Firstly is your monitor colour calibrated?
Is your monitor in a naturally lit room without fluorescent lights or other artificial light sources?
There's so many things that could be wrong here.
Check the Image's Colour Profile
Viewing them in Photoshop in the correct colour space could give you a better idea of what is going on and allow you to adjust accordingly. If your print outs look similar to what you see in Photoshop it could give you start in fixing the issues.*
Are your images currently in CMYK or RGB when placed in InDesign?
Ensure that the images you are using are in the correct CMYK colour space before importing them into InDesign. For ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI), your images should already be converted to CMYK using that profile.
If your images are in RGB, the conversion during export might darken shadows and blacks.
Open the images in Photoshop and convert them to CMYK using the same ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI) profile.
In Photoshop:
Go to Edit > Convert to Profile and choose ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI)
Adjust Rich Blacks
(See * above) Dark images can sometimes look overly dense in print due to excessive Total Ink Coverage (TIC). ISO Coated v2 300% limits TIC, but if your images contain rich blacks (e.g., 100% K plus CMY), the result may still appear too dark.
Check your images in Photoshop/InDesign/PDF
Use Info Panel/Separations Panel to ensure that blacks are within acceptable ink limits.
You might need to adjust the shadows with Curves or Levels to lighten them slightly.
Use Proper Colour Settings in InDesign
Go to Edit > Colour Settings in InDesign.
Set the Working CMYK Profile to ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI).
Check Export PDF Settings
When exporting, ensure you're using the right settings for your printer.
File > Export > Choose PDF (Print).
Under Output:
Set Destination to ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI).
Ensure Convert to Destination (Preserve Numbers) is selected.
If the printer requires PDF/X, select PDF/X-4, as it preserves colour profiles better.
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