SmugMug offers what very few printing sites offer: a True Color option.

Most SmugMug subscribers are Standard and Power users. For them, the color setting defaults to Auto Color. True Color is intended for pro photographers and serious amateurs who have the time and skill to adjust their photos perfectly.

But... I have a great camera!

Unfortunately, even shots from great cameras won't produce great prints without adjustments.

It comes as a rude shock to most people when they discover their digital cameras make them look red, especially with the built-in flash. If the lab prints True Color faithfully, you'll look sunburned. Auto Color to the rescue.

What does Auto Color do?

SmugMug's Auto Color for prints is nothing like the simple quick fix programs you see in desktop applications that wreck many photos.

The easy part: brightness and contrast.

The hard part: memory colors — skin, sky, and grass.

Auto Color does what is very hard even for Photoshop wizards to do: it senses the areas of photos we're likely to judge them by, and it adjusts those regions to tones we expect to see.

Q: I'm a SmugMug subscriber. Does the Apply Color Effect tool I see in my Tools Menu have this sophistication?

A: Unfortunately, no.

Q: I'm a professional photographer with a SmugMug Pro account. How can I make sure my customers make the right choice?

A: You can set the default to be either Auto or True Color in your Customize Gallery settings^?. Most customers won't notice the option in the shopping cart, so they'll stick with the default. No worries if they choose the wrong one, use SmugMug's proof-delay feature and you'll have the last word on color before the order processes.