Prints too dark? Read this.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com …_my_prints_too_​dark.shtml

Excellent discussion of the how and why of color managed workflow, calibration and profiling.

Kirk

Yeah... Andrew Rodney is a fellow New Mexican living up in Santa Fe. His book is what enlightened me to the world of color management and printing. I've also attended several live web seminars held by him on printing, color management, softproofing, etc.

http://www.focalpress.​com …_photographers.​aspx?terms

I recently purchased Rodney's book for my iPad so I don't have to squint to read the text. Between that and the Real World Color Management by B. Fraser, I have no excuse when it comes to understanding this stuff. Mind you, that does not mean I understand all of it, it simply means I have no excuse....

kirk

I know a simple reason why people's prints are too dark... most people's monitors are way too bright... Color management is important, but expensive for the casual shooter.

Andrew's book is getting a bit dated ( 2005) and I've heard his website referred to as "the website that time forgot"... but his message is very clear. He's a powerful advocate of softproofing in Photoshop. He's stated that monitor calibration software that doesn't allow you to specify luminance is nearly worthless. And he doesn't believe in arbitrarily recommending low luminance settings, as the only correct value is the one that produces a match between screen and print when the print is viewed under controlled lighting.

I have a question: how do you calibrate your cameras display? Because both my camera and computer show the same but when i print its dark. If i set my computer screen to match the print then everything gets too dark to see on the pc. I have to max every brightness setting in photoshop. Sometimes have to max brightness three times over and then the pictures end up looking very fake. But ya maybe its something about my printer because when i take it to a photo lab the prints are fine from them. Just wish i knew whats up with mine.

boerewors wrote in post #11976005
I have a question: how do you calibrate your cameras display?...

You don't. Don't trust the camera display to tell you if your exposure is right. Only use it for composition. Use the camera histogram and/or a hand held light meter to help with exposure.

themadman wrote in post #11975216
I know a simple reason why people's prints are too dark... most people's monitors are way too bright... Color management is important, but expensive for the casual shooter.

Agree! And unless you have the exact same ambient light environment every time you use your computer it is very problematic. I find just doing trial and error works pretty well and after a while the trial gets good on the first attempt at printing.

boerewors wrote in post #11976005
I have a question: how do you calibrate your cameras display?

As said: You can't trust it to judge exposure. That's what the histogram is for.
I have my 1D3 display set to "as low as possible", since I shoot in dark surroundings often.

There can be no question that Rodney is the softproofing guru par excellence, but he also advises a final print made and studied using a viewing station or in the lighting situation in which it will be displayed.

A good long read about softproofing and the Kelby/Kloskowski opposition to it:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/in​dex.php?topic=51331.0