Embarrassing Noob Question.

[shimrod]

Well, you guys are far far beyond me on this stuff, but basically I just want to be able to print images that look similar to the screen version.

On some colors, they turn out fine. Other colors look completely wrong: for example, I have an image with significant teal in it - it prints a much darker, far too blue color and most of the texture is lost (this doesn't happen on other colors). But for some reason, if I use the hue/saturation tool in Photoshop and come up with a similar teal color on a different image, it seems to print fine.

Please understand, I am not looking for anything close to extraordinary quality - would just like the printed colors to be a fairly close approximation to the screen version.

I use Photoshop 7.0 and an hp deskjet 3650, so you know  my knowledge of graphics is abysmal, lol.

Thanks in advance!

[Tim Gray]

This requires a lot of detail to explain.

1.  You need to callibrate your monitor with a hardware based tool such as from Gretag MacBeth.

2.  Take a look at the turorials and articles here: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/home.htm  Ian has one specifically on printing with PS 7.  He also has tutorials on calibration.  

3.  You may ultimately need to have a custom print profile made.  Check out www.inkjetart.com for a reasonably priced service and explanations.

4.  You need to make sure that you are viewing the prints under the appropriate conditions - ie not a dimly lit room.  A solux lamp is a reasonable light source.