Printer question

[popzork]

I am prepress expert by day, designer by night. I have a G4 running panther 10.3.7 with Adobe CS, Quark, etc. at home.

I currently have an Epson CX84 printer that came with the Mac. But, it doesn't allow me to print separations to check colors.

What exactly am I looking for in a printer to allow me to run seps? Postscript level 2? level 3? what is the difference? Is there something different I'm looking for?

I just don't know the deep dark secrets about printers. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[DCurry]

A desktop inkjet is not postscript-compatible unless you use a rip. There is a way to get seps, though - print your separated postscript file and make a PDF. Then you can print the PDF or just view it to see your seps. BTW - InDesign has a built in Separations Preview palette that is awesome.

[popzork]

InDesign is the best program on the planet! thanks for the info. I just used the separation palette to double check the file and it saved my butt!

Thanks again! You are awesome!