Does it matter what program I print from?

[Jimmyjangles]

Will the quality of the printed cover be any different based on what program I use to print from? (Paint, GIMP, etc.)  or is it all the same and dependent on the printer itself?

So far my only option for printing has been MS Paint.  Following the guide on this site I get it to print the correct size, but everything winds up much darker than it should be.  I know this is also dependent on the paper I use, which isn't all that fancy, just standard legal paper on an inkjet printer.  Still, some areas of a cover that are supposed to be very bright, or even white, end up a bit faded instead.  The picture itself is nice and sharp, and even the small print looks good, but the colors end up all dark.  And the thing is, if I then compare the printout with the image in MS Paint, they're almost exactly the same.  Areas that used to be very bright end up looking faded when opened in Paint, and that's how the print comes out.

I want to use GIMP to see if there's any difference.  At least the pictures look exactly like they should using that program, but unfortunately there's something wrong with the printing preferences option and it won't let me change them, so I haven't been able to print anything from there.

But I don't want to spend too long looking for a version of GIMP that works and waste a bunch of time installing/uninstalling if it won't change anything in the end.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Snowcone]

It should be the same, but I'd recommend printing from within Paint.NET or GIMP over MS Paint.

[Jimmyjangles]

Thanks Snowcone, I'll go ahead and try those out just in case.

I figured the program shouldn't make a difference, but since this is the first time I've actually cared about the quality of what I print I never bothered becoming too familiar with how all this stuff works.

EDIT - Well, Paint.NET didn't work.  I followed the guide, but it never prints at the right size (it makes the margins as small as possible)  I also tried a couple of different GIMP versions and none let me change my printing preferences.  I don't know what the problem with that could be.

[Harrison]

If you ever manage to get the GIMP working, be sure to have the cover at 100% zoom, or else it will print really small.