To print like a pro, you first need to understand color management, color gamut and profiling. Next, you need to understand the capabilities and limitations of your output device. Finally, you should have some idea of where and how your print will be displayed. Some of these topics are dense enough to warrant a book’s worth of explanation. You should have an understanding of these topics before you turn to the market to find an A3 printer.

In brief, you need to start with a monitor that can be calibrated. Start by calibrating your monitor using one of a half dozen products on the market designed for that purpose. The simplest of these is the Pantone Huey that sells for under $100. More sophisticated calibration tools span a cost range from just under $200 to well over $1000. To some degree, you get what you pay for, but for most users one of the devices in the $200-500 range will work well.

Color gamut refers to size of the color space. Most output devices, including and especially the web, are color gamut limited. Adobe Systems has defined 4 common color spaces: sRGB, RGB, PRGB, and CYMK.

sRGB is an 8-bit color space that all inkjet printers can match. RGB, or Adobe RGB, is an 8- or 16-bit color space with a wider gamut, and PRGB, or ProRGB, is a 32-bit full gamut color space that has a useful potential, possibly, down the road as output devices become more capable. CYMK is a subtractive color model designed for use when preparing images for four-color printing.

Most inkjet printers come with proprietary color profiles that are keyed to the ICC standard. ICC stands for International Color Consortium. You have the choice of choosing one of many ICC profiles or using the printer manufacturer’s defaults. Once you have installed your printer, the software that you use for printing will give you options for selecting profiles.

Light reflecting from your print will dramatically affect its look. You may not be able to predict this factor, but when you set out to find an A3 printer, it is nonetheless useful to keep in mind.