# Photo printing question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208 "2015-09-14T14:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/1 "2015-09-14T14:49:19Z")
I have a Canon wireless printer that was touted to produce high quality photos. Even with print settings maximized for best quality, it is obvious that the resolution is sub-par. Is it likely that connecting the laptop and printer with a USB cord will improve picture resolution? And if so, is there a setting I need to tweak, seeing that the printer was originally set up for wireless printing?\* \*note that non-photo printing works fine. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/2 "2015-09-14T14:51:37Z")
You sure you are using proper paper? Any old paper will produce horrendous results on an inkjet. ETA: Oh, and a USB cable won’t make a difference in quality, just speed. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/3 "2015-09-14T15:36:37Z")
The brand of photo paper I’m using produced good resolution photos with my old printer. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/4 "2015-09-14T15:43:42Z")
Wireless vs wired will have no impact on print quality. It’s most likely your photo paper as mentioned above or you have your setting incorrect. If resolution is actually the problem, it’s more likely a problem in the original image quality. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/5 "2015-09-14T16:03:40Z")
Which driver are you using? I’ve seen differences when Postscript, for instance, is used instead of PCL. ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/6 "2015-09-14T16:09:49Z")
…and which Canon printer are you using? …like the Model? It’s mostly down to settings (when you print) & paper. USB vs WiFi makes no difference, except speed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/7 "2015-09-14T16:20:27Z")
What sort of camera are you using? You probably have it set up (or it defaults) to optimize clarity for on-screen viewing rather than printing. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/8 "2015-09-15T02:50:57Z")
As others have said wireless printers will not drop down to a lower resolution because of a slower connection. Printers are not like cellphones, which will sometimes do this (think YouTube videos dropping in & out of HD). Printers don’t display in ‘real time’, so even if it takes 30 seconds to receive the picture data via wireless instead of 15 via cable it will simply wait until then before it starts printing. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/9 "2015-09-15T06:45:31Z")
Could you describe the appearance of the printed photos in a little more detail? You say the resolution is sub-par, but inkjet dots are so damn tiny that they are almost invisible - the physical resolution of modern printers is difficult to perceive by eye. Are you seeing blocky pixellation in your images? If so, are you sure they aren’t thumbnails that you’re printing full size? What are the pixel dimensions of the image and how big are you printing them on the page? Are you seeing some other kind of loss of fidelity? Stripes or bands? If so, it might be that the heads just need cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/10 "2015-09-15T07:02:21Z")
Printing on glossy photo paper with plain paper settings will produce terrible results. Are you telling it that you’re printing on photo-quality paper? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-printing-question/731208/11 "2015-09-15T12:26:49Z")
It’s [this printer](http://www.amazon.com/Canon-MX922-Wireless-Printer-Scanner/dp/B00AVWKUJS/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1442319588&sr=1-3&keywords=canon+photo+printer). I’ve looked through all the printing box options (which come up when you select Print), adjusted them to maximum (best) quality (instead of Normal), picked Photo paper, print on decent glossy photo paper, and the result is the prints do not look sharp. No lines or defects, just poor resolution and flat-looking colors. The camera is not the problem (as noted, photos looked great when printed on a previous printer - even with cellphone photos enlarged to 5 by 7). So are there Secret Hidden Driver settings lurking deep within my Mac, and if so, how do I get to them?