Photoshop makes my printed photos dull

[JTorto]

Hello. I am having some issues when I print through photoshop. I use a Brother MFC-J1215W InkJet printer, and when I print the photo through windows, colors are perfect, reds are red and so on. When I print through photoshop, however, my reds are closer to an orange, and it makes the photo look terrible. I am trying to print out some custom game art for my nintendo games that I lost the cases for, and I want my collection to look pristine. I let photoshop manage colors and let printer manage colors and I get the same result both times. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. Thanks in advance.

[D Fosse]

You can't normally print from default settings in Photoshop. You're supposed to set up the correct profile for the printer/paper/ink, and these profiles are normally installed with the printer driver. Some printers don't come with profiles, however.

If that's the case, set "Printer manages color" in the PS print dialog, instead of "Photoshop manages color". Then it should behave like printing from Windows. You still have to set the correct paper type in the printer driver.

[NB, colourmanagement net]

D.Fosse gave sone good advice, if that doesn't help try this:

take a look at the following article and check if that helps: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/printing-color-management-photoshop1.html

You may like to re-install the printer drivers to check if that makes a difference?

Here is some general Adobe [Mac and Win] info on printing problems,

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-printing-problems.html

Simple reset: hold the space bar when you open the print window. It resets the print dialogs

• - - - - - - -

If that doesn’t help -

Here’s some troubleshooting advice:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/basic-trouble-shooting-steps.html

Perhaps try resetting Photoshop preferences?

(read this entire post before acting please)

Resetting restores Photoshop's internal preferences, which are saved when Photoshop closes.

If they become corrupt then various issues can occur.

Here’s some info on how to do that:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

Manually removing preferences files is the most complete method for restoring Photoshop to its default state: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually

The user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS.

To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see here for how to access hidden user library files.

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

Unexpected behavior may indicate damaged preferences. Restoring preferences to their default settings is a good idea when trying to troubleshoot unexpected behaviors in Photoshop. check out the video

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#reset_preferences

Learn how to access and modify Photoshop preferences and customize per your frequent workflows

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

And here’s an earlier forum discussion as an aid to understanding

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/quick-tips-how-to-reset-photoshop-pre...

You may want to backup your settings and custom presets, brushes & actions before restoring Photoshop's preferences.

Here is general info about that:  https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#BackupPhotoshoppreferences

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer:: co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

[Nancy OShea]

CMYK color mode is duller than RGB. Change color mode to RGB and then allow your printer to manage color settings.