Monitor Calibration
In our digital age, all of the images we view online are presented on back lit monitors. This instantly makes them look brighter.
If your photos look different depending on which screen you view them on, or if your printed images have come out too dark, it could mean your monitor is not properly calibrated.
Here is a great video that explains this in greater detail
The fact is one can NEVER get a print that absolutely matches the monitor. A monitor displays via back lit illumination and Prints are viewed via reflected illumination.
Indoor lighting can also play a major role in how your product presents itself. Any printed image will always look better hung in a well lit area. Warm or cool lighting can also influence the colors in your product. If in doubt we always suggest you view your product in natural daylight to get a better idea of colour reproduction.
Colour theory and gamut
Software allows us to edit our images, by making them more saturated or by adjusting contrast and lighting. We can take what is deemed an "ordinary image" and make is "extraordinary" with a few mouse clicks.
In colour theory the gamut of a device (printer) or process is that portion of the color space that can be represented, or reproduced.
Printing the image requires transforming the image from the original color space to the printer's CMYK color space.
During this process, the colors from the image which are out of gamut must be somehow converted to approximate values within the CMYK space gamut.
There are several algorithms approximating this transformation, but none of them can be truly perfect, since those colors are simply out of the target device's capabilities.
Below is an image that is viewed on screen in the RGB colour format versus what it will look like printed out
If you think the product you have received is too dark or the colours are not presented correctly, we are more than happy to review your order to identify whether the original image you submitted was "out of gamut" or if you may have a monitor calibration issue.
If a production issue is identified we will happily replace your order free of charge.