Color correction is an optional, paid service at Yellow Lab Imaging that helps make sure your photo files are ready to produce the best possible print — before they ever reach the printer. For $1 per image, every file you submit is personally reviewed for resolution, exposure, density, and overall color balance, and adjusted if needed.
It is one of the most requested services we offer, and also one of the most misunderstood. This page explains exactly what color correction covers, what it does not cover, and why the distinction matters — especially if you have ever opened a box of prints and thought they looked a little flatter than you expected.
If your file needs one or more of these adjustments, we make them by hand before printing. If your file is already clean, we still review it — that review is what the fee covers — but it goes to print exactly as submitted.
Color correction is a technical service, not a stylistic one. It does not automatically include boosting vibrancy or saturation — making colors punchier or more intense than the original file. That is a matter of personal taste, and not every customer wants the same look applied to their images.
If you would like your prints to have extra vibrancy or saturation, just let us know in the notes section at checkout. We are happy to build that into the color correction pass — we just need you to tell us, since we do not want to apply a stylistic change you did not ask for.
Every file we review takes real time — time to check resolution, evaluate exposure and color, and make adjustments by hand when needed. That is true whether or not the file ultimately needs changes. The $1 fee covers that review and the assurance behind it.
Think of it as a kind of insurance for your order. If you accept color correction and something still does not look right, we stand behind it and will make it right. If color correction is declined, files are printed exactly as submitted, and we are not able to offer a free color-related reprint, since there was no opportunity to review or adjust the file beforehand.
One of the most common things we hear from customers is that a print looks “flat” or “washed out” compared to how the photo looked on their phone. This is one of the most common — and most misunderstood — issues in photo printing, and it is rarely a flaw in the print.
Phone screens are backlit, and manufacturers intentionally tune them to display images brighter and more saturated than the original file — that is part of what makes photos look so vivid and “pop” on a phone. A print is reflective, not backlit. It depends on ambient light in the room where it is viewed, and it will never have that same screen-glow quality.
Our goal with color correction is to match your original image file as closely as possible, using monitors that are professionally color-calibrated. That is a more accurate, more neutral reference point than a backlit phone screen. So a print can be an accurate, well-produced match to your file and still look different — a little less hyper-vivid — than what you are used to seeing on your phone.
The good news is you have control over this. If you like the punchier, more saturated look your phone gives your photos, just mention it in the checkout notes and we will build extra vibrancy and saturation into your color correction. There is no wrong preference here — we just need to know what you want before we print, since color correction covers technical accuracy by default, not stylistic enhancement.
Want more detail on how we think about color correction? Read our blog post, Color Correction Explained: What It Covers, What It Doesn’t. For more on our print materials, visit our photo prints online page, or explore 3x3 photo prints, mini photo prints, and wallet size photo prints.