KristinLauman

<p>In case other Spectraview users are wondering if the software is supported on the Windows 8 official release (2900), it is not. <br>

I spoke with NEC on Tuesday and they confirmed that the Win8 system will not store a callibration from the SVII software. They do intend to correct the problem, and the rep told me they hoped for a release by end of year, but made no promises. She also encouraged me that the more people who requested the update, the higher priority they would place on releasing a compatable version or patch.</p>

<p>Criminy! I get through all of that and <em>then </em>she tells me she made the purchase a year ago. Doh! </p>

<p>The Pixma Pro seems like an interesting hybrid but does this not support roll paper? I would think at that price point folks would want that functionality.</p>

<p>I just called Canon. The warranty would be supported if the "friend" who is "gifting" it to me gives me a copy of the receipt and writes "gift" on it and signs it.</p>

<p>I'm wondering if their $200 rebate will ever expire. Its been going on for several months now.</p>

<p>I want to print on various textured papers. Will I like dye's on textured papers? I'd see myself playing around with rag, pearl, glossy, matte and watercolor papers. Will I hate the 9000 for most of these applications? My images tend to be vibrant and color saturated, but I'd like to see what happens when I throw a little texture under the color. I don't shoot much b&w.</p>

<p>I'm having a hard time passing up this printer for the price. It is missing the upc and I am still checking to see if this warranty transfers. I like the idea of being able to print one or two of something and for greeting cards, the cost per print seems to be comparable to the pro lab, without the minimum order requirement. </p>

<p>I plan to do a low volume, so I like either versions of the Pixma with replaceable print heads. Money not withstanding, I'd go with an Epson 3800. I haven't had time to think it all through, this deal just presented itself. If it were you, would you pull the trigger?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks for the thoughts. My post above is not the text I intended to post--not sure how that happened. Regardless, I appreciate the feedback. MSRP markup for wholesale is 200-400%. On consignment, the shops I am working with will reserve 50% of the sales price of the card. If the store charged me 100% of of the sales price--that is called a donation. My take per card after printing costs is actually $.41/card. That is pretty slender. <br /><br />So it sounds like perhaps this may not be profitable, and that might be okay. I'm gaining invaluable experience. The shops are all local--within 3 miles--and I will replenish once per month as needed. At this point, I really just need to do something more than store my images. Its the $500 up front cost that is getting to me. But if no cards sell in the next 6 months, the consignment ends and I will re-purpose them as gifts. <br /><br />I'm not as concerned about the amount of time it takes me to develop the cards. I am starting with a base stock of 10 cards at 8-12 R&D labor hours each. I'm gaining valuable skills, and the time spent is not cutting into anything more profitable. The harsh, cold Chicago winter is a great time to develop post-processing skills. Its only interfering with my Netflix time.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I've recently ventured into the world of printing. I have a vision for creating some greeting cards to start and I am approaching this as both a photographer and desktop publisher. The cards will incorporate graphics and text. I figure Hallmark is the gold standard so that is where I am setting my mark. If my quality is equivalent and my prices within 10%, I think I can find a local market. I intend to sell my images in boutiques and specialty shops. I have a couple lined up who will take some cards on consignment. </p>

<p>I am using a local lab that prints runs of 25 cards on a 4 color press double sided printing. In the linen, with matching envelops, my cost is $1.34/card. Consignment is 50% and cards would price at $3.50 each leaving me a profit of around $1.34, considering only direct costs. But what do I need to figure for taxes?</p>

<p>I'm assuming I am legally permitted to "test the waters" before making a decision as to profitability. Registering as a business is a whole other story. Equipment costs alone would make it difficult to turn a profit within 3 years. </p>

<p>Is anyone here selling fine art greeting cards solely? Have you had success? Is a profit of $1.34/card worth my time? This is a minimum up front investment of $500.00. Of course, if I do very well, I'd feel comfortable making a larger investment and driving down my printing costs.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I have the SVII kit that is the recommended solution for the wide gam monitor.</p>

<p>I'll be outsourcing prints to start. The lab uses Epsons, I believe 7800 and 4880--but those may have been upgraded. They provide the color profiles to me. I may purchase a couple of books through Adorama, and for pre-press, it'll be the Indigo.</p>

<p>If I go to Win7, I'll have to go to CS5. It'll cost me about $200 -- student edition.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>That's a good article. Its helpful to know where things started out in order to truly appreciate where they are today. </p>

<p>And it doesn't stop there. Now NAS storage is becoming a viable desktop peripheral. Though, I'm a little hesitant to support it at home, where I don't have the benefit of calling a vendor on-site when something breaks. </p>

<p>I'm so sorry. I see this has been asked and answered continuously. I haven't had my coffee yet and clearly didn't use the right search keywords!</p>

<p><strong>Goal</strong>: To build a proper system on Win7 for printing both ink jet and pre-press.<br /><br /><strong>My skill level</strong>: I'm hobbyist. I don't buy the most expensive / highest end equipment on the market. I feel that it is overkill if I'm not doing this as a business.<br /><br /><strong>Monitor</strong>: NEC P221 SVII<br /> <strong>PC</strong>: Dell GX620 SFF<br /> <strong>Graphics card</strong>: Radeon x600 256mb se. (Supports up to 1920 x 1200 when using the DVI)<br /> <strong>OS and editing</strong>: WinXP, LR3, CS2<br /> <strong>Budget</strong>: $600<br /><br />I have a feeling this is a bit like building a race car around a 4 cylinder engine. I have a lot of technical knowledge about hardware and OS, but not a strong understanding of graphics specifications. I also don't have the time to learn all about it before I do my first print. I'm hoping you can help me by recommending some systems that would be good<br /><br />Based on your experiences, what sort of system would you choose for my situation? I'd like to keep it under $600 for the system--and I will build it myself. If its not possible, let me know what the minimum would be.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Kristin</p>

<p>You may be right. The box that it came in could have been how it is packaged when shipped with the monitor. However, I since it is sold separately from the monitor as a stand-alone solution, I expect it to be packaged a little better for shipping. I'll have to wait and see what NEC says about the packaging. And even then, the puck should have been in a taped pouch. Anything that comes from the manufacturer should be in a taped bag. </p>

<p>I needed to get the calibration before the end of the month. With B&H's crazy schedules, I decided to just get it from Amazon. With no mention of it being a used item, I expected it to come in retail packaging, must like the XRite puck is packaged and the package and software would be shrink-wrapped. Instead, the puck was in a flimsy little bit of bubble wrap which wasn't even taped, and it was just put into an unmarked box that was inside the Amazon box. Software case was loose the box and was not shrink wrapped. Would you return it?</p>

<p>I need to use it until I can get a replacement that is properly packaged, but I'm really disappointed. I assumed it would be a new retail packaged product. I've ordered other electronics from Amazon in the past and never saw anything arrive this way. </p>

<p>Years ago, I happened to strike gold with a set of very nice Sailwind filters at a tent sale. I got the lot of 5 diffusion filters for $10. I researched them later and they priced out at between $68 and $150 (EACH)! I kept them in order to use them down the road.<br /><br />I'm still shooting 35mm and I'd like to work with these filters. I've been researching screw-in mounts and it seems like the Heliopan 77mm mount may be my best bet. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/284674-REG/Heliopan_701177_3x3_Filter_Holder_with.html<br /><br />Two questions: <br />1. How much vignetting will this cause? I'm shooting on a C frame to begin with.<br />2. Have you had experience with this holder for 75mm square glass?</p>

<p>Thanks for the great advice. My local lab is printing two targets for me to use. I will calibrate the monitor to their targets from there site to generate a monitor profile. Then I will compare to the prints and see how close I am. After that I'll be able to send them a range of test prints. They also do pre-press printing thru a 3rd party vendor, so I may just use them for my book, depending on pricing.</p>

<p>I actually don't have a printer. Without a market for my images, it is rare that I need to make a print. I use a local pro-lab who does LJ printing when I do, and I am generally happy with it, but my standards may have become somewhat more exacting since I last printed. I'm going to send them some test images that cover a good tonal range and have some complexity, and I'll see how it measures up. Thanks so much for the advice.</p>

<p>Actually, I just found one from April 2010 that seems to be a decent attempt. I haven't read the entire review yet, but it is certainly well thought out by the author. He doesn't say it straight out, but reading between the lines, he got free copies of these books from the publishers as "samples." If the pub. knew these were being used for a review, they may have put their best foot forward. Also, since a lot of the pub's outsource to various labs, one copy of a book may not be a good representation. But this is the best one I've found so far:</p>

<p>http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/97676/13/1/15</p>

<p>I've been doing research on POD publishers, deciding which one I will try first. I am looking for any articles and research studies that have compared books printed by the various publishers, apples to apples. But all of the articles I've found are from 2009. POD has seen a lot of changes in the past year. Is there anything newer that I can look at? I'm still leaning towards Blurb, but I may go with A&I, and curious about Adorama--though I think I'd rather my book look more like a book than a portfolio. Are you aware of anything more current? </p>

<p>I live outside of Chicago. I don't suppose there is any place around here where I can actually get my hands on samples? </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks for all the feedback, I really appreciate it. I doubt blurb does test prints, but that's a good point. Might be better for me to spend a tad more and have a book made my our local printers. </p>

<p>I'm sitting here lamenting over putting off another $400 from my 401K/emergency fund reserves to purchase a color meter and a color checker. I already own an NEC P221BW (2009) and I love my monitor. But do I REALLY need the calibration kit?<br /><br />I am planning to put together a book (Blurb probably) for my sweet Grandmother with some of my better images and some nice quotes & verses. It will give her pride and make her happy to show it around the retirement home. Now I take pictures of flowers and I feel that color is already subjective when it comes to nature, as long as the greens are green and the blues are blue, etc... When I view the images from my portfolio here on various monitors, they look pretty true to what I exported on my NEC monitor. <br /><br />I'm no professional, and under no delusion that I ever will be. Nobody fawns over my portfolio, and I readily admit that composition comes about as naturally to me as frugality comes to Imelda Marcos. I love photography though, and I'll keep doing it; either because I'm crazy or just stupid.<br /><br />So, can I put out a book of decent images from BLURB without having the calibration tools? If there is no way to do it well without the tools, then I'll purchase them. <br /><br />Also, the colorchecker passport is crazy expensive. Are there cheaper ways to take a color/white balance sample? I used to own the big cards, but I haven't seem them for years. They'll probably turn up when I'm cleaning out the basement in 30 years. :)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi Josh,</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply. I sent you two emails about this. I'm sorry you never received them. I did use the link on the website to obtain the web address, I believe just support@photo.net, but I didn't use my yahoo account. I think I emailed them from a office PC, since my personal PC was down and I wanted to let you know that there was a problem. I sent a follow up 2-3 weeks later. I also sent an email to that address from my yahoo account on 2/8/10 when I had the virus attempts from the site this year.</p>

<p>I'm pretty much over it at this point. I think I was just carrying that around and needed to get it off my chest. Either way, like I said, I have to own the fact that "I" got the virus. It was unwise for me--an experience IT admin--to be so lazy about setting up my defenses before opening a browser at all. And the experience actually led to my implement a few new safeguards which were exactly what protected me during the February attack.</p>

<p>I would never think that your site would infect my PC on purpose. Some sites will do that, but this certainly isn't one of them. I don't have a ton of knowledge about ad vendors, but I do think that there are ad driven sites that are safer than others. For instance, whenever I see a cursors ad (like I saw here the other day) then I am concerned about the risk of viruses. Its not foolproof, but it is reasonable to say that ads from major manufacturers and major retailers are typically less at risk because the ads are written in house by IT staff working from a larger infrastructure and managed by ITIL and CM best practices.</p>

<p>But anyway, I'm over it and some of the responses here have encouraged me. Besides, I plan to purchase a membership because I'm tired of fighting with that darned quota.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Patrick, thank you so much. That was a very kind and helpful response. I have done some critiquing, but I always have ended up feeling like I'm not sure I have any business giving my opinion. But your viewpoint is right on-the-money I think, and I'll approach it with fresh eyes.</p>

<p>Stan, I didn't lose my images when I got that virus. I did have to purchase a new hard drive in order to clean it up, but that's not a big deal. I only lost time during that incident. My original drive became my backup drive, and eventually I'll fill up all that space too. I like your portfolio by the way. Some of your images have a beautiful austerity to them. I'm more and more inspired by images like that.</p>

<p>I want to say thanks for the responses. Stan, I am sorry if this took your thread in a direction you did not intend. I simply had a different perspective on my experience than you have had.</p>

<p>Regarding the virus. I appreciate and understand what you are saying. A little history about myself. I have 20 years of experience in IT, mostly with collaboration solutions on the operations side. Basically, I work with this stuff for a living and I do it in big corporations. I have some exposure and expertise in this arena. I wouldn't say that I got a virus from this site unless I was able to demonstrate it.</p>

<p>The Vondu virus that I picked up when I launched Photo.net strikes through ads. And there was a rapid release of the virus on the day that it hit me here. Plus there are the logs. The biggest tip off to getting Vundo is that you immediately find yourself in a DoS situation chasing down popups and in this case, it was also running my hard drive out of space. By itself Vundo is not that terrible and can be cleaned once you catch your breath; but the nasty little trojan that it downloaded through a pop-up could not be cleaned. It was the second virus that lead to my formatting my drives and rebuilding again.</p>

<p>Now, in all of this, I take some ownership. I had just built a new system and I had that last little 10% left to do on my FW config and getting FF installed and setting up the end user "browsing" account. I used IE as a system admin. Why? Well, I trusted the site. </p>

<p>Just a thought about providing feedback to other photographers as a means of learning. Since I admittedly don't know much about what makes a powerful composition, wouldn't I be better served by critiquing the work of the masters (adams, misrach, or even art wolfe) as opposed anonymous photographers with no known notoriety? I'm not saying that there are no amazing photographers here. I have found a handful that I admire and believe have a high degree of talent. I also do Google some of you who are not anoymous, and there are some cool names hanging around out there. I'm just saying that I don't think I'm the best judge of talent, not having refined my own yet. </p>

<p>Follow-up. Well, I'll have to be satisfied with a mystery for now. I sent it out to TC Camera repair and he tried a couple-three times to generate the shutter lag and could not. There were no errors on the system either. Since I've had it back, I've noticed it a couple of times, but not to the extent that it was occurring before. So for now I'll have to bide my time and wait for something to break. </p>

<p>From a newbies perspective:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>If I think a photo I have submitted for rating is good but it received an average rating of 2 for example, so what? It shows the opinion of the raters but doesnt make it a worse photo.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Would that be the mindset of a person who is trying to learn and understand how to improve but doesn't know all the in's and out's of what makes an image a "6"? </p>

<p>As one of those people, I can tell you that when I get rated with 3's and it has NO critique, I'm both sad and frustrated. Not because I need praise but because I crave input. I post images that I work hard on and because I want to improve. I didn't stand in front of an allium patch for 4 hours in 95 degree weather because there was nothing better to do. I have a passion and a vision, and I'm trying to hone it. If I wanted mere praise, I can just show them to my family. I come HERE because I want critique.</p>

<p>I have posted an image one month and watched it get 3's, then deleted it and re-posted it to see it pickup 5's & 6's and end up being one of my strongest rating. What the heck?</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>If posters dont want to get low scores either delete the 1,2 or 3 option or dont post them. Also lets remember that as far as I understand it, 4 is average. Thats not too bad is it?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I've never posted anything here with the goal of being average. First of all, average as compared to what? My uncle Mervin and his Coolpix, or Ansel Adams? Secondly, I think most people here--admittedly not all--really want to be creating art that is better than average. But its a challenge to learn when the great photographers rate only other great photographers or rate average photographers with low scores but give no feedback. </p>

<p>Wow. I'm glad you've had a good experience. I'm struggling with how I feel about my experiences here.</p>

<p>I joined a while ago and I wanted to try the site as a non-member before becoming a member. I was always a bit sad to receive overwhelmingly low ratings and next to no constructive criticism on my critique requests. I did not come to this site looking for a mutual admiration society. I wanted real feedback. If my images suck, and most of them do, then tell me that; but also tell me WHY! But its difficult to find that kind of feedback, though there has been some...its been much less lately.</p>

<p>I wandered out here today to ask about how I could possibly receive an averaged score of 5.25 on an image that no user voted over a 5 on?! I'm beyond puzzled. You can see what people vote if you go to their profile and then look up their ratings. You can view the images they rated at 6 or 7. I do this so I can see who voted high for me and then see what they have in their own galleries. San's any real feedback, its often the only thing I have to go on. So how can I have a 5.25 with no single rating of over 5? Its not mathematically possible.</p>

<p>The thing that I am most disappointed about is that two summers ago, I picked up a Trojan virus when I visited the site. It was the only site I visited that day, since it was the first place I visited after booting up. In the end, it required a low level wipe of my drives to clean it and I spent 4 days rebuilding my system. I reached out to the site admins when this happened to let them know and received no reply at all. I sent a follow up email and again received no reply. I decided not to become a paying member at that point. A simple reply was all I was looking for and I don't think it was too much to ask. Again this year I was attacked when I visited. I posted about it on the help page and was at first told that there was an issue and that they were trying to track down the offending ad. I tried to provide information. Later, it seemed any statements suggesting there was a virus a muck were recanted. In the meantime, I have the logs demonstrating what viruses (and spyware attempts) where tried. I earnestly wanted to be helpful. It was not received.</p>

<p>I'd love to find a site where I can BOTH learn from others and get good feedback. I'm just not sure it exists anywhere. Not even here.</p>