Printing Too Light (as compared to the same documents printed to the same printer from Windows)

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Printing Too Light (as compared to the same documents printed to the same printer from Windows)

Printing Too Light (when compared to same documents printed from Windows)

Yes, I know this has been presented before, but none of the solutions offered either work or apply to my printer.

When printing from ANY Apple device, whether it's my M4 MacBook Air, my iPhone, or my iPad, and when using ANY app (Scrivener, Pages, Word, Affinity Publisher) the print is considerably lighter than when printing the same document from Windows.

I have a Brother MFC-J4335DW. I've been trying to troubleshoot this thing for two weeks now, and Brother insists it's an Apple problem.

HAS ANYONE FOUND A SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM!?!?!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.2

Posted on Jan 15, 2026 11:32 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Mac Jim ID

Community+ 2026

Level 9

65,510 points

Jan 15, 2026 11:59 AM in response to GrislyAccord

You need to compare what drivers you have installed on your Mac/Windows device as it is the driver that determines the print options. There is a driverless option called AirPrint that your printer does support and you will have different print options when using that. Your iPhone/iPad is using AirPrint, your Windows machine is likely using a driver provided by Brother, and your Mac may use either a driver provided by Brother or AirPrint.

For AirPrint, when you choose to print a document there is a Media & Quality section that you will see farther down on the print screen where you can choose the Paper Type and Print Quality. Both of those options will have an effect on how dark the printout is. Under Print Quality, you will want to choose the "Best" option for a darker printout, and the other 2 options or "Normal" and "Draft" that will produce lighter printouts.

Try those options on your iPhone/iPad to see if you get the results you are looking for and then we can move to the Mac to see if the printer was installed using the Brother drivers or if it is using AirPrint where you would see the same options that you have on your iPhone/iPad.

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Answer 2

GrislyAccord Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 15, 2026 12:37 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

The Mac is using AirPrint, too, even though I use a USB connection. I've set it on Best. I've set it on Color. I've set it on Black & White. All with the same results. The Windows machine is using the Brother driver, and I've installed the Brother software bundle onto this Mac (against my better judgment) which SAYS includes a driver, but according to tech support at Brother, it's still just AirPrint.

It seems to be an AirPrint issue, since it happens with all Apple devices. It makes printing with my MacBook (and iOS devices, for that matter) unusable. And I print a lot.

I was just hoping there was so kind of work-around, but so far, I haven't found one...

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