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Dirty or Blotted Prints

If prints are dirty or blotted, the following questions should be addressed.

Is the paper being used too thick or thin?

Check if the paper is compatible. If extremely thick or thin paper is used, the print-heads will rub the paper and ink will leak. See Compatible Paper.

Does the print-heads rub when plain paper is used?

Set the envelope selector to the rear position .

Have you touched the printed side of paper?

Avoid touching the printed side of paper. Particularly, avoid touching semi-gloss photo paper and inkjet transparency that have just been printed because the ink takes time to dry. Remove them one at a time from the output tray without touching the printed side, and then let them dry fully. See Paper Handling Precautions.

Is the inside of the printer dirty?

If the leading edge or back side of printed paper is dirty, the inside of the printer may be dirty. Also, if black vertical lines appear on the printed side of paper, the delivery rollers may be dirty. Turn the power off, and then while pressing the [Test Paper Feed/Resume] key, press and hold down the [Power] key for over three seconds. A blank sheet of paper will be delivered to clean the delivery rollers. Repeat this operation multiple times.

Is the paper loaded in the correct orientation?

Some paper cannot be loaded lengthwise depending on the size of the paper. Check the orientation in which the paper is loaded. See Compatible Paper Sizes.

Is a genuine Print cartridge being used?

Using a cartridge other than a genuine Print cartridge or using a cartridge refilled with ink will lower the print quality and could cause a breakdown. Use a genuine Print cartridge. See Recommended Consumables.

Are you printing densely colored images on both sides of paper?

When a large amount of ink is used to completely cover a side, one-sided printing is recommended.

When duplex printing, after printing one side of a sheet, does the machine wait for the ink to dry before printing the other side?

Depending on the type of paper, the ink may not have enough time to dry properly and so may smear or rub off. Using the printer driver, specify how long to wait for the ink to dry between printing each side. For details, see the printer driver Help.Opening the Printer Properties Dialog Box