What post-processing should I do before printing photos, and does it depend on the printer?

Yes—some print-specific processing is usually helpful. The biggest practical issue is color management: many consumer labs and printers expect sRGB, so exporting JPEGs in sRGB is the safest choice unless your printer/lab clearly supports a wider profile. Use high-quality JPEG export.

Sharpening also often needs to be adjusted for print. Images that look crisp on screen can appear softer on paper, so output sharpening for print is commonly beneficial.

Beyond that, prints are perceived differently from screens: sharpness, contrast, and saturation may all need slight adjustment. The exact amount depends on your taste and the specific camera/lens/output combination.

Yes, workflow can vary by printer or lab. Different output devices can render color and tonality differently, so the best approach is to make test prints, evaluate them, and then repeat the same adjustments for that printer/lab once you know what works.

For A4 prints from 8 MP or larger files, resolution is generally sufficient; color space, export quality, and print-appropriate sharpening matter more.