Prints Too Dark

[ColColt]

I seem to be having an ongoing problem getting prints that look like the ones I view on my monitor(which has been calibrated with Spyder 3 Elite) . I've tried soft proofing using the labs profile they sent and while the colors look as good as it gets, the main problem is the density. Nearly everyone comes back a bit too dark. I've talked with them via email and they tell me I'm trying to make something difficult out of it when all I'm doing is requesting the prints be light enough and be in close proximity to what I saw in the viewfinder when I took the picture and what it looks like in Capture NX2. I shoot in RAW and then convert to jpg for internet purposes. They use the same color space (Adobe RGB) as I do.

I've sent them files for 8x10's not even using their profile and no soft proofing just to see how they would work out and they still come back too dark. This has been a great lab in the past when I use to send them negatives but one of us is missing the mark when it comes to digital files. I've had better luck at Walgreen's Pharmacy than with a professional lab! Any ideas or suggestions?

[caleb]

Curves or lower your monitors brightness or get your prints done at Walgreen's?

[Canyon Hiker]

I have been haveing the same problum with the lab I am useing. The good thing is they offer full color correction including brightness and contrast, but it cost more. This is what they did for me. They had me send them 5-8x10's. They printed them with no color correction and mailed them back to me. When I got the prints back they told me to hold them up to my monitor and adjust the brightness level on my monitor to match the prints. I ended up turning the brightness level from 100 to 5, and my contrast is at 98. I then brightened the pictures in photoshop. I am now waiting for a test print I sent them to see if it actually worked or not.
Good luck, I know this has been a very frustrating process for myself.

Darin

[ColColt]

What this lab does is give you the option of doing your prints "Copy by You" or "Color by CPQ". The latter cost more and I know more about what the colors are suppose to look like after sending in five evaluation prints to them and that's why I decided to go with the "Color by You". the colors as stated, are fine-it's just the brightness. I lowered the brightness level, recalibrated the monitor and sent in another batch of test shots. Three out of five were too dark. This was all done with soft proofing using their profile.

The two 11x14's I sent to them this past week and received yesterday were done without any soft proofing at all and they still came back a bit too dark...most frustrating.