Help with monitor brightness

[navcom]

I've been experiencing some issues trying to get my monitor calibrated properly. I use White House Custom Color for my print vendor and they have always done a fantastic job. I've noticed recently (or just became aware) that some prints are coming back underexposed. They appear properly exposed on my monitor but the prints are about 1 stop under.

I calibrate my monitor using a Spyder2 device. Color rendition is spot on between monitor and print...it's just the exposure that is off. To verify it wasn't the vendor's printer, I sent off for a set of five prints of the same photo...all 1/3 of a stop apart from each other. The one that is 1 stop over-exposed on my monitor is the one that is coming back perfect from WH...thus confirming that my monitor is making me post-process 1 stop under.

I've calibrated several times but cannot get it fixed. My colors are perfect, just exposed wrong. I've dimmed the brightness of the monitor (LCD) to the point where it resembles my print's exposure but the screen is so dark it's not practical to work at. My office is not brightly lit and faces north with no direct sunlight entering the room. I usually work when it's dark outside anyhow. The lighting is not any brighter than the monitor.

My web posted pictures usually seem ok (for the most part). My Flickr and Pentax Photo Gallery link are below. Are my photos here all 1-stop too dark on your monitor? They appear fine on my monitor. Could it be the files I'm sending to the printing vendor? They tell me my files are properly coded with a profile. Is there a way to embed a compensation when sending them for printing?

Help! I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. I'm certainly no expert at this. Does anybody have any idea what I need to do? Is there a calibration setting I can set in Photoshop CS4 and/or Lightroom 2 that can compensate?? I'm not sure what else to do.

[wulf]

Anybody got any ideas on this?

Wulf

[navcom]

Thanks Wulf! Actually, I think I've solved this...sort of. I believe my files were double profiled when I sent them to the print supplier. That coupled with a possibly faulty monitor calibrator that is not calibrating brightness properly.

Thanks a ton though!

[Pixelmadness]

Sometimes the print suppliers have to profile their machine every 6 months so you might want to make sure you have the newest profile that the lab has supplied. I would contact the lab to see how often the have to profile their machine and how often the to paper set ups.

[navcom]

They have updated profiles. I spent two weeks on and off the phone with them as well as some other suppliers. My usual supplier was excellent to work with and took tons of time to help in any way they could. It was obviously a problem on my end as I was also getting back prints from another supplier having the same problem. I tried several different profiles and was getting the same problem. Once we figured out the double profiling bit, it seems to have tamed it down to a manageable level that can be fixed with a better monitor calibration.

Thanks!

[Pixelmadness]

Originally Posted by navcom

They have updated profiles. I spent two weeks on and off the phone with them as well as some other suppliers. My usual supplier was excellent to work with and took tons of time to help in any way they could. It was obviously a problem on my end as I was also getting back prints from another supplier having the same problem. I tried several different profiles and was getting the same problem. Once we figured out the double profiling bit, it seems to have tamed it down to a manageable level that can be fixed with a better monitor calibration.

Thanks!

ok if you have any more questions you can shoo them my way. I run a photo lab and deal a lot with printing and color space.

[navcom]

Cool! Thanks! I might just do that.