Photoshop printing colors off when compared to HP printing software

Question

Hello. my printer is an HP photosmart 6510- cq761a-b211a.  my os is both windows 7 ultimate 64-bit and Mac OS 10.8.4.
I have scanned .tifs of artwork i am trying to make prints of, i have tried on both computers, and here is the issue i am running into:
Whenever i use the HP software to print by right clicking and selecting print, the colors come out pretty close to where i want them, however, the hp software does not allow many options for centering or sizing prints. If i try to print a 4x6 on 8 1/2 x 11, it does not allow it to be centered or adjusted and it just prints it at the edge.
on the other hand, if i print through photoshop CS4 on the pc or CS6 on the mac, i can select the paper and size and choose all the options of exactly how i want it to print, and it prints correctly, however, the colors are off. they do not look accurate, ex. the reds look like generic red vs the depth of all the reds the hp software catches correctly.
i would love it if i could just use the hp software to print, if it just had more control over the images. it seems to print spot on. but it looks like ill have to use another program, i have tried going through all the photoshop settings and made sure they all match the printer, i have it set that the printer manages the colors and printing, the colormetric options,rgb,  and paper all match. i cannot figure out why there is such a huge difference when photoshop is open. ive printed about 35 test images and it isnt working right.
any help is appreciated, thanks

Answer 1

You have to have a calibrated monitor and the image must look right to you on that monitor. Then you let Photoshop manage colors and select your printer profile just below that setting, also you must use Print Settings>Print Settings over to the left to make sure you match the paper type.
You will need to go to G Ballard's site to read up on color management and workflow, bec ause your question indicates you don't understand the concepts.