Digital Camera Techniques

13 Printing problems

In theory, desktop digital printing is completely straightforward. Simply connect the printer to the computer, or load a camera memory card in a stand-alone printer, select a picture and choose the print command. A short while later, a finished print is produced.

The problems start when the print does not quite look how you hoped it would. One huge area of potential difficulty is colour management – but that will be left until Chapter 17. More easily addressed are matters relating to other aspects of image quality, such as lines on the print, smudging and severe overall colour casts. These are things that apply particularly to inkjet printing; generally speaking, other technologies such as dye-sublimation and Thermo-Auto-chrome ...