Fred, my only problem or question with what you are proposing is that if I start changing the brightness on my monitor, then all my images from my lab will come back incorrect won't they?
For the record, I didn't change my brightness to match a print. I calibrated following the instructions when I ran the spyder 3 elite (don't remember what the steps were) and found that once I was calibrated properly, my prints from the lab were coming back spot on.
I really was only proposing at this point, that you make a couple of test prints right from the Auto Filled Raw images from Qimage.
That would take the tweak effect out of the equation and give you a hint as to how the monitor brightness is set since your problem was, Prints Too Dark!As to how prints come out from commercial printers in stores, you cannot be sure whether they are using any auto exposure type of final software before printing.
To summarize, I only wanted you to rule out or in whether your monitor might be set to bright.
Printing from the raw image from Qimage would give you a good grasp of a determination.
That's all. No harm meant.
Fred