[peteranckorn]

Ever since I had my imac repaired the screen brighness level has been much higher . At first I thought this was the correct setting as print outs of images I'de made in photoshop were much closer to the origional colours , but since then I've noticed that images posted on the internet are far too dark on some PCs screens . I'm a freelance illustrator - so getting jobs is dependant on being able to show clients my work . As most people have pcs this brightness problem is very seriouse to me .
I've tried adjusting the monitor under control panels but this has little effect . Other images look fine on my screen - but my images don't look right on pcs . Is there a problem or is it just a compatibility issue ( some people find my images fine , others can barely see whats going on in them ) .
I'm not very technically proficent - so simple solutions would be better than ones involving complex mechanics .

[JKT]

Edit: It isn't clear from your post which I've just re-read - have you calibrated your monitor or not? If not, I recommend downloading SuperCal and using that to calibrate your monitor first. The below still applies but you need to be starting from the right point before looking into the issues below.

It is largely because Windows use a gamma value of 2.2 which is very dark in comparison to the Mac (which uses a gamma value of 1.8). The advantage of the 2.2 value is better contrast but the price is much poorer detail (and IMO a gloomier look to the interface as a whole). If you want to check how your image is going to appear on a PC, you can create a colour profile in your Displays preferences with a 2.2 gamma setting and toggle between that and your normal profile to get an approximation of how an image will look when viewed on a PC.

If you use Photoshop, you can preview the difference from within the app without having to alter your colour profile system wide - go to the View>Proof Setup menu and pick Windows RGB (or your custom 2.2 gamma setup). Similarly in ImageReady you can choose to Preview with "Standard Windows Colour".

HTH.

[eightfive]

If you wanted, you could calibrate the display to use the Windows default gamma.

System Preferences > Display > Colors > Calibrate...

There should be an option in the wizard to choose between "1.8 Standard Gamma" or "2.2 Television Gamma".

[peteranckorn]

I've now created a profile using gamma 2.2 - which has made the screen a bit darker , but not enough to adversly effect my images the way they appear on some machines . I'll try downloading that progamme you mentioned next . Thanks for the advise . At least I know what may be causing it now . I think if I can't solve it I may invest in a cheap pc which I can preview images on before sending them out , to get an idea of what they might look like .