When you take photos, how you post process them is dependent upon the output format you plan to display them. If you are using them only for email or web pages, you are pretty much done as soon as you cut the resolution and size down and create the jpeg. If you plan to make hard copies of the images, a bit more work is required. How do I ensure what my screen shows me will match the print? How large is the final print? Where is it going to be displayed? What is the best method to produce the print? The answer to these questions determine the survivability of your print.
To ensure that what you monitor shows you matches the print can be done in several ways. The best method (and the only one worth doing) is calibrating your monitor to the industry standard. There are several manufacturers that make tools for doing this. I own a Spyder 2. Calibrate your monitor at least once a month, more often as it ages, and every time you move the monitor to a new location. When calibrating your monitor keep the lighting around it at the same level it normally is when you edit photos, as ambient light affects the calibration results. There are some calibration target photos you can adjust your monitor with, but they do not ensure your monitor is meeting the industry standards, and if you adjust your monitor using them there is no guarantee that your printed image will match very well. The absolutely worst way to adjust your monitor is to print an image and then adjust your monitor to match. Doing that only makes your printed images and monitor match, but if you have to send the file to someone else, it may look extremely bad! Whichever method you use, remain consistent with it. The biggest advantage of a calibrated monitor is the uniformity your images will have between different displays and printing devices.
Email and web use generally does not need a resolution greater than 72 DPI, and a maximum dimension of around 10″ These settings produce very good images for most computer applications, but printing them gives poor results. Further security for the images can be made by encasing them in flash files, disabling right clicking, water marking, or any combination of these techniques, Be assured, if somebody really wants to steal an image from your site, they can, so only allow them to get an image that is of low resolution. Keep your high resolution files on your computer and an external media (CD, DVD, External HD, Etc.)
Post processing for a printed image takes more care. Images on the screen have about 7 stops of lightness (about the same as slide film) whereas, paper handles about 5 stops. The excess information has to be removed and either you will be doing it on your computer, or you are at the mercy of someone else. Even if you print the files straight from the camera, you are ceding the post processing to the camera’s and the printer’s manufacturers. The results may be good, but they will be weighted towards making an average shot that includes people. Since I am a control freak when it comes to my images, I post process them using Adobe Photoshop. I shoot in camera raw, which gives me the maximum amount of data my Nikon D300 can gather. I adjust color temperature, brightness, contrast and the histogram Adobe Camera Raw and then export a PSD file to Photoshop. There I fine tune using curves and saturation in adjustment layers and masks. I try to find out what the lighting will be in the area that my photos will be seen and adjust the color to create the best image for that kind of lighting. Just prior to sending the file to the printer, I make a final adjustment so that my output file will match the printers profile for the paper that has been chosen.
Printers, whether attached to your computer or located in a lab often have a profile or digital print parameter file that can be applied to your image so that the calibrated monitor will show you a truer representation of the finished product. Epson, Canon and HP have generalized profiles that are to be used for specific papers run through the printer. If you choose to go a more commercial route, many of the labs have down loadable profiles for the same purpose. When you have a file that has been optimized for a specific printer, you will get the best results. If you have a lab make prints for you and you have already optimized the file, be sure to inform the lab technician that ALL CORRECTIONS MUST BE OFF. This is because most labs deal with people that have not bothered to do any adjustments on their own and your efforts will be trashed if the computer in the equipment tries to further enhance your work.
I base my current print output on the cost. Printing at home costs about $4.50 to print an 8″ x 12″ print on my Epson when archival ink and paper are added up. Since I have a local lab (Costco) that can produce an image on Fuji Archival Paper for $1.99, it wouldn’t require being a genius to figure out which place is getting my business (sorry Epson).