Desktop publishing: Basic color correction help

Basic color correction help

Hello! I am starting to print and scan things that need to be color matched (the scans should match reality, the monitor should match the scanner and, especially, the printer). I am getting a noticeable red shift, primarily with grays, both from the scanner (scanned image appears onscreen as much redder than original) and from the printer (neutral gray on screen prints with a red tint). I need some basic info on how to fix this. I printed out a good test image that has several grays - some created from just black and some a mix of CMY, and I am getting the red shift on all medium and light grays. Dark grays and other colors (light and dark of C,M,Y,R,G, Violet) all look extremely similar between the screen and the printed copy; the red shift seems to happen with grays and, I noticed with what I was working with recently, browns. Can someone point me to a tutorial to help me color correct the printer and scanner to get rid of the red shift (or tell me how to do so)? I am new to this, so it can't be too technical (e.g., the Help info with Colorsync is above my head, without some further tutorial). Have searched for this, of course, but what I find is all pretty advanced. Would like to fix the problem without having to correct each individual document, which is what I've been doing - time consuming and hasn't worked well. Thank you!

I have a very new iMac, 8GB memory, OS 10.5.8; using Photoshop Elements (but get the problem in Preview, too). Canon Pixma i8500 printer. Older Epson 1240 scanner.