Calibration issue

[JStrattonPhotography]

I have my new monitor calibrated and all the images look GREAT on screen. From several other monitors I have viewed them and they are WAY too bright. I am on a laptop for editing. I calibrated in a pitch black room so there was no light hitting the screen. Should I recalibrate in a lighted room like I usually edit or just recalibrate in a pitch black room again?

[DoublyDan]

Most of the time it is other monitors that are too bright. I found this to be true when showing images to clients, so now I bring my laptop... My desktop was the first to be calibrated and it looked so dim to me, I found that this is the closest to print that I can get to on my high res monitor.

Calibrate the other monitors if you/clients will be viewing them there.

[JStrattonPhotography]

That was my explanation as well. However, I need to put these online in a proof album and I worry they are going to be viewed as subpar.

[DoublyDan]

Julie, I would just tell them that it may seem bright but your monitor was calibrated to the printer and they will be a tad bit dimmer/darker...(use your words...refined and professional of course).

[srwatters]

I've seen this done before, so I will suggest you put a preview page on your site that has black and white gradient bars with a short paragraph about display brightness and contrast adjustments for proper viewing of your galleries. Maybe your clients will adjust their system for optimal viewing. Or maybe they won't, but at least you've done your best to explain to them that your images are print ready and properly exposed and processed.

I always reference Norman Korens website: Monitor calibration and gamma

Although this is written for a photographer and not a customer.

[picman]

Scroll down to the response by Andrew Rodney (he wrote the book on calibration) Prints still dark after monitor calibration - Photo.net Digital Darkroom Forum

Basically, monitor brightness is not a hard fast number produced during calibration. It is a number you set is based on print matching.

If possible I would turn off anything in the calibration software that automatically adjusts screen brightness based on the ambient light. To me it throws too many variables into the mix - the next time you calibrate you could be wearing a different shirt, the screen could be turned, different time of day...

Calibration is all about controlling the variables.