Regardless of how much you rely on email and paperless digital documents, printed output is most likely an integral part of your business. When your office printer produces smudges and smears, how you troubleshoot them depends on the type of printer you use. Look for causes that are related to how you use your hardware and the circumstances under which the problems appear to focus and simplify your diagnostic detective work.
Media-Related Problems
The paper you choose for your output can have a significant impact on whether your pages emerge smudge-free. Laser printers struggle to create images on papers with heavily textured surfaces or coatings that do not meet the hardware manufacturer’s specifications, including some papers designed for use on printing presses. Inkjets work best when the sheets you use are rated specifically for the dye- or pigment-based inks these machines use. For example, printing photography on photo paper and looking for stock rated specifically for the dye- or pigment-based inks these machines use.
Cleaning
A clean printer outperforms an unclean one. Even the smoothest, most laser- or inkjet-friendly paper sheds lint, and even the cleanest office attracts dust and other particles. When these substances build up inside a printer, they can impair the device’s ability to lay down toner or ink. Undercoating is picked up by printheads and can accumulate to the point of making contact with inkjet paper before it dries. By interfering with proper toner bonding, dust in laser printing paths can degrade image quality.
Fusing
Toner for laser printers is a heat-set mixture of colouring agents and powdered plastic. An ageing laser printer may exhibit signs of a failing fuser, which is the heater that melts toner onto paper to form a strong bond. If the fuser loses its ability to reach the correct temperature, or if the rollers that process each output sheet become contaminated, the resulting printouts can smudge at the touch because the toner never melts properly. Before you pay a technician to confirm the diagnosis and replace the part, make sure the repair cost makes sense in relation to the cost of the printer – or a replacement device.
Duplexing
Duplex printing involves printing on both sides of the sheet. Printers are classified into one of five categories based on their duplexing capabilities. Some have automatic duplexing hardware built in. Others include a duplexer as an optional component. A third class supports manual duplexing via its driver software, which provides onscreen instructions for reprinting a back-of-the-sheet image on previously processed pages. A fourth group can print two-sided output, but the rest is up to you.
Finally, some printer models explicitly prohibit duplexing due to the risk of toner unfusing or unset ink smearing inside the machine when a page reenters the print path. If two-sided output is critical to your workflow, select a printer that meets those requirements.
