Matching Prints to Monitor

[martincregg]

I have just purchased a Pro-100... love it! Jose Rodriguez's YouTube channel is really informative. I have my monitor calibrated using a Spyder 3, however, my B&W prints are coming out darker than the monitor. I'm guessing this is a common problem and I know there's going to be a standard link somewhere on this forum that addresses this. Could someone please send it to me or walk me through what I can do to adjust things. I have printed using both Lightroom and Print Studio Pro with Printer Managing and using profiles. All the prints are identical... just a little dark to the point where I see no detail (solid black) but my monitor shows detail.

Edit - when I posted initially I was focused on B&W. Same issue with colour though.
I have two Dell U2410 monitors.

Thanks for any advice...

Martin

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Hi Martin,

If you google this subject you will get (Literally) half a million hits in half a second, so to you are not alone.

The two links below are a good start. The second link is Andrew Rodney's complete and detailed explanation in full geek mode on Youtube.

Happy viewing.


http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/colour_management/prints_too_dark.html

http://digitaldog.net/files/Why_are_my_prints_too_dark.mp4


rs

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Did you look to these Pro-100 printouts in bright light - sunshine or similar - are there really no details in the dark areas visible ? What are your profile settings - rendering intent - black point compensation ?

 

[CapoKees]

Hello Martin,
Maybe the brightness of your monitor is set to high, I had the same problem and after calibrating the monitor to 80 cd/sq.m the problem was solved.
With a monitor set to bright you will adjust in PhotoShop your pictures to dark and then during printing with a good printerprofile your prints will be to dark.
I am adjusting in PS my pictures in a room with almost no roomlight and now I got perfect prints out of my R3000.
Two years ago my monitor stood at 110cd /sq.m and at a good qualified printshop the most of a pile of ordered prints came out to dark which was a hard lesson for me.
Now my monitor has been calibrated at Gamma 2.2, Whitepoint 6500K and Brightness at 80.
And as mentioned allready in this thread it also depends with which light you look at the prints, in dimlight or brighter.
Hope this helps.
Kees.

 

[tom6667]

I think the best indicator as to how your prints will come out (as to brightness) is the histogram in your image editor. It doesn't care what your monitor tells you. There are many factors contributing to the apparent brightness of your monitor, like ambient light, monitor brightness, and with some laptops, the angle at which you view the screen. Just check your histogram. If you have empty space on the right, your prints will probably come out darker than you expect. Adjust exposure, contrast, highlights, whites, blacks to taste but be sure the histogram has data all the way to both sides (without clipping). If you have empty space on the left, you're not getting any black and your prints will lack contrast.

 

[martincregg]

I think the best indicator as to how your prints will come out (as to brightness) is the histogram in your image editor. It doesn't care what your monitor tells you. There are many factors contributing to the apparent brightness of your monitor, like ambient light, monitor brightness, and with some laptops, the angle at which you view the screen. Just check your histogram. If you have empty space on the right, your prints will probably come out darker than you expect. Adjust exposure, contrast, highlights, whites, blacks to taste but be sure the histogram has data all the way to both sides (without clipping). If you have empty space on the left, you're not getting any black and your prints will lack contrast.

Oh yeah - the histogram is my friend! I always set a white and black point. I go pure black in just a few small areas but back off just a tad in the whites.

 

[martincregg]

Hello Martin,
Maybe the brightness of your monitor is set to high, I had the same problem and after calibrating the monitor to 80 cd/sq.m the problem was solved.
With a monitor set to bright you will adjust in PhotoShop your pictures to dark and then during printing with a good printerprofile your prints will be to dark.
I am adjusting in PS my pictures in a room with almost no roomlight and now I got perfect prints out of my R3000.
Two years ago my monitor stood at 110cd /sq.m and at a good qualified printshop the most of a pile of ordered prints came out to dark which was a hard lesson for me.
Now my monitor has been calibrated at Gamma 2.2, Whitepoint 6500K and Brightness at 80.
And as mentioned allready in this thread it also depends with which light you look at the prints, in dimlight or brighter.
Hope this helps.
Kees.

I've calibrated as you suggest but still have to reduce my screen brightness to zero. My contrast is at 50%. Getting closer, but still a tad darker on the prints. I'm currently doing some tests using Print Studio Pro and printing from LR. Here's what I get (at least as best as I can describe):

1. Print Studio Pro (accessed through plug in extras) --> Looks great, but is dark than monitor
2. LR, color management = icc profile for Photo Paper Plus Glossy II --> Not as dark as 1 and warmer, but still darker than monitor
3. LR, manager by printer, color / intensity: Auto --> same as 2
4. LR, managed by printer, color / intensity: Manual - Matching: None --> Very close to monitor. Good color match.

I'm surprised that 4 seems to give the best results. Is that to be expected?

 

[tom6667]

Oh yeah - the histogram is my friend! I always set a white and black point. I go pure black in just a few small areas but back off just a tad in the whites.

1. Obviously you are experienced with the histogram! You know it's ok to clip a little bit, depending what part of the image is involved. Are your prints still dark, even when you set a good black point and white point? How about midrange (gamma)? Tried pushing it to the left a little? If you use Lightroom you probably know you can add a little brightness and contrast in the print module... but that would invalidate everything I just bloviated! .

 

[martincregg]

1. Obviously you are experienced with the histogram! You know it's ok to clip a little bit, depending what part of the image is involved. Are your prints still dark, even when you set a good black point and white point? How about midrange (gamma)? Tried pushing it to the left a little? If you use Lightroom you probably know you can add a little brightness and contrast in the print module... but that would invalidate everything I just bloviated! .

I do clip sometimes - depends on what kind image I'm producing.
Yep - my images are still a little dark... not much though. I think i"m dialing it in.
I am aware of the brightness control and have used that in the past, but would prefer to get it right without using a kludge.

 

[tom6667]

1. Obviously you are experienced with the histogram! You know it's ok to clip a little bit, depending what part of the image is involved. Are your prints still dark, even when you set a good black point and white point? How about midrange (gamma)? Tried pushing it to the left a little? If you use Lightroom you probably know you can add a little brightness and contrast in the print module... but that would invalidate everything I just bloviated! .

Martin, I just re-read you post. I overlooked the B&W part. In my experience, the paper you print on can have a HUGE impact on tonal range, especially with dye inks. I am a cheapskate and use Epson Premium Presentation Matte for day-to-day B&W prints, knowing full well that more expensive papers will yield much better results in the dynamic range department. What paper are you using for B&W?