Zion - dark prints

I've been having trouble getting my pictures to "pop" when printed. I've printed using AspenCreekPhoto on Fuji Pearlescent in the past and the prints came out much darker than expected (used no color correction). I decided to "test" print at local costco before sending another batch of photos away, and pictures came out flat and dark again.

My monitor is not calibrated, please C&C these photos. They look good on my monitor, but as above always look dark printed.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/24344071@N00/7​969549780/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/24344071@N00/7​969539282/

Can't see the photos mate.

I'd say that #1 is a little dark. #2 looks good to me. I have the same problem when I print, so I usually make a curves layer called PrintBright on every image just before printing on my Epson printer. If you check the histogram it will give you a good idea whether you need to boost brightness.

Were these jpeg images out of the camera?

That being the case...how do you know what they're supposed to look like?

Not unusual at all. Have you calibrated you monitor to your printer, or visa-versa? Until you do that, there will always be a mismatch. If you end up printing at a commercial place you should down load their printer profiles. Even Costco provides these for each of their locations. It will end up saving you tons of time and money trying to print shots like this.

Awesome location BTW. Haven't been there in ages and need to get back.

agree with QBX on number#1, bit dark and #2 looks a little oversaturated to me.

Stunning locale.

If you don't want to calibrate your monitor, change it's settings to match your prints, and save them as a certain profile that you can switch to when you're processing your shots. I have a feeling your monitor is set too bright.

LV Moose wrote in post #14971077
If you don't want to calibrate your monitor, change it's settings to match your prints, and save them as a certain profile that you can switch to when your processing your shots. I have a feeling your monitor is set too bright.

Sounds like good advice; but I tried that and my monitor was just too dark for comfort; so I just adjusted my brain to see over-bright images on the monitor (after the Print-Bright curves layer). Then after printing I hide the layer.

the second one has way too much saturation

carlh wrote in post #14971034
agree with QBX on number#1, bit dark and #2 looks a little oversaturated to me.

Stunning locale.

Agree .

Really, if you want to get to where what you see on your monitor is accurate, you have to calibrate the monitor.

Does calibration help with brightness levels also? I thought it was mainly to get the correct color hues.

It depends on the calibration package you buy. Good ones will include gamma adjustment. I'm not sure if luminance is part of it but that's something you would adjust properly before you begin the calibration process. There are some targets you can use to get that right and then calibrate from there. Your environment is important as well. Here are some tools for you. http://www.normankoren​.com/makingfineprints1​A.html

There is a LOT of reading here but it is worth understanding if you want things to look in print as they do on your screen.
Also, keep in mind that cheaper printers do a horrible job of color accuracy. I prefer sending to a lab like MPix Pro. Wherever you send them, if you work with a calibrated monitor and you get things just the way you want them, make sure the lab knows NOT to color-correct your images. Otherwise all that work will be for nothing.

Oeijur wrote in post #14974509
Does calibration help with brightness levels also? I thought it was mainly to get the correct color hues.

The better calibration systems/monitors will let you set a luminance value. There is no singe correct value as the luminance you pick depends on what you want to view. Since I don't like constantly changing luminance mine is set to 110 cd/m^2 and my room light when editing is 20-30 Lux. No doubt that 110 takes a bit of time to get used to since it's pretty dim, but I'm pretty comfortable with it now.

Another important area to consider is contrast ratio. I print mainly on lustre paper, so I try to calibrate to a contrast ratio of 250:1 (currently I'm at 241). The contrast ratios I target are:

Glossy - 325:1
Lustre - 250:1
Matte - 175:1


Prior to using my latest monitor and calibrating with NEC's SpectraViewII I used a Spyder3Pro with a Dell 2209WA. The Spyder didn't let me enter a luminance value like I do with my NEC PA monitor, but instead in order to match prints my Dell 2209WA monitor's brightness had to be turned down to 10-15%.