Print Quality - How good is good enough?

[Betsy_Finn]

Ok, so this thread stems from me receiving my competition prints back from the lab. I was a little disappointed with the fact that they were softer than I was expecting (e.g. not as crisp and sharp, image-wise)...and I'm a little worried that it will make my scores suffer.

I'm also concerned because I did find one spot on one of my prints where the lab got some dust etc under the print and it shows. Obviously I don't really have time to get these reprinted for regionals, but I'm mainly wondering for future reference.

[D._Craig_Flory]

Hi Betsy;

Do you only look at your images in "fit on screen" & "print size" only ? If so, also look at all images for competition in "actual pixels".

As for them trapping something underneath ... is that under spray lacquer or under laminate ? The worst time of year for me, for spraying is winter when the humidity is way down. "Stuff" can easily fall on a print and get trapped. That is why I spray my comp. prints in many light coats ... each time making sure that nothing is on the surface. If there is I can carefully lift it off with a pin or the end of an exacto knife blade.

[Betsy_Finn]

I looked at them all three ways, Craig. I felt like some of the detail was lost -- I may be expecting too much for the print size, or not used to the laminate coating

It's a laminate.... Only one print has a bubble/raised area -- I'm just wondering if typically, one is too many?