histogram to aid in print function

1andyw

My print copy is usually darker than the sreen image. I currently just lighten the img and try again. Can I use the histogram to measure my adjustments?

AndyW

jfriend

Probably a calibration issue

1andyw wrote:

My print copy is usually darker than the sreen image. I currently just lighten the img and try again. Can I use the histogram to measure my adjustments?

AndyW

If screen and printer don't match in brightness, this is usually a calibration issue. The most likely cause would be that your screen is not properly calibrated (e.g. showing things too light). There could also be printer calibration issues. For example, if your print driver doesn't properly know the profile of the paper it's printing on, that can cause undesirable variations in the printed output. If you print driver lets you select what type of paper you are printing on, make sure that you select that properly.

I would suggest that you start with calibrating your screen. If you have any recent version of Photoshop, the simplest step would be to use Adobe Gamma to do a rough screen calibration. Ultimately, if you really want to control this, you will want to buy one of the screen calibration devices (I own Gretag MacBeth Eye One).