Problems with Printed Images (from Photobox) - Darkness

[Ginger1880]

Hiya,

I am having a bit of a problem

I have been using Photobox to print out my images

I previously complained to them about how dark my images came back, they re-printed them without using their enhancement programme and they still came back quite dark compared to how they look on my screen

At that point I tried to calibrate my monitor using a photo they send you to match your monitor to

I have also tried calibrating my monitor from articles on the web, Ithought my monitor was ok (it is not the best monitor - I got it with my computer a good few years ago)

The last lot of prints I got I brightened quite abit before ordering them and they came back reasonably ok

On Thursday night I decided to order a batch of prints to be mounted to try and sell, which I again brightened before ordering in the hope they would come back looking good

They arrived yesterday and I am not particularly happy with them - they are really dark!!

I am going to go to tesco and get one print printed, now I know they are not the best, but I just want to see if the image will come back as dark

Has anyone else had this problem?

Kx

[Fen]

Hi Ginger,

The only time i ever had dark prints come back was when I uploaded the wrong colour profile.

The files were AdobeRGB instead of sRGB. Can you double check your files?

The other thing... Unless your using something other than your eye for calibrating a monitor you'll never get it totally correct.

I don't know if your a member of a camera club, or have a friend that has a calibrating tool... perhaps you could borrow one?

[Ginger1880]

How do I check my files?

I am a member of a camera club and I was just wondering if anyone would have a calibration tool that i could borrow

I have searched on google and dark prints does seem to be a problem with Photobox

Kx

[Fen]

How do I check my files?

What software are you using?

In Photoshop (probably similar in Elements) you can view what profile the file is by selecting:
Edit > Convert to Profile

That will open a window and show you what profile the image is and what you can convert it to.

I am a member of a camera club and I was just wondering if anyone would have a calibration tool that i could borrow

I'm sure they will

I have searched on google and dark prints does seem to be a problem with Photobox

I've known a couple of people have the problem, but it's always been down to wrong profile.

[Ginger1880]

It appears to use sRGB, whats the difference between sRGB and adobe RGB?

I use Elements 7

Kx

[xp1]

The sRGB profile is used for viewing on the web. Adobe1998 is used for printing with inkjets. sRGB is useless for printing so you need to change your profile as explained by Fen.