Prints dull and dark

Hello, I have a awful trouble printing photos which was not an issue few months ago. Everything was fine untill my system found a drivers and all went bad from there. I recently switched to win 8 (now 10) and as i could not find a driver for new system i installed drivers from other model and it was working perfect.But few weeks ago for some reasons my windows found a drivers for my phtosmart 8750 and since then my photos are nothing like what i have on my screen. They are dark, cold and not vivid. I have tried every colour profile in my pc and nothing is changing. I lost tones of ink and paper (ink that for some reason has been discontinued!) and i am left cluelees - cant find anything to fix this or at least improve a bit... I would appreciate any help Many Thanks Michael

Hi , I see that you are having issues printing properly now on the Windows 10. I would like to help you. Since Windows 10 is still in Beta, the HP drivers won't be available until the full release. You can always do a system restore back to before this issue started. How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC.Select Restore your PC to an earlier point in time. If you are still having issues, I would suggest to try a Generic driver. Go to the start up screen. (tiles menu)Type in "Devices and Printers", select settings, click on Devices and Printers.Click on Add Printer and follow the steps.Select the HP Photosmart PCL3 Class Driver from the list.If you appreciate my efforts, please click the 'Thumbs up' button below. Thank You.

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Printing - grey and dark

I have been attempting to print out of aperture and seem to suffer the same problem each time. The printouts look almost grey scale. I know this has be aperture and not my system, becasue if I print the same image from iphoto, or photoprint the image is printed with perfect color. I'm using a canon i4300 pixma printer and have used the standard settings. I have also tried changing the colorsync profiles to canon ip4300 pri / mp2 /sp but I still get a greyed looking image. Any suggestions?

It is possible that you have inadvertently enabled color management for both the printer and Aperture. If you have done that, they will fight each other and wreck your color.
Try this: While you are in the Aperture print dialog, go to the Colorsync Profile box and make sure that instead of "System Managed" you select the exact profile for the paper you are using. (PR1 for photo paper pro, etc). Check out the Canon website for the names of the profiles that correspond to your paper.
Then, click the printer settings box. Your printer dialog box will open. Go to paper type/quality and select the exact paper you are printing with. Under color management, make sure it is turned OFF. This is the key thing, as this way you won't be trying to have the printer manage color as well as having Aperture manage the color.
Now return to the Aperture print box and do your other settings. Make sure black point compensation is selected. Pick your size, etc., and print away.
Of course you should also be using only Canon paper. In my experience this is the only way to get predictable results.
Now if you have already been doing all of this and still get wierd results -- well then, never mind what I just said!

Hp laserjet 1320 prints to light with a new 49 x cartridge. old cartridge prints fine and dark.

I bought a brand new 49x cartridge and it prints to light. I put my old cartridge and it prints dark.
Any hint on what the problem could be?

I am sorry, but to get your issue more exposure I would suggest posting it in the commercial forums since this is a commercial printer. You can do this at http://h30499.www3.hp.com/hpeb/
I hope this helps.
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!
Gemini02
I work on behalf of HP

Dull and pale printed photos

I've just started to use an Epson Stylus Photo R2000 printer.
But first trials are really disappointment.
Colors are looking so dull and pale and a little bit dark.
I use Epson Photo Paper Glossy and the appropriate profile in LR color management with perceptual rendering intent, and no print adjustment.
I installed the latest printer driver and I deactivated printer color management.
I would like to hear your advises for better and more vivid colors on my photos.
Thanks.

HI Beans,
Try this - In Print Dialog Box ,under "More option>Color Management" choose "Color handling as printer manages colors" . After doing this match the
preview you see in print dialog box and the actual print. After you have choosed this option , your print will be same as the preview in the
print dialog box.
Make sure before doing this do upgrade and install your printer drivers so that PSE has the latest information of your printer profile.
Thanks,
27Prac

HP z6100 Photo prints are too dark and magenta density is too high, etc...

Hi,
Here's the problem. I am having digital portrait photos printed at 20" by 26" in. for wall displays on an HP Z6100 designjet using universal adhesive vinyl. The test prints came back dark and with strongly pronounced magenta and red in the skin tones. I have a few questions that I hope you can help me with:
1. Is universal vinyl really the best print medium for this or would some photographic paper like luster or matte yield better results?
2. I am not in control of the printing process itself, but would providing the ICC profile for the printer/paper combination make a difference in correcting this issue?
3. The images are jpegs and the color space is sRGB. Should I convert them to CMYK for better results?
4. Any other suggestions please.
Thanks for any help.
Troy-B

Hello Troy-B
The product you have is a commercial printer. I suggest posting in the HP Business Support forum for a better chance at finding a solution.
You may find the Commercial Designjet board here.
http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Printers-Designjet-Large-Format/bd-p/bsc-414
Don't forgot to say thanks by giving "Kudos" to those that help solve your problems.
When a solution is found please mark the post that solves your issue.

Colours too rich and dark when printing

Hello!
I am having slight problems printing photos in iPhoto. The photos look great on my laptop: PowerBook G4 (OS 10.4.7), iPhoto 6.0.4 (305). The printer is a new Canon Pixma MP 500 (bought because of good reviews for photo printing.)
When printed the photos are too rich in colour and slightly dark. I am using Kodak Glossy Picture Paper for Inkjet Prints.
The settings in iPhoto for printing are:
Paper: A4,
Style: Standard Prints
Advanced: (main settings)
Colour Conversion: Standard
Quartz Filter: None
Media Type: Glossy Photo Paper
Print Mode: Printing a top-quality photo
Color Correction : None
Print Type: Photo
Brightness : Normal
Color Balance and Intensity all 0
Vivid Photo is unticked
All advice gratefully received!
Alastair Turnbull
Scotland

You might calibrate your monitor in the Color section of the Displays preference pane. Set the Gamma to the 2.2 setting. Then try editing a photo to the level you want and print. The darker 2.2 will force you to lighten the exposure in iPhoto to what looks good to you and may more closely be represented in print to what you want.
Do you Twango?

Epson R300 prints photos very dark and oversaturated

My Epson R300 recently began printing photos much darker and heavily saturated relative to what I see on my monitor. It seems to print ok directly from a CompactFlash. Photos I printed in the past no longer print good. I tried different programs (iPhoto and Photoshop) and print settings. I replaced all cartridges and reset the driver using Print Setup Utility. Any idea what I can try? Thanks.

Have you checked that the ColorSync profiles are OK,
and have not been changed? Use the ColorSync Utility
to check them.
This appears to be a printer problem and not a setup issue. The printer worked good for nearly 2 years. The color isn't just a little off. All colors are very dark like too much ink is being delivered to the paper.
There is a definite red cast to whites in photos. Printing directly from a CF card (bypassing my computer) shows the same problem. I deleted and reinstalled the drivers. Tried all of the various settings. With/without Colorsync, printer color vs photoshop color. Tried iPhoto vs Preview vs Photoshop. Epson Print vs Gimp Print. Replaced all cartiridges. Used different paper types (Glossy Photo, Matte). Very frustrating!
Is 2 years the lifetime of an inkjet printer?

Photoshop, Epson 7880 and Dark Prints

I use Photoshop exclusively for printing to my Epson 7880. Recently upgraded to Snow Leopard ( 10.6.6 ) which has resulted in my 7880 prints being too dark. Printed beautifully under 10.5x. Looking for discussions on possible solutions or approaches. Anybody out there in the same boat? I have the latest drivers - at least according to Epson - and would be happy to upgrade to CS5 ( currently CS3 ) but only if there is good evidence it would help. Sorta desperate here, have orders unfulfilled.
24" 2.8 Ghz iMac, OS 10.6.6, Psd. 10.0.1

I have the Epson 7880 setup under 10.6.6 and Photoshop 12.0.2 and it seems to be working under this "Photoshop Manages Colors" Off (no color management) work flow:
http://www.gballard.net/photoshop/epson/cs5/
You may aso want to review Adobe's spin on the Dark print issue
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/875/cpsid_87512.html
but it was also written for CS5...

Help me solve color and dark print issue with a new monitor recommendation!

I know, I hate "surveys" too. I'm thinking of attacking my color and dark printing issues w\LR and CS4, by investing in a new monitor. I currently have an 20' early edition Apple Cinema Display. The monitor is the last hardware (software) item in my current upgrade cycle. From those folks who are NOT having color or print problems, what displays are you using (or would recommend)? Ah, and price is an issue. Apologies in advance to those who think this is not appropriate use of the Forum.

Monitor calibration is the first port of call. Sometimes changing one item in a system is enough to show up a colour management issue. You suggest that the monitor is the last item in your upgrade cycle, what all have you changed? Computer, printer? There may also be a setting you have failed to set when you installed the new software, eg. have you remembered to set relative colorimetric with the black point compensation box ticked, disable colour management in your printer driver and put an appropriate colour profile for your monitor onto the new computer? You also need the correct profile for your printer/paper combination set up in Photoshop.
If you haven't calibrated your monitor, that on its own will give you poor prints, but all the other bits are needed also.
Jo

Have officejet pro 8600 plus and it prints photos to dark on regular or advanced photo paper?

have a officejet pro 8600 plus printer and whenever i print a photo out , either on regular or advanced photo paper it always comes out darker then the actual photo.

Belive it or not this is acctually normal. Most photos will print a little darker than they appear on screen. This is due to the way the picture is coded and the brightness level on your monitor. You could try following the steps in this document to imporve the quality, but I'm pretty everything is doing what it should. If the colors are completely distorted, let me know and I'll see what I can find.
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My i860 canon printer is suddenly printing color pictures with light blue and darker blue horizontal

My i860 canon printer is suddenly printing color pictures with light blue and darker blue horizontal lines. I have changed the cyan blue cartridge and the problem still exists. Does anyone know what the problem is? Thanks.

Hi CSM,
We can perform a print head cleaning and alignment on the printer to try and resolve the issue. To do this, please follow the steps below:
PRINT HEAD CLEANING
With the printer powered on, press and hold the <Resume/Cancel> button.
<1> Resume/Cancel button
When the power lamp blinks once, release the button.
Note: The power lamp will blink and print head cleaning will start. The cleaning completes when the power lamp stops blinking. (It will take about 30 seconds to a minute for the power lamp to stop blinking and remain lit solid green.)
PRINT HEAD ALIGNMENT
Confirm that the printer is powered on, and load Letter-sized white plain paper in the sheet feeder.
Note: If paper other than Letter-sized white plain paper is loaded, print head alignment cannot be performed properly.  The automatic print head alignment must be performed from the Automatic Sheet Feeder on the top of the printer. It cannot be performed from the cassette.
Press and hold the <Resume/Cancel> button, and release it when the Power lamp blinks four times. (The Power lamp will start blinking and pattern printing will start.)
Print head alignment will start automatically as the following pattern is printed.
Note:  Please wait approx. three minutes until printing is completed.
Hope this helps!
This didn't answer your question or issue? Find more help at Contact Us .
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

How to set up Print Specs and Profiles in CS5 Suite

I am no color management expert but I do want to get my printer to print the same colors as my monitor displays in PSD, AI and InD applications.
My Intel iMac and Cinema Display running OS10.5.8 are both color calibrated with Spyder 3 Elite to achieve correct color reproduction.
After days of searching and testing, this is my solution which I offer to help those new to CS5.
1. Start: PHOTOSHOP:
     Set colour settings (Edit>Color Settings) as follows:
          RGB - Adobe RGB 1998
          CMYK - US Web Coated (SWOP) v2 (This setting does not effect printer).
          Leave Grey and Spot as default 20%
     Color Management Policys:
          RGB, CMYK, Gray; all set to Preserve embedded Profiles
     Conversions Options:
          Engine - Adobe ACE
          Intent - Relative colourimetric ( my choice for AI artwork. Choose Perceptual for photos in PSD).
     Go to Save, give profile a name, and note the Conversion intent so you can create another profile for Perceptual and PSD.
     (I called mine Epson R2400 and noted the Relative Colorimetric intent).
     Finally, Go to Settings at the top of the Color Settings dialogue and select the color profile you have just named and saved. Click OK
2. Go to Bridge>Edit>Creative Suite Color Settings. Find your saved profile and select it and click Apply.
     Now AI and ID have the same colour preferences.
     Users without Bridge will have to set these items in Color Settings for each Adobe application.
3.   Photoshop>File>Print: Color Management
          Color Handling - Photoshop Manages Color
          Printer Profile - Choose the ICC Profile to suite your printer and paper stock. I used Epson canned ICC SPR2400 Premium Glossy with great results.
          Rendering Intent - Relative Colorimetric for artwork or Perceptual for photos.
4. At top of Print dialogue box, select Printer (Epson Stylus Photo 2400 in my case).
     Below, Click and open Print Settings;
     Layout - select Paper Size and number of pages (copies). Layout is one of several items in a drop down menu.
     Open the next drop down item, Color Matching. Check that he two options, Color Sync and Epson should be grayed out.
     Move to Print Settings.
          Media Type - depends on your paper. (mine is Photo Quality InkJet).
          Color - select Color or Black
          Color Settings - OFF, This turns off color management in Epson Driver leaving Photoshop in charge!
          Mode - I chose Advanced to get fine quality print. Automatic OK for general use.
      Click Save. Click Print and you should get a print matching your Monitor.
ILLUSTRATOR CS5
Bridge will ensure that Color Settings match Photoshop as 1. above. If you don’t have Bridge Go to Edit>Color Settings and specify the same as      Photoshop. Note Settings, at top of Color settings dialogue box requires the profile you created in Photoshop.
     Go to File >Print. There are 3 steps to check.
     In the window at left are headings General, Marks and Bleed, Output, Graphics, Color Management, Advanced and Summary.
     These are self explanatory. If you do not use Bridge, check Color Management as below:
1. Printer: your printer. Color Handling: Let Illustrator determine colors. Printer Profile: select your monitor RGB icc profile.
   Unlike Photoshop, do NOT use printer/paper ICC. Rendering intent: to suit your image.
2. Bottom left of Print dialogue box is Page Setup. Set your size etc.
3. Bottom Left is Printer. MOST IMPORTANT. Here are the similar setting options as PSD 4 above which require different handling.
     Select Layout, go down to Color Matching>select COLORSYNC not Epson. This ensures Apple ColorSync does color conversion.
     Profile - Automatic should appear with name of your preferred Printer/paper ICC below. ( be careful here as I have found AI sometimes finds the wrong      paper icc. Close Print and start again).
     Move down list to Print Settings - Basic:
          Page Set up - Standard; Media type - Your choice, (Photo Quality InkJet for me).
          Color - Color
          Color Settings OFF to ensure Epson printer driver does not try to manage color.
          Mode - Advanced if you want fine quality print. Automatic is OK for general use.
4. Click Print to close Printer dialogue box. Click Print to close the Print dialogue box and you should get a print to match your on screen image.
INDESIGN and General Comments.
Always select your Printer first as settings vary according to printer type.
InDesign Print set up is very similar to AI. Select Color Management at left and the Printer, Printer Profile and Rendering Intent require identical settings.
Go to bottom left, Page Setup. Specify Printer and paper size. Select Printer and the settings required are the same as AI.
If you switch between these apps there is considerable danger that the different Profile choices will trip you up. Photoshop color management requires the Printer/paper ICC, AI and InDesign require Monitor ICC. My primary error was to select my professionally scanned printer/paper ICC profile which resulted in weird colours on AI and ID. The clue that led me to choose my Monitor ICC profile instead was the ColorSync option in Color matching in AI. I hope you will find printing runs a lot smoother for you and I heartily invite better informed users than I, can add to, or qualify this post.
May the Force be with you!

Regarding print brightness at output. The Settings of monitor calibration determine white point and black point. At the time you run Spyder 3 or whatever your monitor calibrator is, the software sets a white point of your choosing. current iMacs are far too bright and prints resulting from unmodified Mac monitors will appear too dark because of the excessive screen brightness. My iMac at lowest reading is 139 candelas. To get prints which match the screen I specify 80 candelas. The Spyder software also reads ambient light in the room and makes a calculation which effects the white and black points registered for both viewing and printing. Since paper reflects a light level according to lighting conditions, we each view prints in different conditions according to illumination source. This effects also effects screen viewing so conditions determine what we see.
In simple terms, ambient light reading also modifies the software calculations for colour output. If it is too high, prints are pale, too low and prints are too dark. If the Monitor calibration has been done properly there should be no problem. The point here is to make certain your calibration process is accurate. Personally I have calibrated in a dark room at night-time and I have calibrated In a shaded room at midday. Hugely different conditions. Under both circumstances I have found the calibration has resulted in good prints. So I suspect it is user white point settings or calibration error which results in prints being too dark or too light. I understand the data used by the calibration software applies to the ambient light reading to the monitor for reading conditions and uses other color gamut data for the printing process. So printing error must surely originate with the user.
I welcome comment from more experienced people in this matter.
Cheers,

Mac Printing Pics Too Dark

Weird and Complex.
Document in Word (for Mac) using images from internet (jpg, png, monochrome and colour - from various NASA, JPL and other sources). Printing Word .docx is fine. Export document to PDF (using in-built Mac OS X PDF Print system) and PDF on screen is fine. Print PDF using Mac Preview and it appears fine (colour a bit richer than .docx but OK). Print from Windows Adobe Reader, same as Mac Preview app. But print from Mac Adobe Reader (9.3.0) and the pictures come out as though the contrast is massively turned-up - monochrome pics far too dark and with a blue tint and colour pics darker and way OTT blue tint. This is destroying the pictures as the colour (and particularly blue) is very significant in the scientific pictures.
Pictures are from many different sources and jpg and png so I have not doctored them in any way - and the .docx prints fine.
When printing from Adobe Reader I have tried with Printer managing the colour and with ColourSync enabled (automatic profile) and it makes no difference. It appears just Adobe Reader on Mac that is the problem.
(As it on print only I cannot post samples to illustrate - if important I could scan the bad rint but that would probably adjust things further)
Update additional info: Pictures are either 8 bit RGB or grey scale (8 bit). Some have embedded ColoyrSync profiles (e.g. sRGB IEC61966-2.1 or Generic RGB Profile or Dot Gain 20%) some have no embedded profile - all come out badly and all affected. I tried using Photoshop to add a profile to one of the images without a profile and it made no difference. Printing from Photoshop (CS4) is fine (including photos without profiles - comes out same as printing original .docx) If I import the pages into Photoshop and print them they come out fine - just as printing the .docx - so I think there is nothing wrong with the PDF but it looks like it is the Adobe Reader printing.
Any ideas.
Many thanks
Simon

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Check the display calibration and see if the gamma is set to 2.2 or 1.8. If it's set at 2.2 then set it to the Mac standard 1.8. See if that will lighten them up. Also check to make sure if you print one of the photos it will also match the display.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Elements 10, windows 8, 64 bit, epson artisan 835 printer: prints are really dark even after using enhancements like adjusting lighting. Prints are darker than photoshop edit screen. Prints are acceptable using paint, windows photo viewer, or gallery.

Elements 10, Windows 8, 64 bit, Epson Artisan 835 printer: Prints are really dark even after applying enhancements, like adjusting lighting. Prints are darker than Photoshop Edit Screen. Prints are acceptable using Paint, Windows Photoviewer, or Photo Gallery.

In general theory, one now has the Edit button for their posts, until someone/anyone Replies to it. I've had Edit available for weeks, as opposed to the old forum's ~ 30 mins.
That, however, is in theory. I've posted, and immediately seen something that needed editing, only to find NO Replies, yet the Edit button is no longer available, only seconds later. Still, in that same thread, I'd have the Edit button from older posts, to which there had also been no Replies even after several days/weeks. Found one that had to be over a month old, and Edit was still there.
Do not know the why/how of this behavior. At first, I thought that maybe there WAS a Reply, that "ate" my Edit button, but had not Refreshed on my screen. Refresh still showed no Replies, just no Edit either. In those cases, I just Reply and mention the [Edit].
Also, it seems that the buttons get very scrambled at times, and Refresh does not always clear that up. I end up clicking where I "think" the right button should be and hope for the best. Seems that when the buttons do bunch up they can appear at random around the page, often three atop one another, and maybe one way the heck out in left-field.
While I'm on a role, it would be nice to be able to switch between Flattened and Threaded Views on the fly. Each has a use, and having to go to Options and then come back down to the thread is a very slow process. Jive is probably incapable of this, but I can dream.
Hunt

Images printing dull please help

Hi there,
I Have a HP Photosmart C5550 All in one printer. I use Vista. I Just re installed the drivers off the website.
Heres the problem: I ran a cartridge ink/ printer test and the color looks great everything is fine. I even ran the clean printer cartridge mode. BUT when I try to print something in color it comes out extremely dull and lack of detail. It almost seems its printing from a limited color scale (But the test prints are fine, Only when i try to print something else.) when I printed things not in color it seems fine for detail. Ive spent over an hour ajusting options and trying diffrent settings and everytime the picture comes out the same. I would really appreciate and help I could get. Thanks in advance.

Give this a try?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01474917&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=3577718
I am an HP employee.

Prints dull and dark

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