Monitor/printing help needed.

[Harvey Fox]

Hi all,
I'm sure this has been done a million times, I know it has as I have read so many threads myself but can someone please explain to me (keep it simple) why my calibrated BenQ monitor looks exactly the same as my macbook screen after using the spider 5 pro to calibrate it. When I get prints done however (used the company sim lab) they come back darker and more saturated in colour?

 

[Box Brownie]

I hope some of the MacBook users can chime in but can I first just summarise:-

You are connecting the BenQ as a second monitor to the MacBook and calibrating only the BenQ?
But both displays look the same and based on that the pro lob printed photos are too dark (and more saturated) inferring that the screen is improperly calibrated & too bright.

Were you describing a PC rig I would say or ask:-
1) are you trying to calibrate both screens? If so bear in mind that very few graphics cards have dual LUTs i.e. you cannot calibrate the two screens!
2) If you are properly calibrating just the one screen, have you calibrated at too bright a luminance (NB mine is set at 90cd/m2 and I edit in a very subdued ambient lighting)

I hope this is of some help as I don't use a Mac

 

[Chappers]

As both your MacBook and BenQ screens look similar then its probable that you've calibrated correctly. Depending on your MacBook it is possible to have calibrations for both screens . MacBook pro's have had this facility for many years . I would suggest that you check what values you are using in that calibration. As the prints come back darker, then it may be you are using a to higher value for the brightness. I have mine set to about 120 cd/m2. If you re calibrate to that value do the prints and screen look similar as far as brightness is concerned. Also prints that are a bit darker, can give the visual appearance of having more saturation.

Regarding the saturation, a couple of points. Have you tried soft proofing with the colour profile from the lab ( I am assuming they can provide one for soft proofing ). Also are you providing the prints in the colourspace they ask for . Colourspace miss match can give unusal results .

 

[droj]

As said, get the screen brightness right. 'Right' in this context meaning to tally with a print produced from the screen on that setting.

Papers vary in brightness & other parameters. So soft-proof for the paper in question, and adjust the image to suit.

But finally (again as said) send the file for print with the profile asked for by the lab - which could well be srgb and not the profile supplied for soft-proofing purposes. Though some labs might want the last embedded. Mine the lab website for guidance. If you can't find an answer, phone them, and you might be lucky to get a sensible answer, depending ...

So there's a tailoring of image for paper, and to some extent for lab ...

And what light are you assessing the prints by? This can make a huge perceptual difference. Your display is bright, but its environs are in shade - right? So you don't want to assess a print under the available ambient light next to the screen just so that you can flick your eyes from one to the other for convenience. You need to look at the print in print-viewing light, or at least as if it's somewhere akin to how it might be normally seen.

They can be on the wall; they can be in portfolios, albums, photobooks ...

It varies. You're looking for a workable mean. Don't panic too soon.