Unless you work in a commercial printing company or service bureau, you probably print images to a desktop printer, such as an inkjet, dye sublimation, or laser printer, not to an imagesetter. Photoshop lets you control how your image is printed.

Monitors display images using light, whereas desktop printers reproduce images using inks, dyes, or pigments. For this reason, a desktop printer can’t reproduce all the colors displayed on a monitor. However, by incorporating certain procedures (such as a color management system) into your workflow, you can achieve predictable results when printing your images to a desktop printer. Keep these considerations in mind when working with an image you intend to print:

• If your image is in RGB mode, do not convert the document to CMYK mode when printing to a desktop printer. Work entirely in RGB mode. As a rule, desktop printers are configured to accept RGB data and use internal software to convert to CMYK. If you send CMYK data, most desktop printers apply a conversion anyway, with unpredictable results.

• If you want to preview an image as printed to any device for which you have a profile, use the Proof Colors command.

• To reproduce screen colors accurately on the printed page, you must incorporate color management into your workflow. Work with a monitor that is calibrated and characterized. You should also create a custom profile specifically for your printer and the paper you print on. Using the profile supplied with your printer (although better than using no profile at all) yields only mediocre results.