MP C3003 Color Quality

Wish I could help, MAC not my strong point either.  Can anyone else help with this?

Not my strong point either but one of the things I would consider is the difference between PCL and PostScript drivers. The 03 series didn't come with emulated PS...you had to purchase the PS 3 option to have true native Postcript printing capability.

This is key:  Make sure you are using the actual driver that you download from the Ricoh webpage.  Macs will automatically set up the printer with a generic driver if you don't download the actual driver.  The generic driver isn't nearly as detailed as the real driver.  This is also something to look out for if you find you are missing features like user codes in the driver.

Thanks Fisher.  Actually, this was an application setting.  In Adobe X Pro the customer had a Color Profile that was set to something other than Savin MPC3003/C3503.  After correcting this, the prints were much better.

It's challenging dealing with the nuances of Mac and desktop publishing/graphic arts programs when you don't work in them every day.  It's frustrating but customers expect us to be the printing experts and many times aren't familiar with their print settings.  They just want it to print like it looks on the monitor.

Whenever I have someone suggest they want to replicate the monitor I do this:

Whenever I have someone suggest they want to replicate the monitor I do this:

Type "the color blue" in a search engine address

Pick out one of the medium blue patches

Ask them to stand up while looking at that patch. The blue will become a darker shade. I ask them which of the shades they wish the copier to reproduce. If an image on a monitor can change just by changing the angle you look at it, how can the copier know what color you prefer?

Sometimes I'll also talk about how monitors these days are the equivalent of a small TV. "Mr. prospect, have you ever been to an electronics store where they have dozens of TV's all set to the same channel? The source of the image is the same but the picture is different. Copiers get their print instructions from the source which isn't the monitor, it's the computer."