Picturemate Deluxe - grainy faces?

[Tiger926]

I love my new Picturemate Deluxe, but have noticed that skin (especially my very light skinned daughter) is grainy - especially faces and arms. I've printed right from card (Panasonic FZ-30), as well as through Adobe Photoshop. I have also printed photos from our other digital camera (Canon), and it's the same thing. I just started working in Adobe Photoshop, so I thought that was the problem, but when I printed from CD with Canon photos without using Adobe, it was the same thing.

Has anyone with a Picturemate experienced any grainy images in flesh tones?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, Tiger

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Most probably you're experiencing ISO noise. Can you post the file here so I can examine it?

While you're doing that, make sure that your ISO setting is at "AUTO" or ISO 100-ish

 

[Tiger926]

Thank you - what is the best way to post file here? This photo is from our old digital camera, Canon A-60, set for auto, taken outside, with no flash.

Tiger

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I used to use A60. Check and also make sure that you are using "Large" and "Superfine" (or "Fine") setting under the menu. You should see an icon that says "SL" on the bottom left corner of the LCD.

To upload your pic, go to photobucket.com, make an account (it's free), go to options and set the limit to 512 Mb click "accept" (or something to that effect) then upload your picture file.

 

[mhutchinson]

I have the same printer and have not seen any issues with grain. I usually shoot at lower than ISO 400 though. The printer has some advance functions that will allow you to print in finer detail that might help smooth the graininess out as well as it has a digital image reduction feature that will help with removal of over pixelization.

You can experience that issue if the photo is over cropped at a high ISO, but you said you also tried it straight from the card....not sure with that

I also just took a close look at one of my favorites which has my youngest daughter making cookies with flour all over her face...she is also fair skinned and I have not seen evidence of grain, but you can see the details of the flour. The picture was shot at f/2.9, exposure +1/3, at ISO 100.

Mike

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks, I'm not sure if this is right, but here is the link:

http://photobucket.com/albums/e67/tiger92698/?action=view&current=134_3443.jpg

There was a lot of grain on my daughter's arm, her face and my neck. Her arm also had a reddish/pinkish tinge to it.

In regards to the camera, we don't really use it too much anymore as we have a brand new Panasonic FZ-30, but this photo was set to auto, low ISO setting.

Thanks, Tiger

 

[Kelly Grannell]

It looks like the compression is set too high. But I honestly hardly can see the grains,

 

[Tiger926]

Exactly - can't see it in photos, but when I printed it, it came out like that. I am going to reprint it tomorrow with noise reduction, and then have it printed at Costco to see what the deal is. Pretty much all of my photos have flesh grainy issues when printed on our Picturemate. It's very baffling, indeed.

In regards to the compression, we have both our cameras set for best quality photos (less on card), I thought this was best?

Tiger

 

[mhutchinson]

Tiger,

I agree with Kelly that the shot looks pretty smooth without any real grain showing. Is the online size (2X3) the actual photo size???? And Cosco would be a good option to give a comparison

Mike

 

[Kelly Grannell]

maybe your printer head is dirty/clogged/dying? That can also create that problem.
or your printer driver may need updating or re-install (I encountered that problem with my printer due to a conflict between my printer driver and my new videocard driver)

 

[Tiger926]

It's a brand new printer - only 3 weeks old. I guess I can try to reinstall the driver. I thought maybe it was an issue with Adobe (I'm going to a workshop in a few weeks for Adobe), but I also printed stuff right from card that didn't even go through Adobe. Between new printer, new camera and new software, my head is starting to hurt!!

Tiger

 

[Kelly Grannell]

If you want, you can send the actual full-sized file to my studio account: articles@kiwihouse.com then I'll try printing it on my printer and see what happens.

Don't worry about the file size, but just send that one pic.

I'll print it out tomorrow afternoon and I'll let you know the result I'm getting here at my studio.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks so much Kelly for the offer - that is so generous of you! Are you still able to print the image? I did a nozzle check and print alignment tonight, and it made the photo worse. The nozzle test pattern showed all colors look fabulous, but something is definitely wrong with skin - I checked a few other photos too, and it doesn't matter if it's light or dark, it's a problem with skin it seems. My question is: how can there just be a problem with skin tones?

Please let me know if you are still willing to print this image - I would forever be grateful to you.

Thanks, Tiger

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I'm still willing to print it just to check what's happening. Send the the full-rez file to me immediately and I'll try to do it tonight and report it to you.

 

[safetymom]

I have two Picture Mates and don't have any problems with the skin tones. Your printer is still under warranty. If it is determined to be the printer contact Epson and they will replace the printer for you.

 

[Tiger926]

I had to go to bed as my DD needed tending to and wasn't able to send. I will try and send this morning before school , or tonight.

I so appreciate this - my hubby as usual, is always impressed with the kindness of DIS people!!

I'll be in touch soon, Tiger

 

[Tiger926]

I just sent the file to the email address provided (my hubby is a bit nervous about this, but says if it's a DIS member, it's ok!)

Thank you kindly, Tiger

P.S. Safety Mom - since you are an experience Picturemate user, what do you think this is? I just printed a photo of my new baby cousin, and it showed some grain, not as much, but still there. This was from my cousin's camera, so I'm trying to print a few more from my best friend's camera at WDW and see what happens. Very perplexing, indeed!

 

[fitzperry]

I know there are many happy Picturemate users out there, but I just wasn't thrilled with the print quality. I honestly can't remember if I had graininess issues, but I do recall that the color saturation was not good. My prints looked washed out no matter what I did with the settings. I have a little Canon CP-200 that my dh picked up on a clearance rack at Staples awhile back, and I thought its print quality was far superior to the Picturemate. As luck would have it though, about 5 minutes after I sold my Picturemate, the Canon broke, and I haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with it. I've thought about buying a newer model of that, but I'm really holding out for a larger format printer so for now I'm stuck with Shutterfly.

Hope you get it figured out.

 

[safetymom]

The difference between Canon and the Picture Mate is the inks. The Canon uses dye inks the Picture Mate uses pigment. The pigment ink will last much longer.

Tiger926, if your husband wouldn't mind could you send me the file also? I sent you a PM.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

but dye-sub (PictureMate) vs Inkjey should not make that much of a difference. I have both (Canon dye-sub printer and Canon inkjet printer) and I hardly can see the difference at a normal viewing distance (about 6 inches away on a 4x6 photo)