Inkjet Workshop - Tutorial > Driver Settings

For the definition of a printer driver, please see the Definitions page.

All printer drivers have user-selectable settings which change the way the printer applies ink to the paper.

These are typical settings for printer drivers:

paper type – most printer drivers include choices for plain paper and the different matte and glossy papers that the printer manufacturer sells.
paper size and orientation
dots-per-inch – HP uses 'normal-better-best' settings; Epson uses 'speed-quality' settings unless you select the advanced mode in the driver.
screening – some printer drivers let you choose 'dither' or 'error diffusion'. When printing photos, use 'error diffusion' if it is available.
density – or darkness.
color controls – change the color balance, or print your photo as a sepia or black and white image.

Using the wrong 'paper type' setting is one of the the most common causes of poor prints.

Most of the profits in inkjet printing are in the ink cartridges and paper. Printer manufacturers expend a great deal of development resources to assure that their printers, inks and papers work well together. When you are first starting to print photos, using the manufacturer's papers and inks will help you get good results with minimum fuss. Just be sure to select the correct paper in your printer driver.

Experimenting with other interesting papers

Having gained some experience printing photos, you may want to try other interesting papers in your inkjet printer. Here are some tips:

Never use glossy paper specifically designed for one brand of printer in another brand of printer. For example, using HP glossy paper in an Epson printer, or vice versa, will not give good results. The inks and paper coatings will not be compatible, and there will usually be drying problems.
Matte papers generally work well in a wider variety of printers than glossy papers.
Papers made by the photographic and paper companies (Kodak, Konica, Hammermill, etc.) should have information on the package to indicate whether the paper may work with your printer. Inside the package, or on the company's web page, you should find a tip sheet which lists the best printer driver settings to use. Follow that advice.

Test page for developing you own settings

This section will be updated with a test page that you can use to experiment with different papers and an overview of one method for developing your own printer driver settings.