Always dark prints from printing labs

[Sparc]

This is really frustrating me. Firstly some background - I am processing images from RAW in Aperture and Photoshop. I use AdobeRGB 1998 colour space and do all my adjustments on a calbirated monitor (calibrated using Huey Pro). My home prints on premium photographic paper look great.

I have used a couple of print labs now but each time I receive my prints they are considerably darker than my on screen proofs and even my home prints. The last lab I used was Photobox but again the images came back seemingly 0.5 to 0.75 under exposed.

Can anyone either recommend a good print lab or give me some guidance on what I might be doing wrong?

Thanks

[ohenry]

Hard to know for sure, but the most likely cause of this is an overly bright monitor. I'm not familiar with how Huey handles brightness, but this is the area where I would start looking

[swampler]

How are you exporting the photos the lab does? You need to make sure you use the same color profile the lab uses. You may also have to tell them NOT to make any color / exposure adjustments.

[Sparc]

Originally Posted by ohenry

Hard to know for sure, but the most likely cause of this is an overly bright monitor. I'm not familiar with how Huey handles brightness, but this is the area where I would start looking

Wouldn't that also affect my home prints though? I mean those are looking as close as I think I'm going to get.

Originally Posted by swampler

How are you exporting the photos the lab does? You need to make sure you use the same color profile the lab uses. You may also have to tell them NOT to make any color / exposure adjustments.

Well I'm sure the lab did say they supported AdobeRGB1998, but perhaps I should convert them to sRGB - is that the safest bet? I didn't know I could tell the lab not to make any adjustments, that's something I will do!

What labs are other's using? Anyone else used Photobox and got accurate prints?

Thanks for the replies

[swampler]

Originally Posted by Sparc

I didn't know I could tell the lab not to make any adjustments, that's something I will do!

I don't know about Photobox, but Shutterfly, for example lets you do that. Also, Smugmug has an "auto" tone or "as is" tone option when printing. I always use sRGB with them, but haven't tried anything else.

Some labs, like WHCC I believe, lets you do full color management and gives you an icc profile for your system to make sure everything matches when they're printed.

It's all up to the lab.

[ohenry]

Originally Posted by Sparc

Wouldn't that also affect my home prints though? I mean those are looking as close as I think I'm going to get.

Yes, it would.

I'm not familiar with the company you used. One thing I do before sending a print off to any company is to get a copy of their profile so that I can do some soft proofing. Regarding color space, sRGB is usually a safe choice, but not necessarily the best choice. Keeping within the guidelines of what the printer requests is necessary, however. Incorrect color spaces typically will result in muted and flat colors more so than a brightness issue.

I like WHCC for printing.

[swampler]

I found this help page on Photobox you might want to read. If you're not in the UK and this isn't the right Photobox, you can look for a similar page on the site you use.

Technical Information | Photobox - Photobox

[Sparc]

Originally Posted by swampler

I found this help page on Photobox you might want to read. If you're not in the UK and this isn't the right Photobox, you can look for a similar page on the site you use.

Technical Information | Photobox - Photobox

Thank you! (Yes I'm UK based)

What the heck does this mean

Profile support

Please bear in mind that if you supply the same image for printing posters and smaller prints, with an embedded profile you're likely to notice a difference in the printing. This is due to the profile being used in the posters but not the smaller prints.


To avoid this problem, some photographers choose to paste their smaller images onto a larger canvas, in order to have them printed on the Polieletronica, and then just trim them to size. This ensures all their prints take full advantage of the profile handling capabilities of our large format printers

That sounds like they completely ignore profiles on small prints - that's ridiculous. I wonder if I have to pay more if I follow their suggestion?

Anyway, thanks for that link!

[Tixeon]

Originally Posted by Sparc

Thank you! (Yes I'm UK based)

What the heck does this mean That sounds like they completely ignore profiles on small prints - that's ridiculous. I wonder if I have to pay more if I follow their suggestion?

Different sizes (when there's a great difference) are printed on different dedicated printers & it sounds like the lab does not color match between printers.

[Sparc]

Originally Posted by Tixeon

Different sizes (when there's a great difference) are printed on different dedicated printers & it sounds like the lab does not color match between printers.

Yup. Looks that way. Looks like I'll have to find another print lab. Anyone tried RGB Technology Lab?

[DavidGregg]

I just got some prints back from a lab as well. They are darker than my screen and home printer. Have you had a chance to try a different lab? Curious if that solved your problems.

[Sparc]

Loxley Colour and RGB-Tech both did pretty good jobs. If you mark your prints as test prints they'll do the first set for free so you can compare. Use Loxley Colour's ROES tool and make a note in the comments of the order and they'll refund you the cost. They'll also do one as Colour Corrected and one without so you can do the comparison. Make sure your colour space is sRGB in the image files you submit (to both)