame "the file". A little hard to do that if some books are ok and others aren't.

 

[dazedgonebye]

Well, now I'm bummed to see that mine has shipped.
Maybe I'll get lucky.
Actually, it'll be worth seeing in any case.

 

[ch1]

Each time something like this happens (assuming the worst) and each time I see some FID thread I am reminded of something I read about - an article about an article.

Recently some fellow in Britain postulated (I think it was in "The New Statesman") that most of the "so-called" technological "advances" of the last 30 years have really been regressions.

In other words, all we've done is create mediocre digital versions of what were once highly developed analogue technologies. Now, one could dismiss this hypotheses as mere "Luddisms".

But imagine if all of our pics had been submitted as negatives and printed via traditional means? :bang:

Alas.....

 

[FrankS]

George, 2 things:
First, I agree with you on the questionable technological "advancements", and secondly; bitterness only hurts the person who feels it. (Let go of the FID thing/BM issue.)

 

[enochRoot]

Each time something like this happens (assuming the worst) and each time I see some FID thread I am reminded of something I read about - an article about an article.

Recently some fellow in Britain postulated (I think it was in "The New Statesman") that most of the "so-called" technological "advances" of the last 30 years have really been regressions.

In other words, all we've done is create mediocre digital versions of what were once highly developed analogue technologies. Now, one could dismiss this hypotheses as mere "Luddisms".

But imagine if all of our pics had been submitted as negatives and printed via traditional means? :bang:

Alas.....

it is entirely true. however, if we did submit negatives and had the books printed traditionally, the cost outlay would have been VERY large up front. basically you get what you pay for. this just affords the means to make a project like this even happen, and because of that the quality might not be the best.

 

[dazedgonebye]

Yep, no way a little group like this could touch this project with the old technology.

I've had similar color shift problems from services printing from digital. They say they want RGB, then they don't deliver a color free print. I've had some sucess converting the file to grayscale, then back to RGB before sending it. That satisfies their requirement for RGB, and ensures there is no color information in the file.
Or, I've just been lucky.

 

[ch1]

George, 2 things:
First, I agree with you on the questionable technological "advancements", and secondly; bitterness only hurts the person who feels it. (Let go of the FID thing/BM issue.)

Frank,

It wasn't intended perhaps the way you read it. And the other posters are correct that for a small printing - traditional means would likely be cost prohibitive.

Let's all relax and take a deep breath and hope that T_om just got a crappy print and see what the rest of us get.

I expect mine will arrive tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[blakley]

I had a similar problem with the calendar I produced on Lulu.com - the first production sample had a magenta cast on part of each page. Subsequent copies did not show this problem, though a few copies had a very slight cyan cast. I think their printers sometimes run slightly out of specification, and it's luck of the draw whether you get a printing defect or not.

Customer service at Lulu was spectacularly bad on this point; their personnel took forever to respond to inquiries, and then suggested tests which were clearly designed to identify problems which could not possibly have been the source of the problem. I was interested to note that they are not their own fulfillment house - they contract their printing out to a third party.

 

[matti]

Sounds like all the b&w prints I make with my cannon inkjet. I asked my lab if their prints would come out the same, and they said that maybe a bit, because of reflections in the paper they used, as they didn't use special paper for black and white. I did try them anyway and it looked fine to me.
/matti

 

[enochRoot]

i was going to mention the sRGB issue. that is a royal pain at times since it is the default on photoshop now (i believe). at least it was at one time, and it threw us all for a loop when they first introduced it.