Note for you all on getting the best out of your ink jet printers

Posted : Apr 2002

A lot of people have colour ink jet printers. Just a few hints and tips to get the most out of them.

1) To get best results always match the correct paper with the correct print setting.
2) Be careful when using different brands of paper other than the paper brand recommended by the printer manufacturer. Sometimes the paper can be good, sometimes not. The printer manufacturer makes the printer settings according to their own paper types and using just any paper may result in poor results.
3) Same for 2) but with inks. 3rd party inks might be a little bit cheaper but might give inferior results. There are top quality inks and paper available but these usually cost more than the standard inks and papers. Results vary a lot here, some people swear by 3rd party inks where others swear at them. If you do have a major problem after using non standard inks cartridges or refills and you have to take your printer for service - always take it in with standard, non modified cartridges.
4) Print something with both black and all colours weekly. I recommend that you make up a standard test document with a black, cyan, magenta, yellow, red, green, blue squares and maybe a couple of small photos with a wide range of colours and both light and dark to use as your test print. This will ensure that all colours and jets/nozzles are used. These printers have a very bad habit of drying up and blocking the print heads/jets if not used regularly. Leave it for a month and have to clean the heads, leave it for 2-6 months and throw away the cartridges and the heads/jets might come clean after several cleans. Leave it for longer and it will usually need a major service by an authorised service center and cost you minimum $100 apart from the new cartridges.
5) Many of these printers come with minor clean, major clean and print alignment utility settings. Use the minor clean if a couple of jets are blocked, the major clean if lots of jets are blocked and a printer alignment check every 3-6 months.
6) There are many settings in the printer preferences and setup software. The easiest start at whether to print faster or better quality, ranging up to using custom colour profiles setup to match your specific printer. It is worth having a good look through the settings and see what is relevant to your purposes. You can usually set the default page size and orientation and print quality and setting at least to suit your typical usage.
7) Print your test results on plain paper (cheaper) and when happy with the results use a better (more expensive) paper for the final print.
8) To print postscript files you will need :
a) A software program that rasterizes the postscript file directly (like Adobe Illustrator). Imported EPS files will still not print correctly though.
b) A software Postscript RIP
c) A built-in hardware Postscript RIP (not many ink jets come with these)
d) Convert the file to Adobe Acrobat PDF format
Note that newer programs, like Illustrator 10, generate Postscript Level 3 code. Older level 1 and 2 RIPs might have trouble processing these files. This applies to all RIPs, whether software or hardware in ink jets or lasers. Although hardware RIPs tend to be a bit more robust than software RIPs.
9) To get the best quality results for accurate colour representation use the correct colour profile matching printer, ink and paper. I have 2 photographer clients who can make up colorsynch profiles to specifically match your scanner, screen and printer if you require accurate colour throughout the process. Some ink jets can have dramatically bad colour. If colour is important to you let me know and I can put you in contact with either or both of these 2 gentlemen.
10) If you have a problem with the printer, read the manual first. Sometimes removing the cartridges incorrectly or without going through the correct procedure will ruin the cartridge.
11) Never touch the cartridge print head as your fingerprint will generally cause the cartridge to malfunction.
12) Placing a piece of carpet under the printer can usually deaden the noise a bit if you have a noisy unit.
13) Some printers have pretty average paper feeding mechanisms. If necessary, feed single sheets for important jobs using expensive paper.
14) Some printers come with cleaning sheets (or they can be purchased separately). Use them regularly. You would be amazed at the amount of crud (dust, fibes, excess ink, etc) that can build up inside the printer, on the rollers and platen over time. Especially in dusty environments.
15) Epson service technicians also recommend that you cover your printer when not in use to prevent dust build-up inside the printer

Got any more hints and tips, let me know and I will pass them on.

Good luck with your printer and may all your prints be good ones !