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Why Your Prints Are Too Dark (and How to Fix It)

Glyn Dewis

53,060 views

If your prints keep coming out darker than they looked on screen, it's almost always down to screen brightness. In this video I go through why it happens, why the usual 80 to 120 candela recommendation may be the thing causing it, and the exact settings I use when I calibrate my own display for printing. I also cover the room your screen is sat in, which hardly ever gets talked about, and right at the end there's a way of checking all of this that costs you absolutely nothing.

00:00 Same file, two very different results
01:21 Intro
01:38 Why a print can never match a screen
02:34 The problem with 80 to 120 candela
03:09 The histogram is the only thing telling the truth
03:43 Why I settled on 60 candela
04:23 The kit and software I calibrate with
06:11 Presets, and why I don't use them
07:00 Luminance, white point, gamut, gamma and black point
09:04 Before you hit start
10:13 Reading the results and delta E
11:22 The room your screen is sat in
12:36 Project Photoshop
13:02 A free way to check without a calibrator
13:28 Letting your eyes adjust
13:52 Two calibrations on one display

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20 Comments

@glyndewis Creator 7 days ago Pinned

Everything I've made on printing and colour, all in one place: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHioahxFADBE

@ChrisCorkPhotography 2 weeks ago

For a print service, order a single print that's multi coloured and has multi levels of brightness. On delivery, compare it to monitor and adjust to match, then you'll be good to go for future prints with supplier. Sometimes the old school methods are the most simple

@hervegodbout1183 13 days ago

This confirms what I did. Compared my dark picture to the screen and I lowered and matched the brightness of my screen for editing. Re-printed and came out perfect !

@rrasch8125 3 weeks ago

At last…an informative video from a channel, about an important subject.👏🏼

@c.augustin 3 weeks ago

Just holding your printer paper to the screen showing a big white rectangle and pulling down the brightness until it matches the paper would do the trick (that I've used in the past, before I had some fancy color calibration tools and software). Most people will be astonished how "dark" the screen has become (and how easy on the eyes for everyday tasks). That said, 120 cd/m² is quite close for my viewing conditions.

@glyndewis Creator 12 days ago

🚨 Love Photography? Join my Free Photography Community with an active forum, live calls, and monthly challenges with feedback to help you grow 👉🏻 https://www.skool.com/photography-community/about

@dswanson2637 3 weeks ago

Thank you. I have been soft proofing and then bumping the brightness "a bit" before printing. These tips will definitely help.

@rolfmeier8469 2 weeks ago

Excellent explications. You bring everything to the point. :washhands:The suggested brightness value of 60 corresponds excactly to my experience.

@gmonc8912 3 weeks ago

Thank you Glyn for this video, much appreciated!

@markvinton1047 3 weeks ago

Great video! Thank you Glyn

@lynsmith1096 3 weeks ago

Great tutorial Glyn

@steveking6204 3 weeks ago

Awesome video as always.

@danh2716 3 weeks ago

I really wish there was an automated solution for switching all the needed settings when working between output intended for print and output intended for screen.

Not just monitor calibration, but automatically changing the working color spaces in Pshop (between sRGB & AdobeRGB) etc.

As someone with clients that expect physical prints, and digital copies for online use, I can't count the number of times I have been 2 or 3 photos in before realizing I need to change all the settings and start over on the edits.

@markr3930 3 weeks ago

great vid as always. I had the same issue with my benq so I have been calibrating on 80 and lowering the screen brightness to zero. seems to work but next time I calibrate I will take your advice and calibrate on 60 and leave it be, didn't know you could customise it

@TheSpanishInquisition-d1b6w 3 weeks ago

Calibrated monitor and luminance is 30. Prints come out too dark. Print the same photo from my phone, perfect. I hate printing.

@brianjones5535 3 weeks ago

If you don't have a custom printer profile for the paper you are using, density difference is a given. I use 120cd with a custom printer profile and the prints come out as expected.

@kakman1958 3 weeks ago

Interesting. I have the same monitor (and the same calibrator) and have found success at 70cd/m2 and colour temp way down at 5000k. My room is neutral white, I have 5000k daylight globes, and an Ilford light for checking prints. I have a standard 120cd/m2/6500k setting for general use but I'm primarily setting up for print so rarely use it. The puck is so great for flicking between settings.

@musicpet 2 weeks ago

Thanks for the video! What do you use to create your "infographics" parts of your video?

@russlevine8978 2 weeks ago

I've always matched my monitor to perfectly printed photos. Never needed a calibration gizmo and my prints come out fine. Of course some prints need an occasional tweaking because calibration is never perfect.

@jjaylad 3 weeks ago

Matching a print is the way I've done it for years. I get my laptop's screen and the 32" Tv I use as a 2nd monitor to both match the print, then I adjust in LrC until I like it and then for printing both on my own printer and from labs, it becomes WYSIWYG.