I tried to import a node from an existing blend file. For some reason my output is a bit different. What did I do? Using the append option (shift F1) I selected all the materials involved in the “node material”. In the node editor it looks as expected. But when I render my image the color is less dark. Is there a standard approach to move a node material from one blender file to another? I will add a screenshot later today…
The voodoo is, indeed, to put the nodes into a “group.”
You will probably prefer to link to the group in the other file, instead of importing it. As you undoubtedly know, “link to” creates a reference to the data in the other file, whereas “importing” obviously makes a new copy of it (into the current file). When you “link,” any changes that you subsequently make in the original file will be immediately reflected in all files which are linked to it … because all of the other files actually go to it to get the information.