Images too dark

I was using my printer to print out images for my assignment for school, and a good majority of them came out either too dark, the colors were somewhat muted, or both. How would I fix something like this so that my printer matches what my monitor shows? I have heard of calibration software out there for monitors, and I have tried them for my system, but it turned out screwing with the video card entirely and I had to reset the system almost entirely to get it back to normal.

You have a couple of choices. You can either send your files out to be printed at a professional photo lab, where they'll do color correction for you, or you'll have to invest in calibration hardware/software and possibly even a new monitor. The latter depends upon how well your current monitor takes to calibrating.

There are many factors involved when it comes to calibrating, and it's not so straight forward all the time. Calibrating your monitor is one thing, but calibrating your printer is yet another. What is your budget for such things?

Doug

For jobs I have an account at a lab called mpixpro, but for this assignment, I don't feel a need to print it there, especially with the time crunch i have for when it was due. I honestly don't have much of a budget, but I buy when needed. The times i do use my printer though, I would like it to match the color i see properly.