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Question on my Xerox Printer?

i have a workcentre m24 xerox printer and what I see on my screen color-wise is not what comes out from the printer. i have tried every predefined setting in the print dialog box to no avail. i am printing a PDF file. when i print directly from illustrator or quark, the colors are a bit closer. any help would be appreciated, thanks. Also: I really should have added that the print out on my HP color laserjet 3700DN is MUCH closer to what I see on the screen than my 8x more expensive Xerox M24 ... how can that be?

Public Comments

1. Working in the printing industry, I see this from our customers quite often. But the fact of the matter is, you will not achieve the same output of your printer as compared to your monitor. Not without an expensive monitor and software package with the use of color profiles. Just consider how easily it would be to change the color of your monitor with the use of the brightness and contrast controls. You can't expect your printer to match with every change of your monitor? For the same reason why an image will look different on one monitor vs the next. Depending what you have available on your system, you'll have to play with different color management settings within QuarkXPress or Illustrator and/or the color settings of your output device. To go even further, even different paper that you put in your printer will look different. (Example: coated paper vs. uncoated paper.) Best of luck!
2. Monitors use an RGB colour spectrum and printers use CYMK. They both treat and form colour differently, and therefore you will notice a difference between what is printed, and what is displayed. Check your printer's manual. ON some higher end printer you can set different color profiles and adjust saturation, this will get you even closer (through a great deal of trial and error) however once they are set they are forever. For setting colour profiles you are best to create a simple pure CYMK colour block and print it on different saturations until the tones on the screen are close to the tones on the print. If your printer does not have this option, you may manually have to adjust the colour prior to printing. It is a pain in the bottom, however for fussy printers like yourself, having the option to set custom colour profiles is the best way to go. As the previos poster noted the paper you print on will effect this, you are best to set your profile with the most commonly use brand, weight and brightness of paper.
3. I can make this fairly short and sweet. 1st: Calibrate your monitor! Adobe Gamma is an easy tool to use for this. 2nd: Make sure your M24 has been calibrated by the service technician, I know you can perform a calibration BUT that paticular model from Xerox is high end and the service tech has more options available to him than you do.. Also remember to approve HIS calibration. Color is subjective and what he thinks is blue you may not. 3rd: Use PANTONE colors when possible and get a PANTONE book so you will know what the color is supposed to look like printed. I have been in the office industry over 20 years. As a service tech, the customers that I have taken care of over the years RARELY call me because what they see is not what they get. Just following those 3 simple things will improve your prints dramatically. The last thing is to use a high quality paper. I know it sounds cliche but the XEROX papers will give you the truest output from the XEROX machines. Simply_T is mostly correct in that the image printed will never match exactly, BUT with the M24 (high end machine) you can get VERY close. **edit** With the Hp being close to what you see, the problem defintiely lies in the M24. It needs calibrated by the tech. **2nd edit** How many copies/prints are on your M24? It could be something like a bad developer.