Printing Problems

I sent some pictures to be printed and just got them back.

They don't look near as nice as they do on my computer screen.

Is this a lab problem or do I need to do something to my digital pictures before I send them to the printers? the pics came back darker, with deeper shadows in the eyes. No such problem with my digital pics.

I am new to digital photography so not sure if there is something I have to do to compensate for this or if something is just wrong with that lab.

Well, there's a few things to think about.

1) Is your monitor calibrated? There's many calibration devices out there, as well as some free self-calibration methods.

2) Color space. Many photo printers work in sRGB color space. If you are using something different for your photo's, you might want to convert them to sRGB for printing.

3) Another issue to worry about with a lot of computer screens is viewing angle. Unless you are using a high quality display such as an IPS panel, there will be major shifts in contrast/brightness/color when you change your viewing angle by just a few degrees. This makes it really hard to accurately determine what your photo will really look like. Make sure you are viewing your screen from the ideal angle. Also ambient lighting conditions where you are viewing your screen can affect how it looks. Some calibration devices will measure ambient lighting and adjust your display accordingly.

4) When ordering prints, be on the look out for auto-correction services. Most places have it enabled by default, and it can change your photo drastically. Have your printer disable this feature for your printing.