Pictures printing way diffrent

[Irene K]

I was excited to print out some of my first real pictures only to get them back and have them look dark, off color and higher contrast than I wanted. I'm so annoyed! It looks like the problem could be any one of a dozen things according to my googleing. Any suggestions, tips... help?!?!

ps, please don't tell me to go buy an expensive monitor calibrator. Not an option!

[corvus2606]

Originally Posted by Irene K

I was excited to print out some of my first real pictures only to get them back and have them look dark, off color and higher contrast than I wanted. I'm so annoyed! It looks like the problem could be any one of a dozen things according to my googleing. Any suggestions, tips... help?!?!

ps, please don't tell me to go buy an expensive monitor calibrator. Not an option!

Basically calibrating your monitor frequently is the only option to be sure of the correct result. you could adjust your settings on the monitor so it resembles one of the prints you have, but it will not be as accurate as a calibrator.

sorry to say, but the expensive calibrators are expensive for a reason.

[SusanH1970]

Honestly, you do need to calibrate your monitor if you're having these issues.

There are loads of calibration hardware/software kits that are <$100. But even if that's not in the cards for you, just google "free monitor calibration". There are a few things online that will help. They're not the best, but they're better than nothing.

Hope this helps.

[BigFuzzy]

Doesn't windows have a calibration tool built in? Try that if so.
What about your monitor, does it have self calibration abilities?
If not, Sorry, but if you want your images to come out printed as you see them on your monitor, the only option is calibration. Maybe you can rent one?

Are you printing yourself or sending to a lab/shop?
If to a shop, as them for their printer settings which you can often times load into your PC (I forget the exact wording, others will correct me I'm sure).

Also, do you use RAW? What color profile do you save your jpegs as?
We need more info to help you.

[OsmosisStudios]

Depends on where you're having your images printed. Calibrating your monitor wont help you if youre not calibrating to the printer.

If you're using a lab, ask them to reprint the images without any correction (especially an autocorrect). That may help things. From there, figure out how you have to edit your images for them to look best from that printer.

Or find another printer.