The second most frustrating type of printer, right after one that won’t print, is one that’s content to spit out hazy pages. You’ve checked your file, printed it twice, with the same unsatisfactory results, and you’ve noticed that you don’t have much time left. Low resolution sources and different paper textures are two potential causes. Check your economy settings, resolution, and paper for the quickest solution to the issue.
Low-Resolution Source
Too-small images become distorted when reproduced at a higher scale. Typically, graphics that you download from the Internet are set up at 72 pixels per inch, a very low resolution that will produce blurry prints even when enlarged to 5-by-7 or larger. This is due to the printer’s higher resolution printing—typically 300 dots per inch. Try opening your file in an image-editing programme and reinterpreting it at 300 pixels per inch if you don’t have a better source for the information you need to print. It will print at a smaller size, but it’ll be sharper.
Humidity and Dampness
Paper absorbs moisture from the air’s humidity like a sponge. Even worse, if it does get wet, the fibres inflate where the water is present. Inkjet printers in particular are susceptible to producing output that is hazy due to damp paper, which also mixes poorly with the transport mechanisms in output devices and can jam your hardware. You really don’t want to dig a torn, soggy piece of paper out of a printer’s interior. However, your device will continue to jam if you leave even a small piece behind. The best course of action is to avoid printing on damp paper.
Textured Paper
Surface textures can affect printing in the same way that damaged paper does. Your presentation may look more polished on that ream of linen-finish paper you bought at the office supply store, but it won’t necessarily result in prints of higher quality because the irregular surface doesn’t absorb ink or toner smoothly and consistently. A printout on your textured paper will show that the areas where the texture creates small valleys in the sheet’s surface hold less of the output image than the areas where the paper has no texture when viewed under a magnifying glass.
Toner-Saver Printing
It’s simple to turn on the toner-saving setting on your office printer for long documents and then forget to turn it off when you’re ready to print your final product. Turn off economy mode, check your application, document, and hardware settings, and test print a page from your document. If your issue is resolved, you can complete the task confident that your reprint will be of the desired quality.
