A user defines regions within each page of a print job and independently specifies a desired print quality setting for each such region. The printer driver running on the host computer that will submit the print job to a printer or printing device has a user interface through which a representation of the print job is displayed for the user. Using the user input device of the host computer, the user can then define or specify multiple elements or regions within each page of the print job. The user can then further set a desired print quality for each of the specified elements or regions. In this way, those elements of a print job that require a high print quality for a satisfactory appearance, such as photographs, can be identified and printed an appropriate quality levels, while other elements, such as text, that do not require a high print quality for a satisfactory appearance can be printed at a lesser print quality level. Alternatively, the printer driver can be set to automatically identify elements of a print job, such a photographs or other graphics, which typically require a high print quality setting for a satisfactory appearance. The printer driver may then automatically specify a higher print quality for those identified elements than is used for the other, less demanding elements of the print job.