Print color

First off, thanks to EJ and others who responded to an earlier post about not being able to read RAW images with CS4. I was able to download and link the upgrade to ACR so that problem is solved.

However, when it rains it pours, at least for those like me who have limited technical ability.

I recently blew a hard drive so a new drive was installed, along with a new video card and an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. It seems that all that was familiar to me prior to the upgrade is now quite confusing. Screens and prompts are different in just about every program and re-installing my operating software has become a bit of a nightmare.

I printed a couple of pictures and found the color to be much darker than when printed with the earlier setup. Is there a logical reason why the upgraded Windows system or other improvements should make such a difference? I thought calibrating my monitor might help, although images on the monitor seem to be the same as before. I quickly learned that the software for my eye-one display 2 won't work with Windows 7. I plan to talk with those folks tomorrow to see what they recommend, short of a new investment in another calibrator.

Other than calibration, is there an easy fix for getting my print colors back on track?

Thanks again for your help.

Roger, the operating system on Windows doesn't affect how printing works, at all. (Unlike Mac OS.) Color management is pretty much the domain of the application you're using to print, and the printer driver. My first guess given all the changes that have gone on with your system, is that your color management settings simply aren't the same as they used to be, and this is causing the difference.

There are many, many threads here in the Printing forum that discuss this topic, so if you want to do some research on color management settings you'll find a lot. Just search the forum for "printer color management" or similar keywords. Or, post more details about your configuration here and folks will try to help diagnose what's going on.

If you're printing with some kind of Epson printer, you may find these articles helpful. They are a bit older in terms of specific details of software or driver settings, but the principles are the same today...
http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... -printing/
http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... er-prints/