The aim of this paper is to present some results concerning ink/substrate interactions in the context of ink-jet printing. During the impact of an ink drop onto the substrate, the interface properties of the materials play a crucial role, which may determine, to a certain extent, the spreading of the ink droplets, and therefore the ensuing print quality.In this study, several substrates, including papers of various quality levels and a polymer film, were analysed. Classical methods of porosity determination were applied, together with roughness measurements. The surface energy of these substrates was calculated from measurements of contact angles with various liquids.A series of commercial ink-jet inks, and the corresponding model solvents were analysed. Their surface tension was measured by the DuNouy ring method and then,.their spreading kinetics onto the different substrates were examined using a high-speed camera coupled with an image analysis system.Various situations were observed. These results were correlated to quality tests conducted with commercial ink-jet printers using the same inks/ substrates systems.