Bay of Isles Computers Support and Technical Tips - Getting the best out of your Inkjet Printer

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Getting the Best out of your Inkjet Printer

(From Jason Joyce & Dave Johnson)

Of all the peripherals and devices on the typical desk, the one usually taken for granted is the printer or multifunction device. After all, most of us don't pay much attention to the printer unless something isn't printing the way we want it or it won't print a document at all. The bad news is that because of the heavy usage placed on printers, they tend to malfunction pretty frequently if you don't take care of them. Fortunately, maintaining printers and multifunction devices in top condition is relatively painless, and most common malfunctions are easily resolved

Staying Out of Trouble
Obviously, the easiest way to avoid printing problems is to keep your printer in good shape. The good news is that keeping your printer healthy is pretty quick and easy. In fact, just a few minutes devoted to a handful of maintenance steps every week or two will keep your printer almost entirely free of most common malfunctions.

Let's take a closer look:

Remove Paper Dust and Other Debris.
As you might imagine, all that paper feeding through various rollers and guides tends to leave dust behind. Depending on how many pages you typically print per week and the weight of the paper (heavier bonds leave more dust), cleaning out the interior of your printer with a can of compressed air every one to two weeks improves the ability of your printer to feed pages; which means less jams.

Handle Ink Cartridges Properly When Replacing.
This one might not seem that important, but ink and toner cartridges are very delicate. The nozzles covered by the protective tape are easily damaged by touch, which ruins print quality.

Make Use of Diagnostic Tools.
Most current printers have built-in self test programs and other software diagnostic utilities available. Take the time to learn how to access and use them; the information they provide can help correct a problem before it even occurs.

When Things Go Wrong
Despite all of the preventative maintenance and other steps taken, eventually your printer's going to malfunction. Most printing problems aren't that serious, though. In fact, the vast majority are common errors that can easily be solved with a few basic troubleshooting steps. Let's take a look at three of the most common problems and their fixes:

1.Print Quality is Faded, Streaked or Misaligned.
Apart from paper jams, this is the most frequently encountered problem with a printer. Poor print quality usually means there's a problem with the ink or toner cartridges. Assuming your ink levels aren't too low, print a "test page". If the print quality is still poor, running the printer's self-cleaning and alignment utilities usually fixes this one.

2.Paper Jams or Fails to Feed.
By far the most common malfunction, this one can be either extremely easy or extremely difficult to fix. If your printer paper always jams in the same location, you've probably found a blockage. If the area's accessible, check for torn pieces of paper left behind by previous print jobs. Also, if you only encounter the problem with a particular type of paper, you might want to check your manual to ensure the type of paper's supported.

3.File Fails to Print.
The last of the three's probably the most frustrating of the three since it's so hard to troubleshoot. If you aren't able to print any file at all and are unable to print from any application, it's likely going to be a driver issue. The easiest way to fix this particular issue is to use the CD provided by the manufacturer to reinstall the appropriate drivers for your operating system. If reinstalling the appropriate drivers doesn't correct the problem, and the printer is able to print a self test report, you'll need to contact your computer's manufacturer, as it's most likely an issue with your operating system or the PC's hardware.

How to coax the best prints possible from your inkjet printer.

Start With Good Ink and Paper
You can't expect to get great-looking prints if you're cutting corners on ink. Modern printers (especially from Canon, Epson, and Hewlett-Packard) are engineered from the ground up to work best with inks sold by their parent companies. Odds are, the prints will not last as long without fading, either when you use non-genuine ink.

Speaking of paper, and longevity, regular inkjet paper is fine for day-to-day printing. But when you want to share photos, frame a picture, or keep your prints for the long haul, use glossy photo paper. This paper is specially formulated to absorb the ink without letting it spread (which makes for weird colors and fuzzy prints). Generally speaking, using the paper your printer vendor sells will contribute to print longevity. And if you really want to keep your prints for the ages, bite the bullet and buy the best-quality paper your vendor has. Make sure you frame your masterpiece under glass, and place it where direct sunlight won't strike it.

Leave the Printer On
It's generally a good idea to leave your inkjet printer on, even when you have no intention of printing. Why? Because when it's powered on, the printer keeps its print heads clean. Shut your printer on and off frequently, and you end up mucking up the print system--which you'll have to clean, wasting ink in the process.

Align and Clean Your Print Heads
Though it's important for getting the best possible image quality, most people fail to care for their inkjet's print heads. Routine use can cause the nozzles to lose their proper alignment, which can result in the printer laying down ink inaccurately. Worse, nozzles can get clogged, so ink doesn't come out uniformly on the paper. Both of these problems can contribute to less-than-ideal pictures.

Occasionally, you should run the utilities that came with your printer. By occasionally, I mean about once a month, or every time you get ready to print if you use your printer very infrequently. Check your printer's user guide for details. Can't find it? Go to the vendor's Web site and check its support section. You can usually find the manual there, even for a discontinued model.

If worse comes to worst, and you can't come up with the manual, go to the Windows Control Panel and open Printers and Faxes, then right-click on the icon for your photo printer and click Properties. You'll probably find the utilities and options you need there.

Run the print head alignment tool and perform a nozzle check. If the resulting output doesn't look right, fix the problem by cleaning the print heads using the printer's head-cleaning program. Don't forget that you may have to run the head cleaner a number of times before the nozzle check prints look perfect. (Don't go nuts though; the cleaning does use up a fair amount of ink.)

Send Enough Pixels to the Printer
The image file itself also contributes to the overall quality of the print, obviously. I highly recommend printing no less than 200 pixels per inch, and 300 ppi is ideal. How do you measure that? Multiply the print size you want, like 5 by 7 inches, by 300. In this example, you'd get good results from a picture that has at least 1500 by 2100 pixels, which is what you'd get from a 3-megapixel camera.

Let the Prints Dry
After you make a print, don't handle it right away--especially if you're making a print on glossy photo paper. It can take as long as an hour for the ink to stop feeling tacky, and printer manufacturers usually recommend waiting 24 hours before placing the print under glass or plastic to be sure the ink is completely dry.