Prints turned out dark, is it my monitor? How do I set my monitor for printing? Thx

[Big Mike]

One has to be loaded or have a lot of credit debt for this hobby, I tell ya!

You could take up golf.
SLDR Driver - TMaG-CA
Nike 20XI Premium Golf Ball - SportChek.ca

 

[Derrel]

A few years ago, I read an article entitled something like, "My Prints Turned Out Too Dark," in which the author went through dozens of problems that cause prints that are too dark, using internet search results as examples of problem areas. So...just for giggles, today I typed in the search string "prints turned out too dark", and Google fired back with 74,000,000 results. Seventy-four million results! Sheesh!

 

[vintagesnaps]

I shoot film too... using a digital camera I found I had to get used to the viewscreen being lighted, and try to keep that in mind and use my meter to make sure I'm getting a proper exposure. I can often print what I got in camera without doing any post processing (unless you count taking the media card out of the camera and putting it in the computer) if I was shooting in decent light and got a decent exposure; usually my photos look the same on my monitor and printed. (As others said, it must be your monitor.) Sometimes my photos might be slightly darker, and at most I might have to adjust the brightness and contrast, depending on the existing light I was shooting in; if it was in lower light I usually have to do more to adjust.

Runnah thinks he's getting invaded by Canadians in a flying Zamboni (and flying stealth canoes), that might be why he's driving so fast.

Big Mike - great avatar!

 

[KmH]

Greens fees to play 18 holes at Pebble Beach are only $495 (+ cart) per person.

 

[CherylL]

There are many previous threads with lots of recommendations.

I believe that a common recommendation is one of the Dell Ultrasharp IPS screens.
I bought a Viewsonic 27" IPS display for around $325 CDN.

Can you set the color temp with the Viewsonic? A new monitor is on my wish list.

I've also googled "prints too dark" and a common problem. My monitor is calibrated, but a TN display. I rarely print out photos, but when I do they are too dark. The ones from Walgreens were too dark and too much contrast with the faces washed out and harsh. Did a few test prints at a local camera store that does inhouse printing. The overall color & skin color was much better, but still too dark. I've recalibrated my monitor and went with a lower target. The screen view is now a tad darker. My next step is to test a few photos by raising the exposure slightly in ACR. Any other suggestions? Thanks.

 

[KmH]

You can get a pretty close approximation of how your prints will turn out by 'soft-proofing'.

In Practice

• How to Calibrate Your Monitor for Photography
• Soft Proofing: Matching On-Screen Photos with Prints
• Working Space Comparison: sRGB vs. Adobe RGB 1998