How To Improve Your Print Result

Introduction

Good printing results are expected with every job that gets sent to the printer from a PC, but that is not always the case for various reasons. Of course, printer owners are commonly aware that it's important to invest in quality equipment from the beginning so that users don't suffer poor quality print outs later. If a business or a household is working on a budget, however, they have to consider buying the most economical printer, which may mean sacrificing the overall quality that is expected from the machine.

On the other hand, people who are willing to pay top dollar for one of the highest quality printers may still be disappointed by the results of a print out. In some cases shoppers can chalk it up to clever and tricky advertising that made the printer appear that it could produce good quality print outs, but is more so on the average side. In other cases, the shopper didn't read the specifications too well, missing the fact that the manufacturer purposefully designed the printer to offer the level of quality that it does.

If you are not satisfied with your printer in its current state, there are at least five things you can do to bring the machine up to your expectations.

Step 1

Run your printer's maintenance utility to improve results. This is usually a part of the original software that the manufacturer included free of charge with purchase. In Windows, this utility appears on the Start Menu, or you can find the printer icon at the bottom of the desktop on the taskbar.

This software actually activates hardware components in the printer. For example, rotating brushes may clean dried up ink from the nozzles, removing clogs and blockages that are causing poor quality print outs.

 

Step 2

Access the Printer Properties in the application that you are attempting to print your documents from. For example, if you are printing out a letter that you created in Microsoft Word, you would click on the Microsoft Office logo in the left-hand corner to reach the Print options.

After accessing the properties in the dialog box, click on the option to change the print quality from Normal, to Better or Fine.

Step 3

Buy better quality ink to improve printing results. It's okay to use generic and remanufactured ink cartridges, but consider upgrading to brand name ink to get better results.

Step 4

Adjust the hardware properties on your peripheral devices to improve print quality down the line. For example, set your digital camera to eliminate red eye so that your print outs on the photo paper look like they were done at a professional photo mat center.

Step 5

Update the device drivers and other software on your PC in an effort to improve your print outs. You can find these updates at your printer manufacturer's support website.

Tips

• Consider buying a new printer if the above steps do not offer any noticeable improvements.

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