Feedback

[skydog]

Often when I send files out for printing the photos come back darker than desired. The color is good. I've calibrated my screen. I'm sure its alot to do with the light from the screen making the photo brighter than what is actually printed. Is it my calibration vs the printer?

[mistermonday]

Not necessarily. The color space in which you have prepared your image may be different from the color space of the printer. Most outside print labs ignore the icc profile of the file you send or they assume your image is sRGB. Your best bet is to obtain a custom icc profile for that printer, usually available for free from the print lab. Use Soft Proof in PS to preview your image, convert a copy of the image to that profile. The print lab will also usually offer a check box to allow or not allow any auto contrast or brightness adjustments by the print lab.
Of course if you have a low quality monitor and your calibration is way off, none of the above will help you.
Regards, Murray

[John Wheeler]

In addition to what Murray has provided, here is a link to an article by Andrew Rodney on this very topic. It is a very common problem. A common root cause is that the viewing brightness of your screen is much brighter than the viewing conditions when looking at the print. Andrew's writeup is well worth the read:
why_are_my_prints_too_dark

[Tony W]

Good advice as always from Murray and John only thing I would add is do the prints look too dark when viewed under the proper viewing conditions i.e. in the light normally used to look at them, not next to the monitor