Help with laptop, prints coming out too dark.

Hi all,

Need a wee bit of advice.

I've got a Dell laptop, inspiron 6000, works great, only one problem, when I get prints done they come out way too dark.
I've tried using Adobe Gamma but even turning it right down I still get dark prints.

A colleague has a Mac and when I put my images onto his machine they look way lighter and he has no problem with his prints from the same processors.

I was wondering if I have to go down the route of buying the likes of the Huey Pro calibration thingy?

Anyone have any clues/ideas/suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

ali

One free idea to try is to open up an image you've had printed & adjust the brightness settings to match your screen to the print.(right click desktop & adjust properties, don't just turn down your laptops backlight !) Not the most accurate or effective method, but certainly cheap.

If you're able to get a good match to your print save the settings & then try re-editing your images (don't save over originals) til they look right on screen.

Now get these newly edited images printed & compare the results.

You will find loads of info HERE ,go to customer help & support and you can download a test file to use.

Hope this is of some use.

John