Printing and calibration

[AlphaBjerke]

I am not happy with how my photos look when printed! Where am I going wrong?

*I don't calibrate my computer screen, so I guess I need to do that but...

*I use MPIX for printing; shouldn't their color correction people get it right mostly? My main problem is that the picture always turns out darker than I expect. I can handle the color being a tad off, but darker? I don't get it.

Has anyone had great success with a calibration system that they can whole-heartedly recommend? You know, something that changed your life?

[OsmosisStudios]

Most monitors show images lighter than they are printed. It's usually because our eyes trick us into seeing the image brighter because it's lit by the screen. On my Mac, the first thing I had to edit was the gamma setting (brightness): it was reduced from 2.2 to 1.8, which may not seem like much, but it made a huge difference in my images. It also helped with web design, but thats another story.

I try to edit my pictures to be brighter than I'd like anyway.

[redriverpaper]

Your monitor is probably too bright. Before buying monitor calibration tools, turn down the brightness on your monitor. Most likely, you will end up at 20% or less on the brightness scale. It will look weird at first but you will get used to the difference. If you have a printer at home do some testing to see if you're in the ballpark.

The next step would be to buy calibration equipment. X-Rite makes great stuff.

Ditto on the gamut adjustment mentioned above.