Need help to calibrate my monitor

[OK_to_Point]

I'm sure someone here knows how to calibrate a monitor.........it's not coming easy for me though. I've recently been using Mpix for my prints. Problem is the prints come back alot darker than what I see on my screen.

So I contacted them and it was suggested I buy their calibration kit and I did. Trying to follow the directions is just about next to impossible. it just doesn't make sense at all. If I darken my screen to match the print they sent me I can barely see the screen, it's that dark.

By the way, I use CS4 and I tried opening the image and using the brightness/contrast tool, I had to lower the brightness to about -75 to somewhat match the print that was sent from Mpix.Should I just save this as an action and apply it EVERY shot I work on? Is this another way to work around this problem? I sure would appreciate any help here......thanks

Perhaps I need to be a little clearer here....I did the color calibration thing. What I need to know is how to get the ICC profile into CS4. With the Mpix PDF file they sent me it mentions a Mpix esurface – Millers_Noritsu31Pro_XP4040_mod profile. This does not show up in the choices in CS4

What in the world are they talking about? I'm sure there are many people here that use Mpix. I sure would appreciate some help here..........thanks, Dan

[CanonRebelz]

Darken your screen backlight a little bit. Also, ALWAYS remember to make your pictures brighter than you'd like them. They always come darker because the images are back lit on your screen, and, when printed, they look exactly as they would if your screen was not back lit.

[essexUK]

PLEASE NOTE I HAVE NOT USED THIS, I HAVE READ THE FOLLOWING AND THOUGHT IT MIGHT HELP YOU:

Make your screen colors more accurate

Support Alert by Ian Richards, May 15, 2008

Calibrize is a free utility that allows you to adjust your monitor to show colors (and monochrome) more accurately. It's a simple three step process that takes less than a minute. A lot of fancier programs are available, but they're geared more to the needs of photographers and pre-press publication personnel than to average users. For most folks this program is all they need. Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 1.15MB.
Calibrize

[OK_to_Point]

Thanks for getting back to me.
I've darkened the screen and ran Calibrize. Does it save these settings automatically?
I've opened the C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color folder and there is a calibrated display profile entry for today's date. I take it that's the ICC profile that I just created.

OK, so it seems it's in the right folder. Now, how do I instruct CS4 to use this profile?
And after telling CS4 to use this profile, can I go back and brighten the screen again so I can see it better when I'm not using CS4?.....thanks for your help and patience....

[OK_to_Point]

I've decided to just make my images a lot lighter before I upload them. It just seems to be the easiest way around this......thanks for your help