monitor and photos

[Guest]

I'm having a terrible time with photos! I like how the colors are on the
monitor when I open pictures, but when I print them out the colors are
different. I've tried changing the color profile of the monitor, and just
playing around with the settings but when I print out any digital photos the
colors are wayyyyy off!! How do I reset things so that the monitor and
printing of my photos are identical?

 

[John Inzer]

I'm having a terrible time with photos! I like how the colors are on
the monitor when I open pictures, but when I print them out the
colors are different. I've tried changing the color profile of the
monitor, and just playing around with the settings but when I print
out any digital photos the colors are wayyyyy off!! How do I reset
things so that the monitor and printing of my photos are identical?

=============================
The following articles offer some good
tips that may help you improve the issue.


Digital Focus: Calibrate Your Monitor
http://tinyurl.com/2gmmex

I can see clearly now: why and how
to calibrate your monitor
http://tinyurl.com/ywghes

Some video drivers include tools that can
be useful in managing your display.

For example my nVidia driver includes...
nVidia Control Panel (accessed in Control
Panel)...this tool can be used to make
several different adjustments to your display
including an optimization wizard.

A Google search for: "Calibrate Monitor" may
turn up some useful info.

--
John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Yves Alarie]

1. Do not change the color profile of your monitor. It should be set to
sRGB. It is obviously fine to calibrate your monitor but don't change its
profile.
2. We don't know the software you use to print or the printer you have.
Often people will try to set a color profile in the software they use, but
then the printer driver applies its own profile. You end up with a mess.

Try the simple things first. No profiling your monitor and no profiling in
the software you use (if such option is available) and no profiling your
printer, just select the correct type of paper appropriate for your printer
and select it when printing and see what you get.

 

[Chuck]

Try using a "standard" image, such as
http://creative.gettyimages.com/en-us/marketing/services/Getty_Images_Test_Image.jpg
Do not change the image in any way.
1. Adjust your monitor so that the picture's colors are what you would
expect them to be, and the greyscale is displayed properly.
Some monitors may not be able to properly show the darkest two or theree
shades of grey, or/and may not show a difference between the lightest grey
shades.

2. Set up your printer for printing photos, and try printing (Reduced size
is ok at this point, saves ink)
There are various controls in the printer driver that will make a difference
in what the printed photo looks like.
Usually, it's too dark. (Too much ink)
Without knowing what the printer is and what options are available, it's
hard to say much about specific adjustments.
Media(paper) settings can make a visible difference.
Printing quality will make a difference.
At this point, you should not be using profiles, unless there is some real
reason to do so, and you have software that can generate and validate them.
The standard monitor and printer are normally already more or less set to
sRGB without the use of profiles.
Some printers have profiles available for use with specific photo paper.
These may be used if they help.
The same thing is true of a monitor or OEM generic printer profile. It may
help or hurt.