It’s not unheard of for businesses, or individuals, to spend huge sums of money in their quest to secure a perfect print quality. What a lot of people don’t realise is that once you have the optimum setup, it is your responsibility to ensure that it stays that way; the device won’t maintain itself. In order to keep your printing at its best, there are certain tasks that you must perform. This will ensure your print quality remains ‘perfect’, as well as increase the machine’s lifespan too.
Keep it Active
Like a human, a printer needs to be kept active and fit to ensure it works effectively. If the parts within aren’t regularly used, their effectiveness will be lost. For instance, ink can dry up if left too long, and print heads can then choke. Even if you don’t necessarily have anything to print, you should do a quick print at least once every two weeks to keep functionality optimal.
Keep it clean
A dirty printer can cause all sorts of problems. Did you know that nearly 90% of printing issues are created by printer rollers that are unclean? Over time, they collect dust and excess ink-residue. This unwanted dust and ink can then be transferred from the rollers onto the print, reducing the quality. To remedy this, you can clean print rollers by hand using isopropyl cards.
Another key feature that must be kept pristine is the print head. If this becomes clogged, then there will be lines or dots missing from the printed text or graphic. A lot of printer drivers will clean themselves if you select a programmed cleaning cycle and most of the time this will be enough, although occasionally you may have to manually clean the device to make sure.
Keep it in the Correct Location
A printer has to be stored and used in the right place for it to work well. Temperature and humidity can impact your print quality, so be careful. If it is too cold around the printer, the ink consistency will be thicker. The reverse happens if it is too hot, with the ink becoming thinner as a result. Both of these can be detrimental to the print quality.
Keep Toner Levels Topped Up
A solution to an issue maybe simpler than expected. Sometimes a printer is losing its quality because it is running low on toner (this would be mainly on the older style device). All you have to do is replace the cartridges and the quality will return to normal (modern machines will let you know when to change the toner).
Keep Using Quality Products
If you’ve noticed a reduction in your print quality, then another factor to think about is if you’ve changed the products you’ve been using. Perhaps you’ve changed the ink used or the type of paper. All of these will reduce the print quality if they are substandard themselves.
If you follow all the tips above and are still experiencing a poor quality print, then speak to EBM. As well as being able to offer some more advanced advice, we can also arrange to come and see the machine in person if the problems persist. Simply call us on 01376 512575 with your problem and if we can solve it, we will.