After $170, my prints are still darker than my display

[dpinvidic]

Well, I just recieved my Spyder-4 ($170), and calibrated my laptop screen.
I will say that the before and after does show a significant difference.

However, when I print, the colors are still different, and the major problem is that the print is a lot darker in general than what I see on the laptop.

In a previous post, it was suggested that calibrating the display will fix this problem.

I could really use some suggestion on what to try next. Too bad there is not a brightness setting on my printer....and by the way, I have two printers (HP and Epson). Prints from both printers look very close to eachother, but neither match the display....

[JimL]

Calibrate your monitor with your printer.

I see this model does not perform that operation but it will help if you set the default brightness to 100 (or even 90) in your software instead of the software suggested 120. Try the 100 setting first and then drop to 90 if your prints are still too dark.

Jim

[dpinvidic]

I am using PE-9, and I am not a power user....so I will look to see where to set brightness in the PE program. I did lower the brightness setting of the display with the laptop controls, and it does get closer to a match...but I think it should really be better.

Am I expecting too much in wanting to hold a print next to my display and have them be a pretty close match...??

Dan

[Baron von Smoogle]

Have you tried calibrating your printer?

I know it can be done but since I don't print my own I can't help you with that.

[Landis]

I wrote this 8 years ago, but it still holds true. This is still how I calibrate my system with a few minor changes to go with modern systems. Give it a try.
http://www.photozo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884
Monitor set to: 100 Lumens, 5000 Kelvin color, 2.2 Gamma.
If you are using Photoshop, set up the Color preferences as outlined.

About the only difference I use now is to sometimes set the printer for Relative Colormetric in stead of Perceptual, but that depends on what paper I'm using.

Make sure you are using the right paper profile for your printer.

[dpinvidic]

I wrote this 8 years ago, but it still holds true. This is still how I calibrate my system with a few minor changes to go with modern systems. Give it a try.
http://www.photozo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884
Monitor set to: 100 Lumens, 5000 Kelvin color, 2.2 Gamma.
If you are using Photoshop, set up the Color preferences as outlined.

About the only difference I use now is to sometimes set the printer for Relative Colormetric in stead of Perceptual, but that depends on what paper I'm using.

Make sure you are using the right paper profile for your printer.

Thanks...There is a lot of stuff in your post, so I will have to go through it and try. At this point the only way that we can get somthing acceptable is to set "Printer controls color", then open the advanced printer controls that are in the printer driver, and increase the brightness.

I think I understand color profiles, but I still don't see how the brightness of the screen gets factored into the brightness of the print. I have calibrated my display (using a Spyder-4). But unless I bump the brightness in the printer driver, the print comes out too dark..so it looks pretty bad...and I do not have a trained eye.

Again - I will go through your article and try the steps...thanks for the suggestion.

Dan

[Baron von Smoogle]

Have you tried calibrating your printer?

Ahh, Yes. ICC Profiles is what I was thinking about but couldn't remember the name of.

[dpinvidic]

Have you tried calibrating your printer?

I know it can be done but since I don't print my own I can't help you with that.

NOt sure how to calibrate a printer...but I prefer not to buy any more equipment if that is what is needed to calibrate a printer. But I can play with the printer driverr controls, and save them if that is what you mean.

Can you provide details...??

Thanks,

Dan

[Baron von Smoogle]

NOt sure how to calibrate a printer...but I prefer not to buy any more equipment if that is what is needed to calibrate a printer. But I can play with the printer driverr controls, and save them if that is what you mean.

Can you provide details...??

Thanks,

Dan

You do it the way Dan outlines in his link in the other post. (This is part of the reason I don't print my own. Plus the cost of ink for my printer is more than I care to buy for photo printing. 11ml ink per cartridge for $12 = $4,129 a gallon), and we gripe about gas!!!

[Landis]

... I still don't see how the brightness of the screen gets factored into the brightness of the print. I have calibrated my display (using a Spyder-4). But unless I bump the brightness in the printer driver, the print comes out too dark..so it looks pretty bad...and I do not have a trained eye.

Again - I will go through your article and try the steps...thanks for the suggestion.

Dan

Try this logic: The printer is set to receive an image with the proper brightness, which for 99% of inkjet printers is 100 lumens. If your monitor is Brighter than the 100 lumens, let's say 140 lumens, you will adjust your image on the monitor so it looks correct to your eye on the monitor. BUT the monitor is TOO BRIGHT, so you will automatically "darken" your image so it looks good on the bright monitor. Hence when you print the image that looks good on your bright monitor, the print will come out too dark.

Most people don't realize that the Computer, Monitor, and printer all have to be synced to standards in order to get a "Perfect Print". When I bought my first pro printer 9 years ago, I was frustrated and enrolled in a 5 day workshop in Vermont. I returned home with pages of notes, set up my computer and printer as I had been taught and the first print off the printer was the best color print I had ever made. If you simply follow my outline step by step, you should do well.

Be sure to turn OFF Color Management on the program. Every little step is important.

[EliseLeveque]

You received a lot of good advice already but as someone who has seen designers at work I feel I should warn you about the fact that your screen colours will never look exactly the same as the prints.

This doesn't mean that you can't calibrate, you can and should, and you already received a lot of feedback on how to do it, but do keep in mind that the reason why most designers will ask for a printed proof from a commercial printer before their job gets printed is that it isn't possible to approximate screen colours 100%.

Plus you said you are using your laptop screen: LCDs, even though they are getting a lot better, are infamous for being a pain to calibrate. CRTs have always been better at this, but obviously, especially with a laptop, you can't use them now.

So while you make all of your due efforts to calibrate your screen, keep in mind that you won't be able to reach a perfect match.

[Landis]

Just throwing out another idea to try. I used to do this before I bought my calibration system.
Make a print. Make sure you have your Printer setup the right way, as to No Color Management, etc., as I outlined in the tutorial above.
Then when you get your dark print, change the calibration manually to your monitor to match the print. You will be closer to getting it right. This is not the right way to do these things, but it does work.
Personally, from many years of learning how to color print, I believe you do not have something set correcting in your print setup. If you miss one thing, it can go very wrong.

[JimL]

I just noticed that you did not mention what paper you were using. You might try contacting the paper manufacturer and see if they have a profile matching your printer to their paper. Some do.

Jim