13 Tips to Avoiding a Printing Meltdown
by Chelsea Camper | Last Updated July 19, 2019There are times when you and your printer don’t get along so well and that can end up quite badly for the both of you. We’ve compiled a list of 13 ways to help you and your printer get through your troubled waters.
When your printer gives you fits when printing large jobs,
try these tips to avoid a printer meltdown:
1. Do a Test Print Before Sending the Entire Job.
Before you send your 5,000 postcard job to the printer, send just one sheet of postcards to make sure everything lines up just right. You can also send a small batch of 50 or 100 to make sure your printer is set up to handle long runs correctly.
2. Load More Paper in the Tray.
Sometimes a printer won’t pick up paper correctly (or at all) if there’s not enough paper in the printer tray. Even if you’re on the few sheets of the paper you’re printing on you can add some standard copy paper under your specialty paper to make the printer think there’s more paper in the tray.
3. Load Less Paper in the Tray.
Just as some printers won’t pick up paper if there’s not enough paper, some won’t pick up paper correctly if there is too much paper in the tray. Try removing a third of the paper in the tray to lighten the load.
4. Change the Paper Type Setting.
Are you printing glossy paper with a laser printer and having trouble with the toner not staying on the paper? Instead of setting the printer to print on “thin” or “normal” paper, set it to print on a “thick” paper. Printers usually run at a slower speed if they think they’re printing on thicker paper; this will give the toner time to dry.
5. Tape a Piece of Brightly Colored Paper Over the Cancel Button.
The cancel button might come in handy sometimes when you need to cancel a print job in a hurry, but if you accidentally hit it in the middle of a large mail merged print job it can cause a lot of confusion and waste a lot of time. By taping a piece of brightly colored paper over it (especially red, yellow, or orange) will help you remember that the cancel button is for emergencies only!
6. Use the Standard Tray.
Paper not feeding correctly through the bypass tray? Some older printers have trouble picking up certain kinds of paper from the bypass tray.
7. Use the Bypass Tray.
Paper not feeding correctly through the standard tray? Perforated paper becoming weak running through the standard tray? Try using the bypass tray; there are usually fewer rollers to bend the perforations.
8. Keep a “What Works” List.
Keep a list of the special print jobs you frequently send and the settings that worked last time (i.e. print brochures in tray 1 on Thick 1 paper type setting). This can also help you when you’re trying to troubleshoot printing problems down the road since you’ll have some answers to certain paper types already.
9. Flip the Paper Stack Over.
Sometimes it can be as simple as flipping the paper stack over. If one side of the paper is smoother than the other side (even by just the slightest) it can cause your printer to have trouble picking up the paper. By flipping the stack of paper over to the slightly rougher side, your printer can more easily pick up the paper.
10. Rotate the Paper Stack.
Sometimes just rotating the paper and loading the opposite end first will help the printer pick up the paper. Run a small stack rotated like this as a test and if it works then you can go back and adjust your design accordingly.
11. Check the Manual for Maximum Paper Weight to be Printed in Each Tray.
If you’re trying to feed paper that’s too heavy through your printer, it may not pick it up or it may jam. Even if you don’t have a physical copy of your printer’s manual, you can usually find it online in a PDF format.
12. Cancel Job, Turn Off Printer, Turn It Back On and Try Again.
Just like you, your printer needs a break every now and then to clear its mind. If it has been a while since your printer was turned off and a lot of print jobs have gone through it, it might just need to be restarted. Cancel all the print jobs, turn off the printer, go grab a cup of hot chocolate (or coffee), then turn the printer back on and try again.
13. Try Again Tomorrow.
If all else fails, cancel the print job, walk away from the printer, and try again tomorrow. Nothing is going to get done well if you and your printer are at war with each other; sometimes you just need some time to cool down.
What other printing tips do you have?
Image: dweekly
