The normal map is making the object wayyyy dark than it should be!
My node set up for the normal map is: ImageTexture>NormalMap>DiffuseShader(Normal Input)
The color it should be (yes, horrible lighting and weird problem with the creases in the mesh)
The version with normal map.
are the normals on your model flipped? prss recalculate normals from toolbar in edit mode, see if that helps
If you’re using the standard RGB map type made from most normal map generators, then do make sure that you have the map type set to ‘tangent’ (and yes, you should still check your normals).
Did both of those things, although both of them already were how they should be. Still having the problem.
Fixed! Added a Brightness/Contrast modifier in between the image texture and normal map nodes.
You shouldn’t need that, something else is wrong that you should really sort out before continuing.
Showing your nodes and the normal map will help everyone see the problem very quickly
nah, were happy to make random guesses 
see360, that helps a bit.
Guys, the problem is solved, I’m not worried about it.
mind sharing your solution? I’ve run into this as well…
@rickyblender You dont need a glossy to use a normal map… and that layer weight node is doing nothing
@immortal the problem with your set up is that
a) you dont have an image in your image node,
b) the menu underneath on your image node should be non-colour not colour
c) bright/contrast node shouldnt be there…
You should never, ever, ever need a contrast node (or any node) on a proper normal map. Normal maps use very specific colors for a reason and changing them in any way alters the direction and intensity of the normal calculation.
I suspected as much after reading up on what normal maps were and how they functioned. Still baffled at times on how to create them (just using Gimp’s plugin doesn’t always work OBTW) and I’m still plugging away.
I use njob for making normal maps and displacement maps.
And yeah, I know everything is made wrong, I litterally just threw the nodes I use (without image texture, UV map, non-color, etc.) on the default cube to show where the bright/contrast node goes. My normal map works fine with the brightness contrast node. Just a slight decrease of, (bumpiness?) but that can be fixed with a stronger nor map.
Here’s an example:
too bad it’s njob doesn’t run on Linux… I just tried it though and it isn’t so bad…
Most normal maps are baked from high resolution geometry. You can do this from within Blender. Normals from images can be made by dozens of packages. My personal favorite (and likely the most widely used alongside CrazyBump) is nDo2, which is a Photoshop-dependent application. It has a neat, clean interface, built in 3D viewer, and fantastic control for details, along with a number of useful presets for different materials. It also allows you to create spec/height/etc. maps from your images.
I also use a normal map add on in GIMP sometimes.
