printed photos darker than viewed!

[DoubleT]

when i print my pictures they always come out darker than is diplayed on my moniter, but i found that if i change the "colour management" in my printer settings this sorts it.

but i just sent a few files to an online printer,

the images are great but are just a tad too dark,
how do i go about this?

am i best to adjust my moniter to display pictures as dark as the ones ive just recieved so that when i edit them and send them away for printing, they will be the same as i see on the moniter? or is there anything else i should do.

hope that makes sense?

 

[LeeP]

Printing is a lot more compicated than people first think!

My advice would be to firstly check what colour mode your monitor is working on. Then, find out in PS what colour mode the picture is in. Try and match the pair up if possible.

You then want to look at the profiles on the printer - are they all defaults. Are there updated drivers?

Can you change the colour space the printer works from?

You're better off proofing the pictures before you go to high-quality to save yourself money in the long run

 

[pxl8]

If you take a blank sheet of paper and compare it to a white screen on your monitor you'll see the same effect, the paper looks darker.

The paper is reflected light rather than transmitted so it will naturally be darker. You need to view your print in good diffuse daylight rather than next to your monitor.

Always consider the viewing conditions for an image when preparing it for printing.

 

[Cobra]

Yeah I have noticed that too in the past, ( on my uncalibrated monitor) now when I send pictures to Colab (etc) I think I have just about cracked it by lightening the pictures a "tad" before sending. I get it right 99% of the time