Hi again,
You may be in the wrong area (PP is a specific software package for making printer, camera etc.profiles but not to worry Mike can move this if required to Qimage or General.
It's not clear if you are talking about printing from Qimage, please clarify. Are you having the same problem printing through Qimage and PS? If that is the case, then it may well be a calibration issue.

It maybe your monitor is set too bright, does the calibration software allow you to set the luminance value, the norm for an LCD is 120 cd/m2 but some I know use lower values to get a better screen to print correlation. A manual approach would be to set the brightness to match the print appearance and recalibrate without changing the monitor brightness.

Another trick which I have used, still use, when prints are consistently dark wrt the monitor is to make use of the Qimage Print Filter. Make a filter to correct the dark print using Levels, Fill or a Curve, and apply that to all your prints with Qimage. NB. Different filters may be needed for different papers. You don't see any effect on the screen, just on the print. A little trial & error is required but once set, that's it. If you are new to Qimage, filters are non-destructive, the original image is not altered.
Since buying a better quality monitor, my need to use a print filter to lighten prints has diminished 
Hope that helps in some way, I'm sure others will have opinions on what to do too.
Terry.

Oh, thank you both for your "bright" ideas. 

Terry, yes my prints are too dark regardless what program I am printing from.  I have a print out of all 9880 profiles (all 49)  showing the names of the matching media, and as an extra precaution I always read the paper work that is included with any new paper I purchase.  So I am pretty confident that I have the profiles matched properly. 

Just before logging in to the forum I checked the settings on my calibration unit - it has several options i.e., photo editing & web browsing, video, gaming, warmer/cooler w/different levels of contrast for each.  This is an inexpensive Pantone Huey system, and although I don't see any options for setting numeric values, from various sources tha I have read lately they say the unit does an adequate job.  I am going to set the options noted above to a much lower (darker) setting and see if adjusting my images accordingly will correct the difference. 

That sounds like a very good possibility - I will let you know. 

Thanks so much to both of you!
Rhonda

Fred knows that with my engineering/quality control background I like to see the numbers and work to those 
However, Fred's pragmatic approach sounds fine, especially with the Huey. You may have to tweak the monitor now and again depending on it's stability.
Terry.

I find that I cannot easily do this reliably so having the monitor at a set value gives consistency. Eyeballing a print does have it's difficulties when comparing to  monitor, the ambient light can vary a great deal so there's no real control of that. It's also very subjective.
My problems have not been to do with dark-all-over prints but just lacking a bit of shadow detail, so making the monitor darker did not solve the problem. A simple print "Fill" filter worked very nicely; it could be this is more to do with the custom profiles I have although Epson and Ilford's own are the same.
One thing that has helped to remove the need for a print filter, other than having a better monitor, is that I've had to train my eye to make images "lighter" on screen. So again it's human perception coming into the equation. When I look back on old images on my new monitor, they now look dark. Is that the monitor or my re-trained perception 

My understanding is that the correct way to do this is to use a proper viewing booth with lighting conditions that match the monitor. Many calibration devices (Eye One 2) allow you to check the ambient light conditions wrt to luminance and thus you can get a numerically based match.
In fact, I'm considering buying one of those GrafLite's as an inexpensive alternative to a booth. I have to print during long Winter evenings so comparing print colour and brightness is not reliable in normal household conditions.
Having said all that, if eyeballing works for you, and others see your prints as good, then that's ok. "Sans eyes" obviously does not apply to you 

Seth
I am no pro, but if you don't mind. Would you post a pic of what you use .. Please
I do use an Ott lite to look at my photo.

Thanks
Ya Me

It could be if the luminance value cannot be set by the calibration software, as appears the case with a Huey device & software.

Unfortunately not all drivers have this feature, Epson or other makes probably. We are not all owners of the more sophisticated printers  That's where using a Print Filter come in.

That's why working to a known value of luminance is a good thing. Trouble is, what is a truly "standard"  value, 120Cd/M2 is recommended for an LCD monitor but is it the standard?
Terry.

Terry my Ott-lite looks just like that

Ya Me