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Prints of rendered images dark


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#1 Guest_Stuart_*

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 08:11 PM

I have a large rendering in SP2016 of an office building with full interiors and landscaping.  The images look great on my monitor but when printed are dark and dull.  I get the same result regardless of whether I print to an HP120 plotter, HP or Epson inkjets. I have tried calibrating the monitor, printing to file and then printing the image file. Same results.  I tried extreme increasing of ambient lighting, sun brightness and they are brighter, but still dull. Help please with settings or any recommendations.  Thanks.



#2 Martin Livingston

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Posted 14 June 2016 - 07:45 AM

You would probably have better luck playing with the brightness/saturation levels using an image editing software. I use FASTSTONE Imaging Software. I is available free at http://www.faststone.org/index.htm


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#3 Guest_Derrik Bauer_*

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Posted 14 June 2016 - 08:17 AM

Your screen has the advantage of a back-light.  When it is printed it will seem darker.  I setup my "Textured Mode" with higher ambient & headlight to give better results on the prints.  When I am creating images that will be emailed or for walk-thru videos I use "Rendered Mode", but I change the settings to make it use the GPU instead of CPU.  This allows me to have 2 modes that are exactly the same except one has more lighting.

 

Every mode can be customized to whatever settings you prefer.  Don't get caught up in the labels: Shaded, Wire Frame, Illustrated, ect. are all just labels, they can be set to be any style you want.


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#4 Keith Almond

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Posted 14 June 2016 - 10:33 AM

Also, very simplified - The output from the monitor is RGB colour, and your printer cannot print RGB colours, only CMYK, which is a much smaller range, so the printer interprets/converts to the nearest colour that it is capable of reproducing - which as far as I can remember, is typically darker - especially anything with blue (especially bright blue) or most of the green hues.

 

A printer can never render the tones that your monitor is capable of.


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#5 Guest_Stuart Bloom_*

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Posted 15 June 2016 - 02:01 PM

Thanks for the comments.  I am fully aware that the printed page will not match or be close to the range or brightness of the image on the monitor. In general, as I increase the brightness (sun, ambient light settings I quickly get to the point where the light areas burn out and lose the detail of the darker textures. I have tried calibrating my monitor to lower the overall brightness to better simulate (anticipate) the printed page. I have lots of horsepower and dual graphic cards. I can't seem to find the settings or a way to get a professional looking print that I would put in front of a client. I have fooled around with so many different settings and made so many prints I'm getting nuts with this. When I print photos they come out beautifully, renderings stink. It makes little difference if I print directly from the rendering of save to file and then print it or print on bond or photo paper (better but not good). I print on an newer HP 120 plotter, old HP inkjet, and new Epson inkjet, all with similar results. I need some guidance for basic settings to start with that work for any of you.  It has been suggested that I use the GPU which helps.  It seems like I must be missing something simple here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.



#6 Guest_W_*

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Posted 04 March 2017 - 08:57 AM

I have the same problem. I don't know why softplan renders so incredibly dark out of the box, there is no point to it. What I printed is so dark I can't take it to my client, so start over. You should not have to make so many adjustments, could be better





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