Greetings,

I own a small watch company and I use Inkscape to design my dial graphics. I print out the dials using a good quality photo printer (Epson ET-2750). The prints are perfect on one computer but I have trouble achieving the same print quality when I print from another (newer) computer. When printing on the second computer the finer details are consistently less sharp, more blurred.

On both computers I print with the same printer driver, match paper type, and the max quality setting.

FYI, without looking too closely, the prints from either computer look virtually the same. You can only spot the differences if you look very closely. Being that these prints are used for watch dials, people do look very closely at the details and then the differences are noticeable. Very fine details are important and I have to have consistency.

I’m no software expert or graphic designer so I’m shooting in the dark to figure out what is causing this problem. My guess is it may have to do with hardware or some other software differences (graphics cards, other drivers, etc.). I’ve included snapshots of the two computers I use.

I’m planning on buying another small inexpensive laptop for the sole purpose of printing Inkscape designs but I want to be sure I don’t run into the same trouble with the new computer.

Two questions:

1.      Based on the attached details  - is there an immediate/obvious reason computer #2 would print with lower quality?

2.      Is there a type of computer or specific type of hardware, graphics card, processor that would be the best fit for high quality Inkscape prints?

Thanks in advance!

Nathan

Hello there, 

As far my understanding goes, for printing purposes it's the safest option to save as a pdf and print outside inkscape from a pdf viewer. 

Then it "should" look the same, regardless your pc. As it's the printer's rip that processes your image, and not your computer.

Once printing from pdf, one source of issue is eliminated.

The printer's driver is the second which can cause issues. There is a possibility a newer driver is available where they fixed such an inconsistency.

If not, you can still try out older drivers.

For what it's worth you can ask your printer's manufacturer if they are aware of such an issue. 

Are those same models use a different rip modules throughout the production? Did they change what's under the hood?

Then, third option -something is different at the printing setup. 

Some give the setting "print from image" when printing a pdf, which may cause a drop in the resolution.

Those are my guesses.

Have to add though that while the epson model ET-2750 sounds fairly decent, it isn't the ideal choice for printing minuscule details sharp.

Using cmyk to mix into a solid colour will never come close printing with spot colours.

Cannot recommend a specific printer, I'd need to dig deeper.

Thanks for the info. I forgot to mention, I'm printing the same images from two different computers, but both to the same printer. This is why I was thinking it had something to do with the computers. One computer is consistently good, the other is consistently not so good. I will definitely try the option to print from pdf and post how that went. Thanks for the tips!

Another possibility is each computer may have different color management settings. What looks good with one computer may look bad using another computer.

I would print some color bars from each computers and compare. Does each computer have the same RGB settings or is there a difference with color profiles?

"A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches, never quite sure." Sorry, couldn't resist 😀

Sorry, I don't see the photos of your computers. EDIT: Just found your photos. I'm still new to this UI.

Are you comparing the images on just one monitor or two separate monitors?

If two monitors, what happens if you swap them and compare again?

Is there a config for each computer driver that don't match?

Do both computers have the exact Inkscape rendering and color management settings?

EDIT: I see WIN10 and WIN11. Your computers are running two distinct operating systems. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. But, they both can use the same drivers. It might be worth checking to see if the drivers are at the same version.

Found the solution. I needed the exact same driver from the printer installed on both computers. Once I did that the results came out the same. Thanks so much for the help everybody!