Problems printing from X100VI

DxO PhotoLab
1

This is not necessarily a post about PL.

I have a client who uses a X100VI and, although I can get a reasonable rendering on screen, by the time the result is exported to TIFF for printing, even though the TIFF also looks reasonable on screen, trying to get an acceptable print is proving extremely difficult.

My client insists on shooting in JPEG and he chooses one of the Fuji film emulations. This, effectively bakes in colour “offsets” that can be quite difficult to remove, including colour temperature.

Those of you who know me well enough will know that I have a fully calibrated workflow, with an Apple Studio Display, a MacBook Pro and a Canon Pro 1000 printer.

I have used both paper manufacturers’ profiles and home baked ones. All of which work with files from every other type of camera I have used.

I have tried to convince my client to shoot in RAW but he is insistent on wanting to be able to see the Fuji film emulation on the back of the camera. I have also read that the camera actually applies some of the adjustments, that you would expect to be part of the JPEG files, to the RAW file.

Has anyone got any experience of similar problems with the X100VI?

2

Please describe exactly what the print is doing that you believe is not right.

I assume you have checked the colour space the camera is using and that all your colour profiles are correct through the whole process.

I suspect there is some mismatch somewhere.

3

What means “acceptable”? Color i guess.
Argb vs Argb?

Print size i guess A3/A2. Already over the perceptual / relative check?
The output via (try / double check) Canon Pro Print Layout app is okay?

Note: i use Epson SC-P600 and Epson Print Layout, some experience in printing.

4

Does that camera have the capability to store both RAW and JPG at the same time ?

5

Well, that will be difficult. Your color perception may differ from the customer’s, you don’t know which Fuji profile he is using and what color gamut the camera display covers, apart from the general difference between a (in this case, small) illuminated screen and a (bigger) printed copy …

My approach: Print the image without any adjustments and as “neutral” as possible, exactly as you normally do when comparing the printout with a general test file on your screen. – And if he is still not satisfied, use FP and apply this camera profile (again).

I have also read that the camera actually applies some of the adjustments, that you would expect to be part of the JPEG files, to the RAW file.

Well, I don’t know and Google’s KI gave me … None, except for

grafik
grafik823×113 15.6 KB

… maybe something like Nikon’s Active D-Lighting … otherwise no.

6

@Joanna
I shoot solely with Fujifilm cameras, so I’m pretty well-versed in how they work.

I’m not fully understanding the workflow you are trying to use to go from camera → software → print (might help if you delineate that more exactly), but I have some general points to mention:

  • Fujifilm film simulations can be seen on the back of the camera screen even if shooting solely in RAW. They just are not very useful in this sense, because most of the film simulation settings can’t be extracted from RAW → JPG (or TIFF) unless you are using the Fujifilm X RAW Studio program.
  • To my knowledge, Fujifilm sims are “baked” into the RAW only insofar as providing “line items” so to speak, which compatible software can use to try to recreate the simulation as nearly as possible. Capture One, from what I’ve seen, does this best (I think they have a partnership with Fujifilm)
  • Given a piece of software that knows nothing about the Fujfilm simulations itself - or if you tell it to not use Fujifilm rendering - it should render the RAW file as a true RAW, without any of the “simulation” settings affecting it.
  • DxO PL has some of these simulation emulators built in, especially if you have FP installed, so if you want the file to display as neutrally as possible I believe you have to make sure color rendering is not based on the Fujifilm body or digital simulations, but just something generic.
  • Your client can also shoot JPG + RAW, if that helps the situation.
  • If you WANT the output print file to look as close to the out-of-camera JPG as possible, I believe you have to either use the JPEG as-is, or perhaps use the X RAW Studio program to export (not sure if it allows exporting of TIFFs). In the case this is what you desire, you might have your client change the Fujifilm settings to save JPGs in AdobeRGB rather than sRGB. Not 100% sure that is helpful, but it should save the JPG in a profile used for printing, so there will be less discrepancy? (I’m not that well-versed in color management, so assess that advice with your own knowledge.)

All that being said, I’ve done a number of prints from my Fujifilm files, and they have always looked quite the same as what I see on my screen, even without fancy calibration – so I’m not sure why you’re getting notable differences.