Printers print photos too dark

[imgod2u]

Ok, when I had my Lexmark Z52 and I wanted to print photos, every time, it would come out too dark. I use to this this problem was just with Lexmark seeing how much ink they suck in. However, I just got a brand new Canon S600 and the same thing is happening. I'd print photos that were taken with my digital camer and they would appear far darker than they do on my monitor. I have an LCD (Sony SDM-N80) and my brightness is set to 95 (out of 100) and it is clearly better on my monitor than the photo the printer printed out (too dark). Has anyone else experienced this problem? Anyone have any idea how to fix it short of overbrightening every image I print? I would've thought printing with modern printers was a simple matter of taking pictures and printing. But this is rediculous.

 

[Peter]

You are using the printer manufacturer's special photo paper? And you set the media type in the printer driver properties accordingly? (And with the Canon driver, set document type and print mode to "photo"?)

regards, Peter

 

[madthumbs]

Try whiter paper?

 

[imgod2u]

I am using Epson photo paper (I've tried Canon's as well) and yes, I've set all the things in the driver for photo. I've also tried printing on plain paper and it has the same problem.

 

[fr]

Do your Lexmark drivers have some color/brightness adjustment?

 

[imgod2u]

Yes, I normally have to manually adjust the brightness by a lot in order to get the picture right. I would've expected the Canon I got to do much better but unfortunately it seems it needs "tweaking" as well. This is really weird, do other people have to go through this as well?

 

[patrickc]

you've obviously ruled out a printer problem - what software are you using to print the pictures? have you tried a couple different programs on the same shot...

my old nikon 800 doesn't take a decent inside flash shot outside 3 feet even tho it might look ok in the view finder and maybe ok on the screen but definitely to dark to print without tweaking - so I guess the question is, could the camera be a factor?

 

[skriefal]

First off, are you sure that it's not your monitor that is inaccurately reproducing the brightness level of the photos? Most monitors that I come across have brightness and/or contrast set poorly.

Also, what program are you using to print the photos? That supposedly can make a huge difference in the quality of the results...