Printing Issues.... To Dark

[Guy]

I'm not sure what changed since I got my new Samsung 226BW monitor up and running but something real fishy has happened. Regardless of what I print everything is coming out to dark. It doesn't remotely resemble what I'm seeing on my screen. Here are some hardware / software details.....

Primary printer - HP Photosmart 8250
Secondary printer - HP Deskjet 960c

Editing software - Corel PSP XI
In color mgmt. I have determined that the best profile at the time being for both the printers & PSP is sRGBIEC61966-2.1. They seem to get the closest but still to dark.

It the control panel I have the profile for the printer(s) set at... sRGB Color Space Profile. Once again, that seems to be the closest but still to dark.

It also prints to dark if I use XP's Printing Wizard direct from within a folder.

I have tried every profile that is showing as being available.

Until today I had been using a Spyder to calibrate my monitor but I have removed that program until I solve my problem. The pic's printed to dark with it installed as well. Should I reinstall it and select the profile it creates for use by my printers as well as PSP?

If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate hearing them.
Thanks in advance.
Guy

Here is an example.... Not exact but you'll get the idea.

Original shot looks quite pleasing to the eyes on the monitor.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/8952/originalix7.jpg

This is what will come out of the printer. I could have darkened this example up even more.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/593/darkenedry0.jpg

[Rudi]

Hello Guy,

I've found that the new LCD panels are too bright by default. When I had my old Samsung 191T, I was only running it at about 20% brightness, and my current 24" Dell is running a 0% brightness!

But first things first - you don't have Adobe Photoshop or Elements installed have you? If so, before calibration you need to uninstall or delete anything to do with Adobe Gamma (their own calibration utility).

Then I would install your Spyder software again, and calibrate. One thing you should pay attention to is the luminance setting (IIRC). For CRTs they recommend a setting between 85-95 for best results, yet there is no note about that when calibrating LCDs! I've found that if I leave the contrast setting at 50% (default), and turn the brightness all the way down, I am getting close to the same luminance setting that was recommended for CRTs (and my photos look good, too :D). I know that they tell you to reset the LCD to factory defaults before calibration, but they are just too bright by default!

Try the calibration again, and pay attention to your luminance settings, and get them as close as you can to the recommended range (85-95). You might not be able to get below a hundred, but at least your calibration will be closer to what it should be. Then your prints should start looking closer to what you're seeing on your screen. (Note that they may never look exactly the same, unless you have a way of calibrating your printer as well as your monitor, but the above steps should take you in the right direction. This is what works for me, so I hope it will work for you, too. Let us know how you get along. :))

Hope this helps...

[Guy]

Thanks Rudi. I did view the default monitor setting and turned down the brightness this afternoon. It was set at 100. I turned it down to 50 and it seems to be better. Contrast is set at 53 and that helped as well. I'm going to try the rest of your suggestions tomorrow when I'm fresh. I've been doing battle with this thing the better part of the day. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Rudi]

Good luck! :)

[Guy]

Rudi I just wanted to let you know that I have been working on this and might have it where it needs to be. I wanted to post a few pics to get your opinion from your end but ImageShack is not cooperating right now. I'll try and put 'em up this evening. I'm curious how they view from your side of the fence. ie: brightness, contrast etc.

What a fight I tell ya.

[Guy]

I think all is ok at my end but just out of curiosity how do these shots look from your end as far as brightness, contrast and color are concerned? I don't think I have my printing issue resolved yet but it's getting closer.

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/9735/mission64ud7.jpg

http://img456.imageshack.us/img456/6021/mission85ll3.jpg

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2051/mission92xq2.jpg

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/6002/mission94lu9.jpg

[Rudi]

They look good from here, Guy! :)

[Keith]

Look good................

I bought Cathys profiles to profile my printer, worth every penny. i do calibrate my lcd/crt wiht a eye one, but had the same issue as you until I profiled my printer with the specific paper I use. Best $40 i ever spent!

[Guy]

Look good................

I bought Cathys profiles to profile my printer, worth every penny. i do calibrate my lcd/crt wiht a eye one, but had the same issue as you until I profiled my printer with the specific paper I use. Best $40 i ever spent!

Thanks guys. Keith could you do me a favor and point me in the right direction with a link. I really want to solve this issue once and for all.

[Guy]

Thanks guys. Keith could you do me a favor and point me in the right direction with a link. I really want to solve this issue once and for all.

Skip it. I found her site. I wish she took Visa. Never the less I'm going to get it done. Thanks for the lead Keith.

In case anyone else is interested here is her site.........................
http://www.cathysprofiles.com/info/faq.htm

[Keith]

i dont think you will be disappointed. Qimage works well with ICC profiles for printing as well. I believe she takes paypal hence Visa ;)

Skip it. I found her site. I wish she took Visa. Never the less I'm going to get it done. Thanks for the lead Keith.

In case anyone else is interested here is her site.........................
http://www.cathysprofiles.com/info/faq.htm

[Guy]

i dont think you will be disappointed. Qimage works well with ICC profiles for printing as well. I believe she takes paypal hence Visa ;)

Her instructions are written for Photoshop products and I use Corel PSP XI. I don't know if they apply to my app so I've e-mailed her. Let's see if I get a reply.

I'm to stubborn to use Paypal so a M/O will have to do when it's time.