Aperture 3.5/Costco/Dry Creek Printer Profiles

Yes, the profiles are supported. You can download the profile for your local Costco here:

http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/

Please also keep in mind that the image on a back-lit monitor will look brighter than it will when printed. The monitor can produce details in the dark end that are not easily reproduced on paper. You may need to brighten your images significantly for printing. Check out the histogram of your photo to see where the main part of the information is in terms of brightness. You can also do a cheap small test print to test overall brightness before ordering a larger print.

Have fun enjoying your enlargements!

To see the profile on your monitor, make sure you select View>On Screen Proofing, then select your costco profile from View>Proofing Profile.

When you export your file, select the Export Preset you want (eg. JPEG - Original size), then, leaving the type and size selected, click on the Preset selection menu again and go to Edit at the bottom of the pull down list that expands. Once that opens up, you must then slect the Costco Colour Profile, click the "+" sign at eh bottom left and save this new Image Export Preset under a different name (eg. JPEG - Costco Glossy Original Size).

Then, if you rmonitor is calibrated, you should see on your screen a pretty close apporximation of how your Costco Glossy paper print should look.

"I have a 22" HD LED Samsung TV attached to my MacBook Pro as a monitor. My Backlight setting has a range of 1-10 and I have it set to 8. What would you recommend?"

To properly calibrate your TV you would need a device like the Datacolor Spyder 4. There are lots of them on the market from different manufacurers, but look for one that wil do LCD TVs.

You can try using the Calibrate function found in System Preferences>Displays>Color

It walks you through a process to help you get your colour close. It is subjective, but will be better than nothing. It will help you adjust your brightness as well as colour.

Cheers,

What happens when you choose a different proofing profile?

What if you select one of the other profiles that are already built into the listing?

I had you do that to help trouble shoot the problem and determine if the problem was with those particular profiles or if it was another larger problem with the use of Proofing profiles.

It looks like there is either something wrong with the profiles, or else they are somehow being applied twice in error. I will have to think on that one a bit.

Try exporting a jpeg file using the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 profile and having a small print made as a test, then bring it home and compare it to your monitor.

I am also surprised that the perosn at the photo booth at Costco did not offer to reprint your photo to brighten the image. They do that at my local store. Keep in mind that a backlit image on a monitor will look more lively and have brighter appearing colours than a reflective light print image. That is just the nature of the beast.

What colourspace are you using for your photos? sRGB or Adobe RGB? The dullness and light fog could be a result of that.