laserjet printing

[ironsniper1]

hey everyone, i did a search but couldn't find anything that fits my issue, I am wanting to print my own cover art for game cases and while the print looks okay, it comes out very dark and a tiny bit washed out and I was wondering if anyone could give me some help or advice on what the issue is, my printer is a HP Color LaserJet MFP M477fnw, if you need screenshots of anything please let me know

[Arseen]

My guess is laser, which just isn't as good with fine tone color printing as ink jets.

[ironsniper1]

looks like after doing some research the dark prints may have to do with print density if I can get that right maybe my issue will be fixed

[wiggy]

My guess is laser, which just isn't as good with fine tone color printing as ink jets.

This.

Laser is notoriously awful with faithful color reproduction, especially with reds.

Adjusting the files themselves might be a workaround.

[ironsniper1]

My guess is laser, which just isn't as good with fine tone color printing as ink jets.

This.

Laser is notoriously awful with faithful color reproduction, especially with reds.

Adjusting the files themselves might be a workaround.

any thoughts on my screenshot above?

[Arseen]

My guess is laser, which just isn't as good with fine tone color printing as ink jets.

This.

Laser is notoriously awful with faithful color reproduction, especially with reds.

Adjusting the files themselves might be a workaround.

any thoughts on my screenshot above?

You said that prints were both too dark and washed out... Sorry you are out of luck.
Decreasce darkness and washed outness increases.
Strenghtening colors to combat washed outness and darkness increases.
Buy cheap ink jet and quality paper.

[ironsniper1]

this is how it looks

[Arseen]

That actually doesn't look too bad colorwise.
I think if you just find better paper the quality might improve enough.

[ironsniper1]

That actually doesn't look too bad colorwise.
I think if you just find better paper the quality might improve enough.

i am using red river matte legal paper, I am having a very hard time finding good quality paper for laser, while the picture looks okay, in person the colors are darker than what is shown in the art I downloaded

[Arseen]

Buy ink jet

[ironsniper1]

Buy ink jet

wish I could but right now I cant so I have to work with what I have

in this picture the one on the bottom is from before i changed the print density settings and the one on top is after i changed the settings, the colors are getting closer to the original picture

[Arseen]

I can only say when you are happy with the quality all is good.

[ironsniper1]

I can only say when you are happy with the quality all is good.

not happy yet still gotta tweak those settings and to be honest I am not sure which way to tweak them to get the best colors possible

[wiggy]

That actually doesn't look too bad colorwise.
I think if you just find better paper the quality might improve enough.

i am using red river matte legal paper, I am having a very hard time finding good quality paper for laser, while the picture looks okay, in person the colors are darker than what is shown in the art I downloaded

I know nothing of red river other than people here liking it a lot for some reason.

But the nice thing about laser is that you really don’t need expensive paper, unlike inkjet. I’ll let you know what papers we use tomorrow when I’m back in the shop.

edit: just looked at Red River’s site. They don’t make a laserjet compatible paper. That’s probably a part of your problem.

[tjsynkral]

I use this paper on my HP Color Laserjet and the results are excellent.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AU4N4U4

Note that this paper does not bond properly with the toner unless I configure the printer properties for "Color Laser Transparency" media. That makes it print at about half speed (which is still really fast) and then it bonds fine.