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Online Services
Introducing... On Line Proofing - Digital Image Processing - Online Digital Image Transfer.
Natural Color Lab has a large range of services which will make your experience with the lab easier and quicker than before. You can have your proofs put online scanned off traditional film. You can upload digital images from your camera to the lab via your web browser. See the status of all your orders with the lab. Online proofing directly from your digital files is now available. To access these services simply login.
The way images look on your monitor may be different from the way they look in print. Although Natural Color Lab color corrects your prints, it is best to also adjust your monitor so that your photos look similar on your screen to way they will look on ours. Click on this image to enlarge it, and use it as a guide to calibrating your monitor. Use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars to see the entire image.
DESIGNING AND HOSTING YOUR WEB SITE
Natural Color can design and host your Web site. Let our experienced Web team construct an innovative format to promote your studio. Because we do our own programming, Natural Color can purchase a domain name of your choice, design and host your site. Provide our customer service team with text and photographs and we will link your e-mail address to an exciting Web page. This will allow perspective clients to contact you directly. We also provide links from all our online proofing sites to your Web page. We update your page with newsletter information and seasonal promotional material. This service provides the least expensive, state of the art, advertising.
Responding to customer feedback, we have recently revised our set of Photoshop Actions. These Actions will simplify your life when dealing with your digital files. There are now nine available, and based upon your requests, more will be added in the future. (Bookmark this page and check back periodically.). These Actions were created in Photoshop CS on a Windows XP platform, and as far as our tests have concluded, they are cross compatible between the newer versions - i.e., CS2 to CS to 7.0 to 6.0, etc. They are also MAC compatible. The nine new Actions are as follows:
Figure 1
The first two are called ?ZIP Uploads for Online Viewing-Vertical? and ZIP Uploads for Online Viewing-Horizontal?. These two actions will resize your files to the required length of 1680 pixels for online viewing. This will save upload time on your end and save us the time it would take to resize your images at the lab - the end result being that your files will be available online quicker than before.
The third through sixth are called ?ZIP Uploads for Prints-4x6-Vertical? , ?ZIP Uploads for Prints-4x6-Horizontal? , ?ZIP Uploads for Prints-4x5-Vertical? and ?ZIP Uploads for Prints-4x5-Horizontal? . These actions are for 4x6 or 4x5 proofs printed by Natural Color Lab. They will reset your files to 300 dpi and a 4 inch height, and then crop equally from both ends. As with the actions above, there are vertical and horizontal versions, and these actions will resize your files down for paper proofs, and save you upload time.
The seventh and eighth actions are called ?Rectangular to Square for Proof Pages-Vertical? and ?Rectangular to Square for Proof Pages-Horizontal? . These actions will add canvas to your rectangular files, making them square, allowing you to place both horizontal and vertical files on the same Proof Page if you use any of our square format Proof Page templates in Studiomaster PRO. It's a good idea to run the ?Zip Uploads for Online Viewing? action first before running this one.
The ninth action is called ?RGB to B&W? . This action will take your RGB files and convert them to a monochromatic B&W RGB file. When using this Action your files will NOT have to be all rotated in the same direction.
To Download the NaturalColorLab-072805 Action Set, click here . You can save it anywhere you like, but a good place to put it (depending on the location of your Adobe folder) is C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop *.*\Presets\Photoshop Actions . Open Photoshop and open the Actions Window. If you already have our previous set of Actions loaded, it is suggested that you delete it at this time before loading the new set. To delete the old set, simply select the NaturalColorLab set and click the Trash button on the Actions palette. To load the new set, right click on the Palette Menu Button, (the round button with the triangle in it on the right side of the Action Window) and choose "Load Actions...". Locate and select the NaturalColorLab-062705 action set file, then click Load. (Photoshop action set files have the extension .atn.) As stated earlier, whenever you are working with your digital files, it is a good idea to archive your originals, and only work on duplicate files. Also, when you are resizing files for either Online Viewing or for Proofs , all the files you are working on MUST be aligned in the same orientation ? either Vertical or Horizontal . After you have run the action, you can then rotate them back to their appropriate viewing orientation. Rotating the files can be done easily with a Program such as ACDSEE 7.0 or iView MediaPro . With that in mind, create a folder with copies of the proofs you wish to upload, and then make sure all the files in it are rotated in the same orientation.
To batch-process these files for ONLINE VIEWING using the Batch command:
1.) Choose File > Automate > Batch.
2.) For Play, choose "NaturalColorLab-062705" for the desired set and either the " ZIP Uploads for Online Viewing-Vertical " action (if your files have been rotated vertically), or " ZIP Uploads for Online Viewing-Horizontal? action (if your files have been rotated horizontally) from the Set and Action pop-up menus.
3.) For Source, choose a source from the pop-up menu:
? Folder to play the action on files already stored on your computer. Remember to use the folder containing the copies of your original files. Click Choose to locate and select the folder with the copies.
4.) DESELECT Override Action "Open" Commands. This is important.
5.) Select Include All Subfolders to process files in subfolders only if you have subfolders in your main folder. Otherwise, deselect this option.
6.) Select Suppress Color Profile Warnings to turn off display of color policy messages.
7.) Choose a destination for the processed files from the Destination menu:
? If you are saving your files back to the same folder, select Folder, and Choose the same folder you chose under Source. This will save the files in their current location, overwriting the copies you have made.
? If you are saving your files to a different folder, select Folder and Choose the location of the different folder.
8.) SELECT Override Action "Save As" Commands. This is important .
9.) If you chose Folder as the destination, specify a file-naming convention and select file compatibility options for the processed files:
? For File Naming, select elements from the pop-up menus or enter text into the fields to be combined into the default names for all files. The fields let you change the order and formatting of the filename parts. It is easy enough to leave it at the default setting, which is the original Document Name + extension.
? For File Name Compatibility, choose Windows if you are using a Mac OS or UNIX operating systems. Otherwise, the default is Windows.
10.) Select an option for error processing from the Errors pop-up menu:
? Stop for Errors to suspend the process until you confirm the error message.
? Log Errors to File to record each error in a file without stopping the process. If errors are logged to a file, a message appears after processing. To review the error file, click Save As and name the error file.
Depending upon which Proof Action you have chosen, your batch window should look similar to the image below.
Figure 2
If everything checks out, click OK.
After you have run the action, make sure to rotate the files back to their appropriate viewing orientation. When you have finished rotating them, zip all the files you are uploading into an archive.
To batch-process your files for 4X6 or 4x5 Paper Proofs Printed at Natural Color using the Batch command:
1.) Choose File > Automate > Batch.
2.) For Play, choose "NaturalColorLab-062705" for the desired set. Depending upon the size of the proofs you'll be ordering and the orientation of the files you'll be working on, choose either ?ZIP Uploads for Prints-4x6-Vertical? , ?ZIP Uploads for Prints-4x6-Horizontal? , ?ZIP Uploads for Prints-4x5-Vertical? or ?ZIP Uploads for Prints-4x5-Horizontal? from the Set and Action pop-up menus.
3.) For Source, choose a source from the pop-up menu:
? Folder to play the action on files already stored on your computer. Remember to use the folder containing the copies of your original files. Click Choose to locate and select the folder with the copies.
4.) DESELECT Override Action "Open" Commands. This is important.
5.) Select Include All Subfolders to process files in subfolders only if you have subfolders in your main folder. Otherwise, deselect this option.
6.) Select Suppress Color Profile Warnings to turn off display of color policy messages.
7.) Choose a destination for the processed files from the Destination menu:
? If you are saving your files back to the same folder, select Folder, and Choose the same folder you chose under Source. This will save the files in their current location, overwriting the copies you have made.
? If you are saving your files to a different folder, select Folder and Choose the location of the different folder.
8.) SELECT Override Action "Save As" Commands. This is important .
9.) If you chose Folder as the destination, specify a file-naming convention and select file compatibility options for the processed files:
? For File Naming, select elements from the pop-up menus or enter text into the fields to be combined into the default names for all files. The fields let you change the order and formatting of the filename parts. It is easy enough to leave it at the default setting, which is the original Document Name + extension.
? For File Name Compatibility, choose Windows if you are using a Mac OS or UNIX operating systems. Otherwise, the default is Windows.
10.) Select an option for error processing from the Errors pop-up menu:
? Stop for Errors to suspend the process until you confirm the error message.
Depending upon which Proof Action you have chosen, your batch window should look similar to the image below.
Figure 3
If everything checks out, click OK.
When the batch has finished processing, zip all the files you are uploading into an archive
To batch-process your Rectangular Files Into Squares for use on the square format proof page templates in Studiomaster PRO using the Batch command:
1.) Choose File > Automate > Batch.
2.) For Play, choose "NaturalColorLab-062705" for the desired set and either the Rectangular to Square for Proof Pages-Vertical? action (if your files have been rotated vertically), or ?Rectangular to Square for Proof Pages-Horizontal? action (if your files have been rotated horizontally) from the Set and Action pop-up menus.
3.) For Source, choose a source from the pop-up menu:
? Folder to play the action on files already stored on your computer. Remember to use the folder containing the copies of your original files. Click Choose to locate and select the folder with the copies.
4.) DESELECT Override Action "Open" Commands. This is important.
5.) Select Include All Subfolders to process files in subfolders only if you have subfolders in your main folder. Otherwise, deselect this option.
6.) Select Suppress Color Profile Warnings to turn off display of color policy messages.
7.) Choose a destination for the processed files from the Destination menu:
? If you are saving your files back to the same folder, select Folder, and Choose the same folder you chose under Source. This will save the files in their current location, overwriting the copies you have made.
? If you are saving your files to a different folder, select Folder and Choose the location of the different folder.
8.) SELECT Override Action "Save As" Commands. This is important .
9.) If you chose Folder as the destination, specify a file-naming convention and select file compatibility options for the processed files:
? For File Naming, select elements from the pop-up menus or enter text into the fields to be combined into the default names for all files. The fields let you change the order and formatting of the filename parts. It is easy enough to leave it at the default setting, which is the original Document Name + extension.
? For File Name Compatibility, choose Windows if you are using a Mac OS or UNIX operating systems. Otherwise, the default is Windows.
10.) Select an option for error processing from the Errors pop-up menu:
? Stop for Errors to suspend the process until you confirm the error message.
? Log Errors to File to record each error in a file without stopping the process. If errors are logged to a file, a message appears after processing. To review the error file, click Save As and name the error file.
Depending upon which Proof Action you have chosen, your batch window should look similar to the image below.
Figure 4
If everything checks out, click OK.
When the batch has finished processing, zip all the files you are uploading into an archive.
To batch-process these files from RGB to B&W using the Batch command:
1.) Choose File > Automate > Batch.
2.) For Play, choose "NaturalColorLab-062705" for the desired set and the ?RGB to B&W? action from the Set and Action pop-up menus. Remember, since there is no resizing involved, these files do NOT have to be aligned in the same orientation.
3.) For Source, choose a source from the pop-up menu:
? Folder to play the action on files already stored on your computer. Remember to use the folder containing the copies of your original files. Click Choose to locate and select the folder with the copies.
4.) DESELECT Override Action "Open" Commands. This is important.
5.) Select Include All Subfolders to process files in subfolders only if you have subfolders in your main folder. Otherwise, deselect this option.
6.) Select Suppress Color Profile Warnings to turn off display of color policy messages.
7.) Choose a destination for the processed files from the Destination menu:
? If you are saving your files back to the same folder, select Folder, and Choose the same folder you chose under Source. This will save the files in their current location, overwriting the copies you have made.
? If you are saving your files to a different folder, select Folder and Choose the location of the different folder.
8.) SELECT Override Action "Save As" Commands. This is important .
9.) If you chose Folder as the destination, specify a file-naming convention and select file compatibility options for the processed files:
? For File Naming, select elements from the pop-up menus or enter text into the fields to be combined into the default names for all files. The fields let you change the order and formatting of the filename parts. It is easy enough to leave it at the default setting, which is the original Document Name + extension.
? For File Name Compatibility, choose Windows if you are using a Mac OS or UNIX operating systems. Otherwise, the default is Windows.
10.) Select an option for error processing from the Errors pop-up menu:
? Stop for Errors to suspend the process until you confirm the error message.
? Log Errors to File to record each error in a file without stopping the process. If errors are logged to a file, a message appears after processing. To review the error file, click Save As and name the error file.
Your batch window should look similar to the image below.
on the Actions palette. To load the new set, right click on the Palette Menu Button, (the round button with the triangle in it on the right side of the Action Window) and choose "Load Actions...". Locate and select the NaturalColorLab-062705 action set file, then click Load. (Photoshop action set files have the extension .atn.) As stated earlier, whenever you are working with your digital files, it is a good idea to archive your originals, and only work on duplicate files. Also, when you are resizing files for either Online Viewing or for Proofs , all the files you are working on MUST be aligned in the same orientation ? either Vertical or Horizontal . After you have run the action, you can then rotate them back to their appropriate viewing orientation. Rotating the files can be done easily with a Program such as 
