Why does the printer print poorly and how to fix it?

Temporary inoperability of a home printer does not lead to fatal consequences for the tasks performed, which cannot be said about a modern office. Any document flow - contracts, estimates, receipts, maintaining a paper version of the production archive, etc. - is not complete without a high-quality printer.

Some problems are referred to the list of the most common situations when printing of unsatisfactory quality or its complete absence.

1. Missing or poor printing with a full (or permanently replaced) printer cartridge.
2. Black color of printing on a color printer, weak color. For example, the print can be black and green, black and burgundy, black and blue. Either a mixture of colors will appear where it is not provided: blue ink is mixed into yellow - a dark green color will come out, or a mixture of red and blue will give a dark purple hue. The appearance of color distortion depends on the brand of the printer and the specific settings.
3. Black or colored stripes along the sheet (or across it), highlighted areas. Excessive toner consumption - like a poorly tuned copier, copying an old original document, photo, etc.
4. Printing stops unexpectedly, need to frequently remove unprinted sheets, etc.

Depending on the specific manifestations of the malfunction diagnostics is done according to the familiar method of excluding possible causes. The search circle for the real cause of the breakdown is noticeably narrowing. The correct decision suggests itself at the end by itself.

Fault diagnosis is carried out in the main directions.

1. The physical part. The state of the device itself is checked: serviceability of the printing mechanism, cartridge, microcircuit (software) unit, possible "drawdown" in power supply, etc.
2. Software... Since the operation of the printer is controlled by a home PC, laptop (in the enterprise or in the office - a local network), both the physical health of the connecting lines and the operation of operating systems (most often Windows OS) and software are checked. The latter is included with the printer on a mini-DVD, or can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website.

Stand alone mobile printersthat print on A5 and A6 sheets. Since 2018, these devices have been rapidly expanding into the hobby photo market.

Hardware diagnostics identify certain malfunctions.

1. Cracks in cartridges, printhead housing. Shake the cartridge over white paper or tissue. If ink drops are generated, the cartridge is most likely defective.
2. The cartridge has dried out after a year or more of disuse. Its channels (nozzles) may be clogged.
3. Defective laser or inkjet mechanism applying (and fixing) toner (ink) to paper. In laser printers, ink is fixed when it and the paper itself are heated with a laser, in inkjet printers, there may be a heat heater that dries the paper immediately after the paint is sprayed on it.
4. The USB cable or the Wi-Fi / Bluetooth module is faulty, through which the data from the printed file (in text, graphic format) was transferred to the device after the “Print” command was initialized.
5. Defective processor and / or RAM, pre-processing the received text or image.
6. There is no power supply (including the built-in power supply unit of the device has failed).
7. Paper jam in the printer, jammed printing mechanisms. Meeting a noticeable obstacle during the movement of the rollers and rods (this is monitored on motion sensors - there are several of them), the printer abnormally stops the operation of its stepper motors (drive), which are also controlled by software.
8. The printer is not connected to a computer network (router, wireless router, etc. does not work), a PC or laptop, or a smartphone (tablet).

Software diagnostics will help detect more than a dozen problems.

1. In Windows, some of the system libraries responsible for printing images and text are damaged or missing. These driver library files are located in the folder <раздел диска="">Windows / System32 / spool / drivers. These shares are accessed by a specific printer model driver obtained and installed by the user when they first set up the device.
2. On the disk where Windows itself is installed (most often this is section C), there are no necessary executable, service and library files (the latter are in the dll format). The parent folder Program Files is responsible for this. For example, an HP LaserJet 1010 printer created a folder under the Program Files "HP", "hp1010", or similar. During installation, some files are added to the Windows and Program Files / Common Files folders. However, it will take more than one hour to find out which file is missing, and how many there should be.
3. Incorrect operation of the clipboard in Microsoft Word (or Excel) programs, the Paint (3D) graphics editor, etc. Often the cause of such failures is the work of malicious program codes received by accident over the Internet (viruses, scripts of questionable content available on a particular site) ...
4. Too many documents have been sent to print (overflowing the printer's software buffer). Some pages may have been lost.
5. Incorrect print settings: Fast print mode or Toner save mode is on, additional faintness adjustment is specified in Word, PDF editors, etc.

The user will perform some of the listed actions on his own.

1. Check if the print cartridge is installed correctly, if it is refilled... By weight, you can tell if the toner compartment is empty. Wrap it in paper and shake it - toner should not spill out. If semi-liquid ink is used, it should not spill out. Traces of ink in the places of possible connections indicate a breakdown of the cartridge, their drying. Clean the plugged passages on the cartridge.
2. If the paper is wrinkled - pull out the printing module, pull out the crumpled sheet. Do not use paper that is too thin, easily tearing.
3. Do not print on wallpaper, film, foil if the printer does not allow it... These actions are likely to damage the paper rolling roller and the device (inkjet, laser) that applies the toner.
4. Reinstall (or update) the device driver. If a software breakdown occurs at the operating system level, then it is faster and easier to reinstall it.
5. Check if the device itself is turned on (and connected via a local area network). If you are printing from a smartphone, make sure that the printer is connected via a microUSB cable, via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The gadget itself must be ready to transfer the desired document to the printer's memory.
6. Make sure you have paper (usually A4 sheets) of the right quality. Poor print quality will come out, for example, on cardboard, double notebook sheets (closed notebook has A5 size) due to the texture and irregularities of the paper.
7. Do not put too thin stack of sheets in the output tray of the printer. - 2-10 of these sheets will immediately be pulled under the shaft. Print on these sheets one at a time, on one side.
8. Think about the ink in the cartridge. You may be using only black (or the wrong toner color) ink.

If the breakdown turned out to be more serious, it will only help contacting a specialized service center.

See the video for how to fix the problem with faded print on the printer.