If you want to provide us with files set up the way YOU want, there are some things you need to keep in mind.

Our Noritsu lab (like all similar machines) prints in the Adobe sRGB colourspace, so if you convert your files into this colourspace you will be on the path to the prints matching your monitor.

On the subject of your monitor, have you calibrated it? There is more to it than just adjusting the brightness and colour balance. If you are using Adobe Photoshop, you should at least use the monitor gamma adjustment, which comes with Photoshop. If you want to do more, use a spectrophotometer like a Colorvision Spyder or Gretag Eye-One. You can hire a Spyder monitor calibration unit from us for $20/day if you wish.

As regards file formats, we prefer .jpg files for printing, but we can accommodate .bmp, .tif and .psd among others.

If you size your files at 300dpi you will avoid excessively large files, and obtain the best results. If you have heard stories of 600dpi and 1200dpi and think our 300dpi is low, you should remember that inkjet printers use tiny drops of ink to get the result they give. The smaller the dots of ink (higher DPI), the better.

Photographic labs print on silver halide photographic paper (just like the good old days when we used film!), and the lasers give a continuous tone to get the final print. There are no dots, so the 300dpi figure is used only to calculate file size. Whether the file is 1200dpi or 300dpi, it makes no difference other than making the file bigger. The result will be the same.

If you have an “odd” size file which you need printed at a specific size, than canvas it in Photoshop up to one of our standard print sizes. If you need more information on this, just ask us.