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Just in time for FotoWeek DC, David Adamson (left), one of the first people in the country to make digital art prints, offers an expert diagnosis of common flaws found in a digital photo. Adamson, who has worked with the likes of Chuck Close, Robert Rauschenberg and Annie Leibovitz, details different ways the image on the right could be improved to appear more like the image on the left.

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  • The right hand image lacks the natural tonal range and smooth transitions from shadow to highligh found in the photo on the left. These problems may be caused by poor exposure, aggressive file manipulation or constant jpegging.

  • Another example of color fringing, the right hand image has a blurry appearance. Such fuzziness may be caused by either poor lens quality or problems with the print head alignment.

  • The image on the right shows color fringing on the outer edges of the print caused by print head misalignment. Meanwhile, poor image development yields a more shadowy image that loses the delicate detailing found in the sample on the left.

  • The lines in the image on the right may be caused by a blocked print head or a problem with the paper feed. A blocked head might also yield the extreme color shift seen in the image on the right. This can also happen in a more subtle way, so it is worth examining the print closely.

Editing: Stephanie Merry; Design: Noel Smart - The Washington Post

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