Prints Still too dark after calibration

huntersdad wrote in post #12365860
Actually, I'll bet I just answered my question. I went in to recheck the printer settings and noticed that the only ICC profile it has is Abode RBG 1998. Since, I am viewing in sRGB, I'm going to guess this is affecting my outcomes.

Yeah... that's NOT an icc paper/printer profile. It's a color space. A typical icc print profile would include the model of the printer and the paper type in the file name.

On most Windows PCs, they'll be found in:

Windows > System32 > spool > drivers > color

huntersdad wrote in post #12366817
It then asks if I remembered to disable color management in the printer preference dialog. When I click printer preferences, I get the management window for the printer. I go to the color management tab, and under Color Management, I can choose ColorSmart/sRGB or Adobe. There is no off choice.

How do I turn it off completely?

I'm fairly sure that with those HP devices, when you have PS or PSE manage the color, the printer driver is turned off automatically. Your unit may be one of the few where HP didn't even provide any icc profiles.

Or they weren't installed.

Ok.... you have some work to do. You need to get/find the profile for the paper/printer that you are using before you have any hope of matching your monitor.

bohdank wrote in post #12367010
Or they weren't installed.

Ok.... you have some work to do. You need to get/find the profile for the paper/printer that you are using before you have any hope of matching your monitor.

Great. I am stoked. No basketball for me tonight.

Printer drivers reinstalled. No ICC profile for the printer.

Also, HP doesn't provide any profiles for their paper products, so no luck there. However, if I print by going into the pictures file, select my photo and hit print, I can choose size, quality and PHOTO PAPER type. When I do this, the print and monitor are still different.

Chas, in the link you posted for test, I can specifically see differences in the blues in the skies (both pics) and skin tones. Additionally, the mountains are far darker on the left hand side than the monitor. Car, watch and nude seem pretty good. The lip shot n the upper right corner has a darker red tint in print and not as soft on the other side than on the monitor.

I don't guess wirelessly printing could have any affect on this could it?

From here:

Appears that indeed there are no profiles to be found. http://h20000.www2.hp.​com …Id=18972&prodCa​tId=236252

So, it's either let the printer manage colors and hope for the best, or buy a different printer.

huntersdad wrote in post #12367305
Printer drivers reinstalled. No ICC profile for the printer.

Also, HP doesn't provide any profiles for their paper products, so no luck there....

Yeah, that HP device was designed for the little old lady scrapbooking set, rather than digital photographers. I'm not disparaging HP, as I printed a few 13x19 B&Ws on my HP 8750 just last night, but HP has completely given up on the budget photo printer market. You'd be better off taking Rene's advice and buying another printer. There are several very good printers from Epson and Canon which can be found for $150-$250 USD.

Thanks guys. I talked with a guy at church today who does photgrpahy and he said the same thing - either use a lab (his preference) or buy a new printer. Guess the search is on for a new printer.

huntersdad wrote in post #12372999
Thanks guys. I talked with a guy at church today who does photgrpahy and he said the same thing - either use a lab (his preference) or buy a new printer. Guess the search is on for a new printer.

Yeah, when you mentioned "All In One" little red flags began to wave. Those printers are OK for an office printer, but will not be good for a dedicated photo printer -- they are not designed to be. And one "symptom" of that is that they don't provide profiles so they can be managed externally. And, as has been mentioned, HP seems to have dropped its dedicated photo printer line, at least at a level I can recognize...I still have some people I occasionally encounter who were coworkers with me at the PhotoSmart printer R&D center and I know they have extensively downsized but don't know the details.

Although I send 99% to a lab I occasionally print on my Epson Artisan 835. It does a really good job but the small ink cartridges make it very expensive to use for prints. It is a 6 color printer (5 + black) and Epson provides paper profiles.

After some reviewing, I'm either going 9500 mk II since I do some B&W or Epson R2880. Only for bigger prints though. I'll keep the HP and figure out a work around to do 4x6s and 5x7s. I looked at a couple labs but based on the pricing I saw and some simple math, after 20 or so 12x18s, I would have paid for the printer. That and I like instant gratification.

Appreciate all the help.

I ran into this same "problem" when I first started printing my own (9000 mk II). It turns out there is no way you will match the screen brightness with the prints

You can either live with it, increase the brightness before printing or do a soft proofing (adobe's website has a tutorial on it, just can't find it right now). Buying the 9500 will likely not fix your dark issue, but it's a great printer regardless.