Troubleshooting Common Printing Problems and Solutions

1. Problem-Faded/ washed out image on Photo Matte/ Fine Art paper.

Possible reasons:

A. Printing on wrong side of paper

B. Wrong paper choice in printer-if you choose gloss/ satin/ lustre/ semigloss paper option when printing a matte/ fine art paper it engages the photo black. Choose a matte paper, or fine art paper option.

2. Problem - Ink not drying on Gloss/ Satin/Lustre/ Semi-gloss

Possible reasons:

Wrong paper choice in printer-if you choose a matte, or fine art paper option when printing Gloss/ Satin/ Lustre/ Semi-Gloss you may get drying problems.

3. Problem - Banding - Feint and strong bands about 3mm wide through printed image.

Cause:

Not enough ink going down on paper. This is far more likely to happen on Fine Art papers which are more porous. In order to increase the ink load, change the paper choice, or increase the DPI, or select best rather than standard quality, or a combination of these.

4. Problem - Fine lines through the print - this may be more obvious in some colours than others.

Check print heads for blockage as one, or more colours may be blocked.

5. Problem - Blocking, particularly on monochrome prints-areas of heavy ink coverage, such as shadows, losing detail, perhaps areas appearing solid rather than graduated.

Cause:

Effectively ink dots merging into one another, this can be cause by too much ink going down on paper.

Solutions:

Decrease the ink load by changing the paper choice, or decrease the DPI, or select standard rather than best quality, or a combination of these.

6. Problem - Heavy Lines/reversed out lettering breaking up.

Cause:

Too much ink going down.

Solutions:

Decrease the ink load by changing the paper choice, or decrease the DPI, or select standard rather than best quality, or a combination of these.

7. Problem - Inaccurate colour/Magenta Cast

Cause:

There can be a number of causes - have you changed your inks, updated your MAC, or just using a new paper. But the solution would generally be to use a profile to correct the colour.

8. Problem - Inaccurate colour after updating MAC Operating system despite using profile.

Solution:

Uninstall profile and reinstall.

9. Problem - Dirty edges on print, or areas of the print.

Cause:

Paper either turns up at the edges, or has a wave through it.

Solution:

This can be caused by "headstrike" i.e. the printhead touches the paper on the raised part of the sheet. If this is an edge it can usually be resolved by manipulating the paper to turn it down.

10. Problem - Fine lines through the print. These may be obvious in some colours than others.

Cause:

This is likely to be caused by a blocked, or partially blocked printhead.

Solution:

Complete nozzle/ printhead cleaning process in maintenance section of printer brand.