Over the last few weeks, we have been exploring the world of paper and how it affects your image quality, printer reliability and every aspect of producing images. We also looked at how to properly store paper and choose paper for your printer and document type. The original article came from an article in the online knowledgebase. When we began this series I did not know the original creator of the article but I have since found out that Nick Lowe created this valuable article. Thank you Nick for this great information.
Let’s take a quick look at the articles from the Paper Facts series:
- Part 1: Paper Weight
- Part 2: Paper Size
- Part 3: Paper Type
- Part 4: Paper Quality
- Part 5: Other Considerations
- Part 6: Paper Storage
All six articles combined give you the full story behind the importance of paper to the end product of your printer. Remember that the paper may be the issue in image quality issues, misfeeds, and paper jams. If you are having an issue in one of these areas try different type paper or a different ream of the same type paper.
In the big picture of printing, paper is a given, you know paper will be involved but rarely do we look to the paper when there is an issue. It goes back to the saying from Professor Theodore Woodward “When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras” it means that when looking for an explanation or solution, you should always consider obvious possibilities, like the paper, before thinking about more complex or unlikely options.
Try the simple solutions first, power off the printer and power it back on, change the paper and check that the paper trays are loaded and programmed properly. Those simple things will fix many issues with the printer and print quality. Horses not zebras!
