most accurate color reproduction - laser printer

[halledise]

(apologies if this one's been asked before, but I've trawled the threads and can't find anything recent or specific to this)

for some reason when printing to a color laser printer, the reproduction is not accurate to what I'm seeing on my Mac.

I'm using the latest drivers specific to the printer(s) and yet (for example) with Pages, I continually have to experiment with enhancing pix and clipart and even backgrounds to get the desired result.
most frustrating not to mention time- consuming.
same when printing out pdf files sent by others.

we currently are using MacBook, MacBook Pro and MBAir to Fuji Xerox C1110 and CP205W

it wasn't much better when we had an HP 1525

to my understanding, it's not a display calibration issue either.

where am I going wrong - is there an ideal color laser printer for Macs perhaps?

 

[Bengt77]

In my experience, only the 'big boys' from Canon come close in color reproduction to what an inkjet printer can do. We've had some at my former work and I was positively surprised by what those machines could achieve. But the cheaper laser printers are not meant to be color accurate. It's something you just can't expect from them. I'm sorry if that's what you got them for. Consumer laser printers and color accuracy just don't go together that well. Again, this is all in my experience. If you want the most accurate color reproduction, get an inkjet printer. If you want print speed, perfect text and okay color accuracy, get a laser printer.

 

[halledise]

In my experience, only the 'big boys' from Canon come close in color reproduction to what an inkjet printer can do. We've had some at my former work and I was positively surprised by what those machines could achieve. But the cheaper laser printers are not meant to be color accurate. It's something you just can't expect from them. I'm sorry if that's what you got them for. Consumer laser printers and color accuracy just don't go together that well. Again, this is all in my experience. If you want the most accurate color reproduction, get an inkjet printer. If you want print speed, perfect text and okay color accuracy, get a laser printer.

appreciate your comments, but surely there must be a way of getting closer reproduction on a color laser without having to spend a fortune on a top of the range printer.
even colored text doesn't come out same-same.

I'm stumped

 

[GoKyu]

I do a lot of color correction in Photoshop, and have tried to calibrate laser printers the same way as inkjets, and I've never found a laser that can truly match an inkjet printer. Here are a few reasons.

1. Color gamut - laser printers just aren't capable of delivering the same gamut (range) of colors that an inkjet printer can. They use a limited palette of CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black). Many inkjet printers that are specifically meant for photos tend to have anywhere from 6-8 inks for much better color (or in some cases, B&W) reproduction.

2. Method of ink delivery - this is another big reason. While many common inkjet printers also only use the CMYK inks, laser printers "lay down" an entire color per pass. That means that a laser printed page needs to run back and forth 4 times to lay down each color.

In contrast, inkjets shoot all colors at the same time, as the photo is printed bit by bit. The color mixes together for a much more vivid and realistic look than a laser printer can attain (not to say that laser printers can't print nice-looking photos; but rather that the final output generally can't match the quality of a photo printed with an inkjet.)

 

[chefwong]

You're never going to get it....

Only inkjet with profiles
OR a UBER high end graphics grade copier with matching RIP that in theory is color calibrated/profiled as well....

Even the *mid high end* $8K regular color lasers won't cut it....

 

[ITgreybeard]

Yes, this thread is old, but the info is still good, still relevant. Thanks.

 

[AppleSmack]

Yep, true.

In my experience, a £25k Canon with Fiery RIP will give good colour reproduction + ££ for a monthly maintenance contract, and you can spend more for better. You're not going to fit this in your home office.

Expect to pay ££ for good colour on inkjet, £££ for laser, £££££ for best colour on laser.

And then the accountant disagreed and moved the studio to a ££ Ricoh laser. As expected, these are tuned for vivid PowerPoint printing, terrible for colour accuracy.

If someone could make a home office £ printer print like a £££ studio printer, they'd be doing it already. That said, my £ HP LaserJet prints way better colour than a £££ laser printer of 10 years ago.