Poor quality / dark photo books?

Hi
I created a photo book for a Christmas present and ordered 2 copies for over £50.
I hadn't ordered one for years and that one was superb but these are awful. Pics were shot with an ESO 400D and they look great on (calibrated) iMac and Formac screens but the books all look really under exposed. Backgrounds for example, which contains plant life etc have more or less just come out black.
What should I do ? (I know it's a little late after ordering them but have been busy) - should I send them back to be reprinted ?
thanks
Roger

Roger:
What is the color profile of those photos? Are they the Adobe RGB?
You might be able to get some compensation from apple. Contact them via the following link and explain in detail the issue. Waiting this long may work against you however but it's worth a try: http://www.apple.com/support/photoservices/returns/
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Similar Messages

Poor quality of photo on cover of book

Hi all,
I've posted about this before, and I'm sort of dismayed that I'm the only one experiencing this. I've made photo books in Aperture for many years now, and I just did our big year-end book for 2014. As always, I'm very impressed by the quality of the printing in the pages of the book. But the photos on the front and back covers (and on the dust-jacket as well) are very flat and muddy. The problem isn't with the digital file of the photo -- the same photos appear on the pages inside the book, and they look good there. My monitor is color-calibrated.
Here's an interesting thing. When the books are printed in New Jersey (or at least the FedEx shipment originates in New Jersey), the covers have the muddiness problem. When the shipments originate in Oregon, the covers look good. Do you think there's a way to request the Oregon printer??

I wasn't able to find any "report a problem" link. Also, in one place on the Apple website it says specifically about print products that "We want you to be satisfied with your product, so send it back if you don't love it." Then in another spot it says "Print products are not returnable." And when I go to my order information, there are no buttons or hyperlinks to click to return it.
As I've mentioned, this has happened a number of times over the years. I may take the books to a nearby Apple Store to see about a return or refund -- and with the demise of Aperture, I may take this opportunity to (reluctantly) look once again into Blurb books and others that I've used sporadically over the years . . . Sigh.
I would GREATLY appreciate hearing if others have had experiences like this or if anyone has any advice for actually contacting a human being at Apple to discuss this. Thank you.

Very poor quality on photos made with iphone 4

Since a few weeks i've noticed that photos made with my iPhone 4 have a very poor quality. I've upgraded to IOS 4.3.2 thinking about a software problem, but the quality is still very poor. It´s like out of focus. I submit a just made photo. Any answer? Thanks a lot.
This photo is made with original photo app and no zoom.

Only thing I can think of is a focus problem (which could be software) or a lens with some junk on it that causes some blurring.
Can't offer a solution but can make some suggestions.
Take different types of pictures and, just for variety in case it reveals something, take two of each - one touching the screen and then one after touching for comparison.
Do close-ups and distance shots. Do indoor and outdoor, with and without flash on the indoor - again, of the same thing so you can compare.
Might reveal a pattern. If all are bad, then it probably goes back to the lense or software not working.
If some come out fine, it would seem to reduce the chance of it being the lens being dirty or something. On the other hand, if close up shots look good but distant ones don't, it could be either software or the internal focusing hardware isn't adjusting enough for distant shots.
Just some things to consider.

Poor quality "still" photo

I'm using Premiere Elements 12. When I'm choose "Tools", "Movie Menu", Then choose from a "Menu Theme", I am given the option of inserting a still photo. However, the quality of the photo in my final product is reproduced with VERY POOR resolution. Is there a solution to this problem? Does Premiere Elements 13 correct this problem?
Joe Nunes
Turlock,CA

britt142012
Thanks for the follow up.
Have we ruled out whether or not the issue exists with and without the antivirus and firewall(s) disabled?
Back to the now....
When did you get the Error 16 - after naming just the SLStore Folder to SLStoreOLD? Or did you do the renaming of both the SLCache as well as SLStore Folders to get the Error 16? You should be able to convert back to the original by deleting the newly created SLStore or SLCache Folders and removing OLD from the renamed ones. Is Error 16 gone then?
After that, try just the renaming of the SLStore Folder again.
Before we give up on renaming SLStore and SLCache Folders, check the permissions for each so that they are set for write/read for Everyone.
Then the classical generic ways....
1. Delete the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file and, if that does not work, delete the whole 12.0 Folder in which the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file exists.
Local Disk C
Users
Owner
AppData
Roaming
Adobe
Premiere Elements
12.0
and in the 12.0 Folder is the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file that you delete. If that does not work, then you delete the whole 12.0 Folder in which the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file exists. Be sure to be working with Folder Option Show Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives active so that you can see the complete path cited.
2. If that does not work....
a. uninstall the usual Control Panel way
b. do a free ccleaner run through (regular clearner and registry cleaner parts) to get rid of any leftovers from incomplete uninstalls reinstalls
CCleaner - PC Optimization and Cleaning - Free Download
c. reinstall with antivirus and firewall(s) disabled.
We will be watching for the new developments.
Thank you.
ATR

Poor quality downloaded photos

Hi all,
Can anyone explain me why photo's taken with my N96 look good as thumbnails in any viewer - I have tried several to see if the difference is caused by that ( Windows Picture Viewer, Visere, Irfanview etc) - but come out very lousy when enlarged? Colors especially are muddied and there are bands on them with the top looking normal, then blue and yellow and green horizontal areas running across them
Frustrating to not see them correctly and some are of very happy meetings that I want to share normally with beloveds.
Hope someone can help!!
I have added one example.
kr, marc
Attachments:
10122008059.jpg ‏894 KB

Dude, the total lack of color in the bottom part is definitely not due to loss of quality. It's some problem either with the matrix of the camera or a software problem. If video shooting is fine, then the problem is with the image processing of the OS. Backup everything and go directly to the repair shop (or try hard reset first)...
Message Edited by kamenlitchev on 06-Jan-2009 10:45 PM
Ericsson T10i -> Nokia 7110 -> Siemens C45, C55, M55, M65 -> Nokia 6131, N73, N82 -> HTC Wildfire, Desire HD -> Nokia Lumia 800 -> HTC Desire X -> Lumia 820 -> Sony Xperia SP -> Lumia 925 + Sennheiser CX 500
If I've helped, use the Kudos button to thank

Poor Quality of Photo JPEG Quicktime Export PPro CS4

Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
2 Xeon Dual Core 3.2 Ghz
2 GB RAM
XP SP3
Nvidia 8600 GT
The program that I use for presentation (ProPresenter) prefers Quicktime files rendered in the Photo JPEG format. I render it from a HDV 1080i 60 time line to a 1280x720 file.
In CS3 this worked great. In CS4 when I render it out, the file looks terrible. I even bumped it to 100% quality (normally I do about 85% in CS3)
The video has bad posterization and looks like it has been rendered at a low bit rate, which I think may be what is happening. CS3 didn't let me set the bit rate, and neither does CS4, but 2 minute files took about 700 MB to 1 GB after being exported in CS3. The resulting files in CS4 are 150 MBs.
The bit rate option when Photo JPEG and many other Quicktime codecs is selected, is greyed out and cannot be set.
So what can I do? I NEED to be able to export to Photo JPEG at high quality. Why would Premiere not allow me to set a bit rate, but more over, use such a low one? At least in CS3 it chose a high bitrate for you.
Am I missing something? Are others having this problem with Quicktime exports?
Here is the output from CS3. Some banding in the bacground gradients, but that's to be expected with JPEG.
Here is the output from CS4. Banding is much worse, jaggedy posterization, obvious artifacts. All of this becomes even more apparent with motion.

I would like to follow up a little bit. After talking to my friend, the bitrate problem was addressed in the 4.1 patches and exporting to Photo JPEG at least was fixed, at least that's what he told me and from his description of the problem, I'm quite sure he knew exactly what I was talking about.
But still, after he listed his annoyances such as the much longer render times, and an interface and timeline playback that just never seems to be quite fast enough to keep up, I long for the simple interface of Premiere 6.5 with updated HD capabilities. Every step since then has made the interface more unnessarily resource intensive.
I don't think I'll be upgrading to CS4, sorry Adobe. Please stop making Premiere for super machines. I have a very good computer, and it's having trouble running Premiere CS4. It doesn't NEED to be this resource intensive. It doesn't have to bog down when it's run on anything but the best of the best computers.
In a simple A-B-C comparison, the speed of playing an HD clip with a couple effects goes down and down and down as you go from Pro 1.5 -> CS3 -> CS4. Why? What other areas are so improved that we need to have such a slowdown of the core?
Sorry, I'll stop venting now. I was just so hoping that I could recomend we upgrade to CS4 and solve some of our CS3 problems.

Help! Poor quality uploading photos

My camera is a 10 megapixel and photos turn out beautiful on the camera's screen. Once I upload the pics into iphoto, they look just as terrific. The PROBLEM is when I try to upload to an independent site such as Snapfish, Photobucket, Shutterfly, etc. All of my pics come out like I'm using a 3 megapixel camera or worse! They lose all their clarity, sharpness and beauty. If anyone can help me out, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

catslittlebirds
Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
How are you uploading? You're not rooting around in the iPhoto Library Folder, are you? Attaching files from the Data folder?
There are three ways (at least) to get files from the iPhoto Window.
1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.
3. *Show File*: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.
To upload to MySpace or any site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.
This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. If you're using Gmail you can use THIS
If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.
If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser. Or, if you want to access the files with iPhoto not running, then create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use THIS
Also, for 10.5 users: If you use the extended Open or Attach dialogue (with Column View) you can scroll to the bottom of the Shortcuts and find the Media browser there. Select any pic you want from there.
Regards
TD

Why do iPhone 4s and 5 take poor quality concert photos?

I can't seem to find a straight answer or any tips for this problem. Hoping someone can hel.
I have an iPhone 4s and my husband has an iPhone 5. Every concert we've been to, we try to get some pictures and they are either all white, over exposed, or out of focus and you can't even tell what you've taken a picture of. Then, once in a while, it autofocuses for a quick second the lighting is correct and image is sharp. But then it goes out of focus again and the next picture turns white and blurry. And it's even worse when you try to zoom in. In fact the zoom takes blurry photos most of the time, whether at a concert or not. But the focus of this question is concert photos. At my most recent concert, I noticed that the person in front of me who had a non-iPhone (looked like a Samsung) was taking beautiful pictures, and she was zooming in and getting close-up shots. Compared to what she had, my iPhone camera was a piece of junk--and it should not be! Is there something we're not doing correctly? Is this just the iPhone has an inferior camera with regard to this kind of lighting? I'm hoping someone can shed some light and advice on this issue.

Thank you, Courcoul. I will check out the Fast Camera and Blux Pro. They could come in handy for other photo-taking activities. However, I'm not sure it's going to solve my white-out-overexposure-blurry problem. Shouldn't we expect Apple's camera to work properly, without any special apps to make it behave for standard type stuff? Especially for the price we pay to own an Apple. It's a drag when you see a Samsung taking good pictures and zooming in without losing focus. I like your advice for other specialized apps, though. Much appreciated. And I will check into them.
If anyone can shed some light (no pun intended) on the over exposure white and out of focus issue with concert photos, I'd love to hear more suggestions. Thanks!!

Aperture photo book vs iPhoto quality

Hi, will photo books printed from Aperture give me better quality than photo books from iPhoto 6? This will help me decide if I should buy Aperture or not.
Is it true that Aperture prints books at 300 dpi and iPHoto at 150 dpi?
Any advantages to printing photo books in Aperture (what does Aperture photo books do that iPhoto doesn't)?
Thanks,

Recently I uploaded and had printed a hardbound book that had been designed within Aperture. Prior to this, I have used iPhoto to produce 10 such books starting back in 2002. I have always chosen the picture book format because it provided the largest images.
This time I used Aperture because it allows large images with small captions and a good deal or freedom of length and placement.I particularly appreciated the good snap placement between the pictures and other captions. The ease of producing 2 page spreads was impressive. The book ran 84 pages and the quality of the resulting was very good–on a par with my other Apple photo books.
On only one occasion have I had a problem with quality control of these books. In that case an a good high resolution image was pixelated. In that case, I was able to call Apple and speak to someone, who after hearing my description, asked me to send my copy back and issued a reprint order.
My only bit of consternation with this order is that I found no such contact information enclosed with the book.
Finally, I haven't seen any specific suggestions within this formum for third-party print houses that can produce good quality books. Just assertions that alternatives do exist. I would be willing to strip down the .pdf file of the book I have just created to some of the trickier images and see how these one of these print houses fare.
Here to an Aperture New Year!
Don O'Shea

IPhoto vs Aperture Photo Books

How does the quality of photo books produced in Aperture compare to those produced in iPhoto? Is there more freedom in layout? Can you adjust text box sizes on a page? What other things make Aperture books better (or worse) than iPhoto?

Hello,
on my experience Aperture´s books could be absolutly customized, so that´s more freedom in layouts.
You can adjust / change text boxes, fonts, sizes, color, and so...
You can create your personal book´s theme, or just only one or more pages within choosed theme, then you can print your book via on-line service, or print as PDF, PDF-X, TIFF (every composed page) or JPEG (same as tiff) to your computer...
but if you choose a theme and/or size, style (hardcover or softcover) but you want to change it for a different order, for example for parents, with another size or hardwork style, you must start creating another book ;<.
Ignacio
pd. excuse me my poor english cause i´m writing you from spain and it´s hard enough to me to do it in another different languge of mine and maybe i wouldn't explain so weel.

Quality of photos on book-cover is poor

Hi all,
This is kind of disheartening.
I've been a big defender and promoter of Apple photo books for years, even when other people have complained about the quality. I use Aperture to create the books. I always get "large, hard-cover" books.
A month ago, I created a photo book (Let's call it Book One) and ordered it. I noticed that the Fedex delivery began in Oregon. I received it, and it's great. Beautiful.
So, then, I did what I always do. I ordered two more Book Ones (to keep to give to my kids when they grow up and move away) from the exact same Aperture book. I noticed that the FedEx delivery of these two began in New Jersey.
At the same time, I made and ordered a DIFFERENT book (Book Two). It, too, shipped from New Jersey.
I just received the three books. The photos on the inside pages are of the usual top quality. But the photos on the paper dustcover, on the cover itself, and even on the inside flaps of the cover -- are not of good quality. They're dark and muddy with an almost greenish tint. There's no doubt about the quality of the .jpg itself, because the photos on the INSIDE of the book (the same version from Aperture) are fine. And the first Book One has a great cover. The second and third Book Ones are muddy and kind of crappy. Put them side-by-side and the difference in quality is striking.
This is disheartening. Do you think I should send the books back? Do you think there is a way to request the printer in Oregon in the future?
Thanks for any ideas or suggestions.

Further to this. I just ordered and received two more photo books. They came from Oregon. The covers (and everything else) are beautiful.
I wonder how I can guarantee in the future that Apple uses a good printer? Maybe I'll send feedback via Aperture.

IPhoto photo book picture quality

I am hoping someone could answer my question.
I recently ceated a photo book through iphoto. A majority of the photos used had been edited to make them brighter.
I recieved the book today, only to find that the photos seemed to of been printed without the edits. meaning that the photos seem to
have remained dark. I know that screen resolution is diffrent to a printed picture, but these just seem way to diffrent from want I wanted.
Anyway, was wondering if anyone has an answer for this or could tell me who I should contact to complain.

What did your preview show - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1040
What color profile do the photos have? People who have ignored the recommendation to use sRGB and used Adobe RGB instead often find the printed photos darker due to the color profile
And as a rule Apple's recommendation that you do minimal editing and do it using iPhoto rather than other programs appears to provide the best results. The is a high volume consumer product designed for optimum quality using point and shoot cameras and consumer level editing in iPhoto
Obviously since the order process sends a PDF it is impossible for the printer to use anything different from what you sent
Contact Apple support if you want to see what they will do
LN

Poor quality of imported photos. Less colours/colors ? [Examples]

Hi,
I'm making project in iMovie'09
I'm mixing movies with photos in my project.
But in my iMovie project - pictures are poor quality.
iMovie probably use less colors what you can see on dark parts of photos and movies.
I read somewhere that it can be only in iMovie preview - when iMovie use worse quality movies for
faster running. So I exported my movie to different formats to check how it will look like.
I exported it to BIG, "HD" formats, and also using QuickTime with H.263 compression and without compression at all ( 20 seconds file takes over 800 MB !!!), but the result was almost the same.
Here you can see some examples:
http://pokazywarka.pl/imovie-quality/
The same problem is according to movies - you can see similar bad quality on darker parts of imported movies... Movies in original looks fine.
Any idea how to solve this problem and improve quality of pictures?
Best regards,
Patrick

I too am having a problem. Mine's not even a picture with huge quality or something, just a an SD video in 16:9. The input format is Apple MPEG-2 SD Camcorder Video, 704 x 480 (834 x 480), Millions. I've exported to dozens of options with a share to media browser, iTunes, export movie, Quick time, etc. and every time I get color bands that aren't in the original. I thought I'd maybe fix the problem by using the "optimize video" feature which converts the file to Apple Intermediate Codec, 704 x 480 (834 x 480), Millions. Still, this video (when selecting reveal in finder) looks great, no banding. Again I export, even export to 16:9 DV (no compression right?) and the banding appears. Everything looks good until I get to that export stage. I don't expect perfection, but if iMovie can handle HD movies I would expect SD to come out looking basically like it went in. Please help.
Original:
Exported:

Very disappointed with photo book quality

I created and ordered a photo book using Aperture and am extremely disappointed with the quality. The opening page has a spot of red ink on it with vertical red banding through the center of the image. Many other pages also have the banding.
Most of the images are also very grainy. I know the source images are not at fault, they are very smooth and look nice on my monitor and when I print them. In fact I ordered a few prints through Aperture and they came out really nice. The grain pattern is the same for both full page prints and those that are sized down to about 2x3.
On top of that, the paper quality seems worse than previous books I have created using iPhoto. I was always happy with those books, and I assumed Aperture would be the same if not better.
The books I created with iPhoto were with jpeg images from the same camera, a rebel xt. The only difference this time was most of the images were shot as raw. There was also a small handful jpegs shot with a point and shoot and these have the same grainy pattern as the the raw images.
I sent an email to Apple support, but are others still having book quality issues with the latest version of Aperture 2? This is unacceptable, especially for the amount that is charged. Would it have been better if I exported the images as jpegs, imported them into iPhoto and created the book there?

Hi guys,
I got a real trouble with aperture book printing.
The cover is Ugly it looks like it's scratched over some miles. It's Mate. And it looks printed with a poor inkjet printer.
Inside the book the photos looks almost correct but in the skies we can see some vertical line. I'm fully unsatisfied I got better result with iphoto books !
Please Apple do something. I ordered this book from France. Ans I saw on different forums that they can get better quality than this outside France.
The paper looks very light.
I'm considering ordering books from blurb. And I feel sorry cause aperture tool to create a book is awsome.
Did any french photograph experienced this ?
Regards every one.
Bye.
PS : I printed the pdf and checked at 100% the photos looks great.

How do I delete unwanted photos (duplicates, poor quality How do I delete unwanted photos (duplicates, poor quality or old ones thator oones that I just don't want) from my IPhoto Library.I followed the instruction from Help and neither suggestion worked.

How do I delete unwanted photos (duplicates, poor quality or old ones that I just don't want) from my IPhoto Library.I followed the instruction from Help and neither suggestion worked.
Tried to select and press delete key...didn't work
Tried to select, press arrow on lower right and move to trash.. didn't work

select a photo in an event and either drag it to the iPhoto trash or press the delete key - then empty theiPhoto trash an dthe system trash and the photo is totally gone from the system
LN

Poor quality / dark photo books?

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