IPhoto card quality

I just receivd my first set of cards printed via iPhoto and I must admit I'm a tad disappointed. The printed image is grainy, dark and desaturated. The 5 MB jpeg image looks terrific on screen but the printed card simply doesn't have any punch at all. Has anyone else had this experience ?
I'm wondering if some of the colour problems are related to colour management profiles ? The image was originally shot in RAW with the camera set to Adobe RGB (1998). After adjusting the image and cropping it was then exported from Aperture as a jpeg for import to iPhoto. The screen is calibrated on a regular basis with an GM EyeOne so we can rule that out of the equation. What profile would you recommend for on-screen soft-proofing from Aperture when the output is tagetted for the iPhoto card printing service ?
I'm relatively new to digital photography so still going through the learning curve with all this colour management stuff - plenty of opportunity for me to get it wrong !
Also, does anyone know how to improve the resolution of the printed cards ? They are very grainy.
All suggestions very gratefully received.
Roger
Intel iMac 20-inch   Mac OS X (10.4.6)   iLife 06 Aperture 1.1.1

Roger:
As far as the color is concerned Apple and it's suppliers use sRGB for prints, books, etc. That may be a factor.
The graininess may be partially due to the card stock it's printed on and on the printer itself. I know from experience that the medium sized books from iPhoto are very grainy, visible to the naked eye up close, compared to the large, hardcover books which requires an eye loop at 8x to see the halftone pattern. It may be the same factors working on the cards.

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