Prints way too dark.

[toreo32775237]

My prints are coming out way too dark, on Epson Glossy, Matte or Luster.  I printed a test piece with my Epson R200 printer and it was just as dark as the print from the Epson Artisan 1430. Any suggestions are welcomed.

[D Fosse]

If your prints are too dark, your monitor is too bright.

You need to calibrate your monitor so that monitor white is a visual match to paper white. You need to look at the screen and see paper white.

Your perception is affected by your whole working environment, so no standard numbers can be given. However, in most "normal" situations a monitor brightness of 110-120 cd/m² should work well. But basically this is a purely visual process. If it looks right, it is right.

There's more, but this is the crucial starting point and it will get you about 90% there.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

I would create a color test sheet in Photoshop using flat colors - CMYK, RGB and then some grayscale gradients. Then print the same way you are now and see how the results are.

Assuming you are printing via Photoshop - have you tried changing your Color Management settings?

There can be a big difference in having Photoshop manage colors vs Printer manage colors.

[Bob_Hallam]

As D Fosse said, profile your display.  It's probably too bright.  Use the proper printer profile for your printer/paper combination in Photoshop.  If it's a CMYK printer, make sure you do a command/control +Y to view your image through that profile.  

[dianeg56333632]

I'm having a same problem with dark prints.   

If I print a jpeg photo from Photoshop to my Epson p800 or my Canon Pro9000, both prints are too dark. 

If I print to the same photo from Windows, the prints are perfect.  So I'm thinking it can't be the screen calibration or a printer issue. It seems it's in a Photoshop setting, which are all the default settings.  I've tried printing on Epson Premium Luster and Canon paper and it's the same on both.

I'm flumoxed here.

[NB, colourmanagement]

dianeg: "I'm having a same problem with dark prints.   

If I print a jpeg photo from Photoshop to my Epson p800 or my Canon Pro9000, both prints are too dark. 

If I print to the same photo from Windows, the prints are perfect."

It's the exact same image, right? printed on both systems? You've not adjusted tah appearance on either?

To rule out any issues with the image why not download this test-image CMnet Pixl AdobeRGB testimage -(which is free for non commercial use) - and try testing that on both?

I feel that Photoshop cannot be the culprit (there are millions of users not reporting this issue)

Just be sure on your own installation it's perhaps worth trying this: 

Reset the preferences in Photoshop: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

Note: Make sure that you back up all your custom presets, brushes & actions before restoring Photoshop's preferences. Migrate presets, actions, and settings

I feel it's very likely down to something in Photoshop's print options such as how color is managed - or in the printer driver software options such as media choice etc.

You'd need to ensure everything is identical between the two platforms

Moreover - you don't tell us whether you use "Photoshop manages color" or "printer manages color"?

IF you use "Photoshop manages color" then, of course, the selected ICC profile will affect output appearance. If you are using Canon and Epson supplied profiles be carful to select the profile with the exact media name etc. 

I hope this helps

neil barstow, colourmanagement.net :: adobe forum volunteer

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