One of the best things to come along recently in our industry has been AI-powered software for use on deficient images. With it, you can frequently salvage sub-standard shots, add in very believable-looking detail, zoom in for a close crop without a quality loss, improve facial details, hair, and skin texture, and remove JPEG compression artifacts.
You can often make an image look like it was shot on a higher-quality camera, improve blur/focus issues, and achieve substantial enlargements that were previously impossible.
Though it doesn’t work flawlessly on all images, I like to use it when warranted, which is pretty often.
Here is one example from a recent magazine cover. Compare the detail between the two versions:
“I worked with Colorprep in my capacity as Senior Photo Editor for The Atlantic to prepare photographic files for press. Before working with Mike we were having a hard time with consistent quality printing, but with Colorprep’s services we’re able to ensure files print the way we want time and time again. Mike communicates very clearly, is very responsive and understands the needs of visuals editors—including turn around. He’s very flexible with his production schedule and always met our deadlines. The upload feature of his website was very easy to incorporate into our existing workflow. I prefer working with Colorprep because I know they will achieve the quality I need on deadline.”
Christine Walsh, Atlantic Senior Photo Editor
The Atlantic Magazine
New York, NY
“Mike is prompt, professional, and extremely organized. We’ve been so impressed by his understanding of our printer and paper stock—his adjustments always improve the final product. Working with Mike always saves us time and reduces our stress. Please don't give him too much work—we want to keep him for ourselves!”
Katie Martin, Art Director
The Atlantic Magazine
New York, NY
“The St. Timothys magazine looks fantastic. As always thanks for making me look great. Hard to believe I was so worried about giving you RAW files to work with, you work wonders.”
Howard Korn
Howard Korn Photography
Baltimore, MD
“Mike’s color correction for the Mercy Medical Center annual report was wonderful! Working with a very tight deadline he nailed the color in the first proof. The project printed like a dream. And best of all, my client noticed the Mike difference!”
Robin Brach
Brach Design
Catonsville, MD
“After years of inconsistencies in proofing with various printers, my firm sought out the expertise of Mike Davis at Colorprep. Since using him, we have found that our printed pieces turn out better than ever with beautiful, uniform photos. We appreciate the predictability of the final product we receive due to Mike Davis’ expertise and highly recommend his services. On top of that, Mike Davis is both responsive and accommodating making him a pleasure to work with.”
Allison Le, Art Director
Neustadt Creative Marketing
Baltimore, MD
“Before we began our relationship with Mike Davis at Colorprep we were doing most of the color correction of our images in house. We were consistently disappointed with the press proofs we received and further color correction at the printer only seemed to make things worse. We were at a loss and the printers were not helpful. We just could not understand why our color never matched our images. So we called several of the Baltimore design firms whose work we admired and they recommended Colorprep. We have been using them since 2005 and the numerous major design awards we have won each year in large part are due to the beauty of the printed images. So we highly recommend Colorprep. They are reliable, priced fairly, and extremely professional.”
Greg Wilkin, Director of Design and Production Services
Goucher College
Towson, MD
“These Dance App shots are so great! The color is improved tremendously. You’ve done an amazing job”
Kristen Spilman
Pentagram Design
New York, NY
“thank you so much for your sensitive and nuanced work. the depth and
breadth of your knowledge and experience made prepress so easy. press
inspections were a breeze. i can’t believe i ever did color printing any
other way!”
ellen kahan zager
graphic design & creative services
baltimore, maryland
“Dear Mike,
There are big jobs and then there are BIG jobs. This one was BIG.
Really BIG. 500 images big.
I can’t thank you enough for the time and energy that you invested in
this project. One would never know that these hundreds of images came
from dozens of different sources and institutions across the country.
From 4-color professional photography to a bitmapped photocopy you
brought the same care and attention to every single image.
With such a huge mix of file formats, color profiles, and image
qualities I really wasn’t sure how you were going to possibly manage
the color on this job. I didn’t need to worry. Your sense of color is
more like some sort of super human power. We didn’t provide a single
proof or color reference yet somehow every single image just looked
right.
Complicated silhouettes, crazy drop shadows, and a ridiculous amount
of retouching requests were done with amazing precision and artistry —
and performed far better than most printers.
The transfer of files to the printer was seamless. Not a single
problem. Every image printed exactly as you had proofed it. Amazing!
One of the largest projects I’ve worked on, but thanks to you one of
the easiest. Again, many thanks for all of your help. I look forward
to the next one!”
Jeremy Hoffman
Pentagram Design
Associate and Senior Designer
“Since incorporating Colorprep’s services, press-checks are easier than ever and printed images are beautiful. Our rule is nothing goes to print until Mike works his magic. His expertise and honesty are priceless.”
JoAnne Cooper
Cooper Wingard Design, Inc
“Mike,
I just wanted to thank you for contributing your talents to the Video Press catalog. We have just gotten the catalogs from the printer and the color photographs have never looked so good. We are all amazed at the difference. I’ll send you a copy of the catalog as well as our catalog from last year so you can see the difference. It is really an extraordinary difference.
Thanks again for your help.
With great appreciation.”
Susan Hannah Hadary, Director
MedSchool Maryland Productions
“Mike, I wanted to let you know that I just got the printed annual report and it looks gorgeous. So I guess all the angst on press was worth it, because even the “iffy” photos turned out great. Thanks for all your work on this and ease of the whole process. Your business is a boon to independent designers like myself.”
Barbara Hartinger
Poetica Design
Seattle, Washington
“We have had the privilege of working with Mike Davis on many projects over the past few years. He has become an integral part of our production process, particularly in the age of digital imaging. His technological expertise as well as his aesthetic have proven to be indispensable.
Mike gets it right the first time. He has streamlined our work flow so that we’ve eliminated the back and forth between designer and printer, which equals savings.
Mike Davis is very easy to work with. He is patient, dedicated and efficient, not to mention that he is always willing to go the extra mile to get the job done right.
We would recommend him to anyone seeking expertise in total pre-press solutions.”
Tony Rutka
Rutka Weadock Design
Baltimore, Maryland
“Mike Davis is the most experienced pre-press production artist we have ever used. He is a true craftsman and his retouching is excellent. The color profiles he has created are the most accurate of anyone we have used. The profile he created for black and white quad-tones is perfect.
Mike is always on time and comes through for us when the deadlines are tight. I recommend him to anyone who is in need of a great pre-press image production artist.”
Daniel Shub, Partner/Art Director
SDYM
Baltimore, Maryland
“As a photographer, the way my images look when they are printed is critically important to me. I first used Colorprep when I was producing a major self-promotion piece and the results were flawless. Colorprep has a way of making my images look better than I have ever seen them and Mike Davis is great to work with. I have recommended Colorprep to every designer I work with and the results have been superb.”
Joe Rubino, Photographer
Baltimore, Maryland
“I had Mike’s letter of introduction on my desk for a month. I had been meaning to call and test his skills on some color correcting, manipulation and CMYK conversions for my photos.
I had not planned on doing it the way it unfolded but… however, I received a rush assignment that needed to be done ASAP. I called Mike and after speaking with him on the phone I felt confident that he could pull it off. Mike completed it in record time and the client was ecstatic, so ecstatic, he assigned us another job that took over two weeks to shoot. Again, with no rush Mike came through for me and my client.
I hesitate to write this letter because now Mike does all of my work and I don’t want him to get so busy he won’t be able to fit me in.
Mike is now considered part of my team. He makes me look good.”
Lawrence Ruggeri
Ruggeri Photo Inc.
Clarksburg, Maryland
“Photographers are often unhappy when their work is reproduced in offset printing, so I perked up when an excellent photographer recommended Mike’s services a few years ago. Mike is the “missing link” between digital photographers and offset printers. He’s an expert technician and has a great eye for color. We get appealing skintones, naturally saturated hues, and the correct amount of sharpening. He works with profiles from each printer to “translate” digital files and conventional photos into scans that print at optimum quality on coated and uncoated offset and digital paper stocks, and on large banners.
Mike is impeccable about detail. He’s organized, always meets and improves on deadlines, asks the right questions. He’s an expert retoucher. When we send Mike a technical question he always returns a detailed answer.
I would definitely recommend Colorprep’s services to anyone, but I’m a little selfish about sharing. When you hire Mike he does the work himself.”
Kathryn Shagas
Kathryn Shagas Design
Hunt Valley, Maryland
“It’s rare in this day and age to find an old school color professional. One that lives in the CMYK world and understands the nuances of four-color printing. Mike is one of these increasingly rare finds.”
Larry Sherer, President
High Impact Photography
Baltimore, Maryland
“I love the Job Request form because it allows me to present what I want clearly to Colorprep avoiding any possible misunderstandings which could be costly in the long run. The form is fast and easy to fill out and keeps me on track with what I need to have done. Once the project has been filled out I immediately receive an e-mail confirmation that my project has been submitted and scheduled. This form is efficient and helpful when presenting my projects to Colorprep.”
Marcia McCray, Senior Graphic Designer
Goucher College
Baltimore, Maryland
“We think you are terrific, and when we send you something to do, it’s one of the few parts of a job that we NEVER have to worry about, the work is correct, accurate, impeccable and always on time”.
Pam Coblyn
Coblyn Design
Bethesda, Maryland
“Mike, I just looked at the files you prepared for me and I am totally, completely blown away. You totally “got” my sense of what the color should be like and made the files ready for publication in ways I could never have done myself. I am so grateful to have you as a resource as I make this long, confusing transition from being an all-Tri-X film person to a 21st century digital photographer.”
Susie Fitzhugh Photographer
Seattle, Washington
“I do production for a very busy Graphic Designer. Some of our projects use a lot of photography and our InDesign files then become huge and slow to work on, and sluggish when trying to save as a PDF. Mike is our time- and life-saver. He prepares the camera raw files to get the best press quality using a formula based on where/what/wow (printer/paper/color). Mike preps the images to import at 100%, our InDesign files become manageable, we create PDFs faster, our clients are happier. I highly recommend Colorprep to take the guess-work out of prepping your images.”
Rebecca Wheeler
Freelance Production Artist
“Mike Davis was contracted to work on two separate projects involving Desktop Graphics Production. In both instances Mike quickly understood the project concept and provided excellent feedback about certain color issues.
Mike is very easy to work with. He communicates well, is very professional, and I look forward to working with him again.”
Geoffrey Hoegberg, Digital Operations Manager
Harbor Duvall Graphics
Baltimore, Maryland
“Mike is one of the few old school prepress experts who is comfortable in the new paradigm of digital capture files, color management, and RGB to CMYK workflow. He can provide an excellent bridge from the film based workflow to the digital workflow since he thoroughly understands both.”
Richard Anderson, Photographer
Baltimore, Maryland
“Mike Davis is one of the most capable people in the field of Graphics Computer work. His ability in photo retouching using Adobe Photoshop far exceeds anyone I know. He is conscientious and dependable. When he commits to a project, you can rest assured it will be completed on time and done right.
Mike is an asset to anyone he deals with.”
Michael T. Goorevitz, graphic designer
MTG Associates
Monkton, Maryland
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