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2.4: Assessing Test Prints

  • Page ID
    231857
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    To assess your test strip or prints, you will want to view them under a neutral light source and consider the brightness, color, and contrast of the image. Ideally, you would use a light booth, which is designed to create the most accurate light scenario for assessing prints.

    Ask yourself the following questions. It is a good idea to make notes on the test print itself to aid you when editing the image in either Camera Raw (for global adjustments) or in Photoshop (for local adjustments).

    • Do the highlights have details?
    • Do the shadows have details?
    • Is there a wide range of tones across the image?
    • Does the overall image feel bright enough?
    • Does the image feel too warm?
    • Too yellow?
    • Too magenta?
    • Too red?
    • Does the image feel too cool?
    • Too blue?
    • Too green?
    • Too cyan?
    • If you have identified a color cast, use the color print viewing filters to test your hypothesis. These filters come in six colors (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow) and each color is represented in 10, 20, and 40 density values.
    • Does the contrast look realistic?
    • Do you need to add contrast?
    • Is the contrast too intense?

    This page titled 2.4: Assessing Test Prints is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jessica Labatte and Larissa Garcia (Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI)) .

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