Beginner's question (probably stupid)

[RobinFaichney]

I'm very new to all this, and it's probably a stupid question, but:

I've made just two prints from LR 4.1, using different printers, and both have come out much darker than I was expecting, so what's the most likely reason for that?

A little more detail: one image was RAW (Canon), the other a jpeg I downloaded from the web. I'm using an iMac, OS X 10.8, and an Epson SP 9900 printer. For the jpeg I had the correct printer/paper profile, but the RAW image print was before I got the iMac and 9900 and was on a Stylus Photo R300 using printer colour management from a Windows laptop. I've calibrated the iMac screen using ColorMunki.

I'm getting my expectations from what I see on screen in Develop and Print modules, I haven't yet tried soft proofing, partly because I expect to be relying on hard proofing in the long term. Is that the problem, or do I just have to get used to allowing for the difference between screen and print?

(I'd have done more experimenting before posting like this but I'm very low on both ink and paper right now and impatient to know what's going on.)

[howardm]

Some background info..........

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/why_are_my_prints_too_dark.shtml

[RobinFaichney]

Thanks very much, exactly what I need, should just have googled "why are my prints too dark"!

[neile]

Here's my blog posts on the same topic:

http://www.danecreek.com/blog/2010/02/17/monitor-brightness-and-dark-prints.html
http://www.danecreek.com/blog/2010/05/10/monitor-brightness-and-dark-prints-part-2.html

Neil

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I had a lot of issues with prints coming out to dark. I adjusted down my monitor to 90 cd/m^2 (I think), and I sometimes use soft proof in LR. Now I'm quite confident printing from Lightroom.

The other issue is that you need use either color managed by printer and no profile in LR or a correct printer profile in LR and "no color adjustment" in the printer. You need also to use the same settings that were used to generate the profile.

Printing setup presumes that you will display your images in bright light (around 500 Lux?), prints will be more muddy under low light.

Try to check out your prints in good illumination. Sometimes I have seen boring prints come to live under good light.

Best regards
Erik

[James R]

It all begins with a properly calibrated monitor.  I calibrate every month or so, and use soft-proofing.

[Tony Jay]

I had a lot of issues with prints coming out to dark. I adjusted down my monitor to 90 cd/m2  (I think), and I sometimes use soft proof in LR. Now I'm quite confident printing from Lightroom....

It all begins with a properly calibrated monitor.  I calibrate every month or so, and use soft-proofing....

Spot on.

Regards

Tony Jay

[wolfnowl]

Good answers, and remember, Robin: the only stupid question is the unasked one.  BTW, since you're using LR 4.1, you CAN use the 'Print Adjustments' tool at the bottom of the right panel.  It's a bit like using a club instead of a tack hammer, and certainly doesn't replace calibration/ softproofing but it can do in a pinch.

Mike.