printer settings/color profiles

[Teester]

Dear Mac user-friends,

I would like to ask you for a tip regarding my printer, a EPSON STYLUS C86. The problem is, that I am discontent with most of my prints - even if I use good quality paper such as glossy photo paper or matte heavyweight paper. Mostly, the darks turn out to be too rich and the colors almost too colorful. I know that most of the people printing out their photos at home do like that fact, that their pictures come out extra-contrasty and super coloful. This is not the case for me, printing illustrations with a very sensitive color scale.

I tried to change the color profiles in the color settings of my Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign applications but doing so, I am afraid that I will mess with my prints even more. And I don't like to select settings randomly, without really knowing what I am exactly doing.
Is there somebody out there who has dealt with similar or same printing issues?

What else could I do except from changing printer settings such as "normal", "fine" or "best photo" (-quality). Or does my problem have more to do with a wrong screen calibration?
(I am working on an I Mac, G5, OSX 10.3.8)

I am more than looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks for your time!
Take care,

Teester

[bd5150]

Did you run Color Management in Photoshop to calibrate your devices? I know this seems basic but it really helped me calibrate my laptop's LCD with my Epson Photo Stylus 1280. Plus, I let Colorsync manage my printing profiles rather than making manual adjustments and this has been very consistent for my prints. I'll bet you already know where Colorsync is located but just in case, it's in the Command+Print window but it's not the Colorsync selection in the dropdown list, it's in the Color Management option.

Also make sure the colors you are working with match a printable color vs. just a color your video card understands. The Info pane in Photoshop will show you it's not a printable color by putting an exclamation point (!) next to the color number value.

Finally, here's a blurb from the Photoshop help file:
If you want to see a simulation of your final printed image, use the Proof Setup command and choose the printer's profile. Your monitor will display the image in the color space of your desktop printer. For the most accurate soft proof, choose a profile for the specific paper you're printing on.

[Teester]

Thanks bd5150 for your tips.
After listening to you, I realized that I haven't tried a couple of things earlier that will surely bring me a step further. I'll give it a try now.
Thanks again for your time.
Take care,

Teester