How to Solve Simple Printing Errors
If you've ever run into problems printing something only to be disappointed with how it turned out, I'm here to tell you that you are not alone!
Even seasoned pros
will run into frustrations with print quality or printing mess-ups. The
real trick is in knowing what to do when these things happen. How do you
solve your printing problem without a flood of tears or chucking your
printer out the window? (or blaming the creator!)
Here are the solutions you can use to solve those printing woes...
TOP TIPS FOR SOLVING PRINTING ERRORS
1. Choose the right printer for the job.
Here's the truth, not all printers can handle any job. So if your
printer isn't up to it, nothing else you do will get your print job to
look perfect. Understanding and accepting this will save you a big
headache.
Rule of thumb, inkjet printers are great for text documents and photos
while laser jet printers work better for graphics and large color
blocks. Because inkjet printers are generally cheaper, this is what most
people tend to have at home, and they work just fine for most home
applications. But you might struggle when printing certain types of
graphics.
Solution: Who do you know who has a laser printer? Is there a printing
service near you that you could use instead? If you need to print semi
regularly it could be worth researching alternative options before
investing in a brand new printer. Either a local option or an online
option, whichever works best for you.
2. Know your printer.
This is something that the average printer owner never really does.
Explore the printer dialogue box and get to know every possible setting
option that you have available to you.
Does that sound daunting? This doesn't need to take long but it will
save you sooooo much agro later if you understand that there ARE
different setting options for your printer. Just get to know what your
printer is capable of with a quick review, make a few cheat sheet notes
if you need to, and when you go to print something double check that
your print settings are correct for the job.
I'll be honest, off the top of my head I don't know all of my own
printer setting options. But I do know that it has a variety of options
available and I'll check through these when I go to print anything other
than a plain document just to be sure I'm making the most of what my
printer can do.
These are things like paper size and weight. Paper tray selection
(specialty paper often feeds better from the manual tray). And ink or
layout settings, particularly the actual print size options.
3. Printing the correct size.
One of the most common print issues that I come across all the time are my templates not coming out at the right size. This is actually quite
simple to correct once you know what to look for.
Most printers will try to optimize your printed page for you through
automatic settings. If your print is too close to the paper edge it
will automatically scale the print smaller to fit within the default margins. If it's really small on the
page it might make it bigger to fully fit the page.
But when you need your printable to print at the exact size as it's
intended to be used these default 'helpful' settings are really not that
helpful at all!
Each printer will have this in the print dialogue box a little
differently but you'll want to look for a setting that says "print
actual size" or "print at 100%". You want to select this option and
make sure that any box that says "scale to fit" is unchecked. Depending on what you are printing, if your printer has this feature you may also need to use the 'print borderless' setting.
4. Printing colors.
This is such a common complaint. And not restricted to the home printer or novice crafter!
The cold hard truth is colors look different from one device to another
and when applied on different surfaces. Computers that are backlit and/or with
retina or 4K display colors will appear more vibrant than they will do
on paper.The screen is actually distorting the image to make it seem more than it really is - and print simply doesn't compare to these over saturated screen enhancements.
And even amongst print surfaces colors will look different on one
surface type from another. Matte paper for example absorbs more ink that
glossy paper, so the colors are going to brighter or more saturated on
the glossier surface.
Each printer will also print a little differently. A little too much
yellow and your blue is heading towards green, a little too much magenta
and that same blue is sitting on the purple side of the fence. These
tiny little differences in how each printer mixes the inks can create
unexpected variances.
So what's the solution? Test printing.
If you have very specific requirements for color the best option is to
test print everything first. Know that you'll need to experiment, make
adjustments or try a different printer and you won't be nearly as
frustrated. It's just a matter of accepting that color isn't consistent
across all mediums and that this is a physical or technological limitation and not the fault of the file itself.
Happy creating
Shawnna