[fishcrazy]

Was wondering if there is a special printer cartridge for your computer my colors arent real true especially chartruese any tips would be helpful. I am taking pictures of actual baitfish in my area coming out of the lakes and rivers and applying them to my hardbaits. There is one minnow that has a chartruese stripe down its lateral line and its more of a dull green after I print it.

Mike

[SmokeyJ]

The issue isn't the printer cartridge, its that your monitor output isn't calibrated to your printer output. You can read more about it here. Unfortunately there really isn't any cheap way to do this calibration. You can somewhat approximate it by holding up a printout to your monitor and playing with your monitor settings until you get an approximate match. Then adjust the colors in your graphics software to get the chartreuse stripe back to the color you want and print again. It won't be perfect, but its the best you'll get without some expensive equipment.

[finlander]

It's the action they're after, not the paint scheme. Also' some say your printer ink won't hold up the sunlight too long so keep them covered when not in use.

[boomah21]

I am by no means an expert however I am a store manager at a best buy and I can tell you there is a HUGE difference in printers....Try going to a store with a photo and ask them to print a bunch from different model and brand printers you will notice a significant change.

There are also some models that use special photo ink...I have never played with it much however this may help?

[jflures]

i agree with Boo. I have a photosmart printer and it prints vivid colors compared to my old inkjet

[SmokeyJ]

I didn't mean to give the wrong impression, you can definitely get results that are acceptable for lure building purposes, and a nice printer (one aimed more at photo printing) would probably be the quickest way to achieve that, I was just saying that if you are trying to get pretty much identical screen to print match, that costs a good bit of money and requires calibration. Printers and sign makers run into that issue all the time.

One thing I didn't think of is if you print out color swatches from your printer with the actual CMYK values under each swatch, you can find the color you are looking for and then adjust the colors in the image you are using to those CMYK values to get the match. Its a pain in the butt, but would be cheaper than buying new equipment.

[6_feet_deep]

Originally Posted by finlander

...some say your printer ink won't hold up the sunlight too long so keep them covered when not in use.

He's right, unless you have some sort of UV inhibiter mixed in with your top coat, your ink will fade. The mfr of the ink determines the length of time that it will hold up. Just some food for thought...good luck!

[jflures]

I agree on the fading ink. I use a spar urethane that had uv protectants in it. This should work Right?

[mark poulson]

Can you epoxy over spar urethane?

[6_feet_deep]

Originally Posted by jflures

...spar urethane that had uv protectants in it. This should work Right?

The urethane mfr should tell you the amount of years or sometimes hours that it will block uv and then a release rate after that amount of time. Sometimes you may have to contact the mfr though. If you tell them what you're using it for, they MAY say that use in and out of water will alter their warranty...shouldn't really matter all that much though. I'm no chemist by any means, I just have to deal with that sort of thing at my full time.