Very dark prints -

[Tobisch]

On my ET-4700 I get very dark prints - and it is wether I print from photoshop or Macs picture wiever - so in order to get my finakl print to look like the portrait to the right I need to make it as light as the photos on the left, Anyone with an idea?

 

[member 17632]

Do you have contrast or intensity modified in the printers print settings?

 

[Tony4597]

If your display is too bright then it is common to see dark prints.

Do your prints still look too dark when you take them into another room or outside under good lighting?

Do you calibrate and profile your display using an instrument?

 

[Tobisch]

Do you have contrast or intensity modified in the printers print settings?

I dont think my printer has the option that i on the printer itself can adjust contrast and density, this is all done in the software of my Mac....

 

[Tobisch]

If your display is too bright then it is common to see dark prints.

Do your prints still look too dark when you take them into another room or outside under good lighting?

Do you calibrate and profile your display using an instrument?

Hi Tony, I am a pro photographer, and all is under control, except the printer prints way to dark, if i print out in town all is fine.....

 

[Tony4597]

Hi Tony, I am a pro photographer, and all is under control, except the printer prints way to dark, if i print out in town all is fine.....

Hi Tobisch

Just to make sure we understand could you confirm the following please:

“all under control” suggests that you have calibrated your monitor to a standard e.g 110 cd/m2, D65, gamma 2.2 with an XRite or other puck is that correct?

And you are also illuminating your print with its own dedicated light matching the monitors luminance?

Yet when others print your images they turn out just fine?

What happens when you print a test image e.g. http://www.pixl.dk/download/ by bringing into photoshop select correct paper profile and regardless of how it appears make no edit alterations just press the print button?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Please review the comments here by Keith Maxwell

https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/site-search-page/?q=prints too dark

It is a typical problem that prints are not too dark but the monitor for image editing is set too bright, please comment to the recommendations above

 

[Tobisch]

Hi Tobisch

Just to make sure we understand could you confirm the following please:

“all under control” suggests that you have calibrated your monitor to a standard e.g 110 cd/m2, D65, gamma 2.2 with an XRite or other puck is that correct?

And you are also illuminating your print with its own dedicated light matching the monitors luminance?

Yet when others print your images they turn out just fine?

What happens when you print a test image e.g. http://www.pixl.dk/download/ by bringing into photoshop select correct paper profile and regardless of how it appears make no edit alterations just press the print button?

Hi Tony, good idea with the Pixel print, I can now se that this print is also printed dark on my printer, .... it does not look so bad, but again i need to give my photo levels numbers 0-1,7-255 before it gets god, this is quite light, 3-4 F-stops....

And yes to the above, I have Xrite and calibrated daylight installed in the room that i use for PS

 

[Tony4597]

The Pixl and indeed other dedicated printer test prints do not require any adjustment in editing software and should print out correctly if the print driver settings are correct for paper type and the correct and good ICC paper profile is selected.

It is not really clear what you mean by photo level numbers 0-1, 7-255, but I would not try and judge brightness in f/stops using either levels or curves in PS.

As to the calibration of your monitor again not quite clear what your calibration points are but my assumption is that you are editing in PS in a room with natural daylight from a window

The photo attachments of the Pixl Test image do not appear too dark so am I correct in assuming that these are done after you have made edits to brighness in PS. Note: I am making a BIG assumption that what you show in these photos is close to what you saw at the time of image viewing and printing and is represented well on the screen?

So based on the information you have supplied so far I can only suggest some things to check (my first guess is that something is not set correctly in printer dialogue):

1. Make sure that you select the correct options in your print dialogue in PS. If PS manages colour then make sure in the printer dialogue colour management turned off
If Printer manages colour make sure that colour management selections are correct. You may wish to try both methods.

2. Double check that you are selecting the correct paper type, glossy, matt etc in the print dialogue and the correct paper profile. If you are sure this is the case what happens if you print on a different paper using its dedicated profile

I have no experience of the ET 4700, however it is not a dedicated photo printer and as such it may need some manual intervention of the driver settings of which I am not familiar. Most inkjet printers of the last few years should be able to produce perfectly acceptable photo quality prints

 

[Tobisch]

Thank you for reply, here are two prints, top one is with adjustment in PS, the bottom is the original without adjustment.... the difference are not so big but when I print my own pictures the difference is a lot more.....

"PS manages colour then make sure in the printer dialogue colour management turned off" if i set PS to manage colours then my printdialog box is greyed out, so there is nothing to adjust as far as I can se?

"Double check that you are selecting the correct paper type, glossy, matt etc in the print dialogue and the correct paper profile. If you are sure this is the case what happens if you print on a different paper using its dedicated profile" I choose the paper I use, photo paper glossy - in the old days I would download a file from Pixl that was specific for my "Epson photo glossy" paper, but this type of profile is no longer available as i can tell?

"So based on the information you have supplied so far I can only suggest some things to check (my first guess is that something is not set correctly in printer dialogue):"" I agree, but what can i be, i feel I have tried all options and in different combinations....

Br. Ernst

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