Re-Profile after new OS and driver?

[ThePhotoDude]

I have been printing to my Z3100 from Windows XP, have profiled all my papers etc,

Now I have installed Windows 7 64bit, so the drivers are different etc, do I need to re-profile my papers?

Thanks.

[Jonathan Wienke]

Probably yes. You don't need to change OS or driver version to invalidate a profile; in many cases simply making a minor change to a single driver setting is enough. For your existing profiles to still be good, the set of driver options would need to be exactly the same between versions, as well as the precise way each setting is interpreted. If any settings are added or deleted, or the way any setting is interpreted by the driver has changed, you will have to reprofile.

[David Saffir]

first, try a couple of test prints and see how they look, and what your screen to print match looks like.

But! if the driver has changed, very likely that 1) you will need to download the latest manf profiles (the "canned " ones, that have been updated for the new driver, and 2) repeat any of your custom profiles.

David Saffir

[Ethan_Hansen]

Were your printer an Epson, the answer would be probably not. Epson has done a good job preserving color output with the new driver versions. Our experience with HP printers has been a mixed bag. Some print identically with 32 or 64 bit drivers on XP, Vista, or Win 7. Others don't. We have not measured Z3100 prints made on x64, so I can't give you a definitive answer. If you have an archived print with a grayscale step wedge printed from XP, compare the output from Win 7 x64. Differences usually pop up in middle gray and the darkest resolvable shadow steps.

[ThePhotoDude]

Thanks all for your replies, most helpful.

I'm experiencing mixed results, mostly OK but not on some media (canvas) where the prints are coming out a touch dark.
I want to avoid a complete re-profile of all papers, obviously due to cost.

I will try the suggestions above with a comparision between driver outputs.
Thanks