The cardinal rule of purchasing a printer is to print before you pay. Otherwise, there's no surefire way to tell exactly how text and images will appear. Fortunately, many retail stores let you print demonstration pages to get a feel for the output quality.

Text

Most demonstration pages will include rows of text at varying sizes, which can show different types of flaws. At the smallest font sizes, the individual letters should be legible and fully formed with no breaks, and they should not bleed into one another. Medium-size fonts should be crisp with no fuzzy edges. And the largest fonts, especially bold ones, should be filled in with a solid, even black--not a muddy bluish or brownish tone. If the tops and bottoms of characters are slightly offset or you see a pattern of dots incorrectly aligned from one row to the next (forming jagged outlines), that typically indicates misregistration of the printhead. You should also be able to see well-rounded counters (the openings) in letterforms; if not, that's usually a sign of the printer laying down too much ink. Keep in mind that on plain, 20-lb. paper, inkjet printers will usually display some wicking, as the ink bleeds along the paper fibers.

Graphics

The printer demonstration should print several geometric shapes of different sizes and shading. The outlines should be crisp with smooth curves; inside areas of solid colors should appear dense and evenly shaded. Also look for areas where a color goes from dark to light (a gradient). Is it a smooth transition, or can you see color banding, distinct bands progressing from darker to lighter? Large areas of flat color should appear solid and even, rather than muddy. Some printers try to dazzle the eye with overly saturated colors; others skimp on ink, leaving images that appear washed out. Look for a nice, natural-looking balance between the two. Printhead banding--that is, visible horizontal stripes across a page--could be caused by a clogged nozzle, a poorly aligned bidirectional printhead, or a poor rendering algorithm (gradients aren't rendered smoothly).

Photos
When evaluating print quality, there are four chief considerations:

Color accuracy
Compared to the original, the colors should be accurate, pleasing, and well balanced. Colors should be vivid but not oversaturated. Look at a monochrome photo under fluorescent light, incandescent light, and daylight. How badly does the color cast change from one light to another (called metamerism)? Be sure to look for inconsistencies across different paper types and print resolutions.

Sharpness
Is the output sufficiently sharp? Any jaggies? If you see problems, do you have any theories about what's going on? Does the lack of sharpness have to do with printhead or color misregistration?

Dynamic range
Can you see detail in highlight and shadow areas, or are they rendered as flat or with no color? Does the printout look muddy or low contrast?

Artifacts
Do you see any banding? How about evidence of a clogged nozzle? Excessive dot gain? Any other weird stuff going on?
 

You may need to change a toner cartridge when:

• ‧ Your printer tells you toner is out (low toner usually means you can print a few hundred more pages without a problem)
• ‧ The pages coming out of the printer look faded or washed out
• ‧ The pages have a repeating defect of some kind

Users are able to and expected to be able to change toner in black and white printers. (Color printers are more difficult so if you are unsure of how to change color toner call the helpdesk and we will assist you.)

1.First thing you will need to know is what model of printer you have.
This will be written on the printer somewhere, there are 2 names that you will likely find on the printer, one is our name for the printer the other is the model name. You will needthe model name.

2.Take the model name to the central stores.
They will be able to tell you which replacement toner cartridge to use. (If there is a problem identifying which replacement to use call the helpdesk.)

3.Give them your cost center number and they will let you have the replacement toner cartridge that you need.

4.Take the new cartridge back to the printer and remove the new toner cartridge from the box.

5.Power the printer off.

6.Open the top cover on the printer.

7.Remove the old toner by pulling up and away from the printer. (It should come out with only a small amount of force)

8.Remove the new toner from its bag, remove the rip strip from the cartridge. This is a small tab on the side of the cartridge that is attached to a plastic film strip. If you do not remove this strip the printer will only print blank sheets. Take care to avoid getting the toner on you when you rip off the strip. Spilled toner is best cleaned up with a dry cloth. If you spill any toner on yourself you can wash it off with COLD water (no hot water as it can cause the toner to set).

9.Place the new cartridge into the printer the same way the old unit came out (there may be arrows or other cues to help you align the cartridge correctly.) .It should slide in with minimal force. If it does not slide in easily, make sure you have the cartridge aligned correctly and that you are using the correct cartridge (i.e. 4000 series cartridge is not compatible with the 4100 series printer, you must use 4100 series cartridge).

10.Once you have the cartridge seated all they way in place, close the top cover.

11.Power the printer back on.

12.Print a few test pages

• ‧ If the printouts look good:
  You are just about done, package the old toner cartridge in the box the new toner came in and give it to the mailroom. We get a credit for the old cartridges. Now you are finished.
• ‧ If there is a problem with the test pages:
  Our cartridges are refurbished and sometimes the cartridges can be defective. If you see streaks, repeated defects, faded out pages or other defects that did not exist before you changed, toner it may be because of a problem with the toner cartridge.
• ‧ Try getting another new cartridge, installing that cartridge, and printing some test pages. If the printouts are clean, then the first cartridge is a defect, return it to the mailroom for credit.
• ‧ If both new toner cartridges seem to have problems call the computer helpdesk. There is likely something wrong with the printer.

 Please Note: Toner cartridges are light sensitive if you are going to leave them out of the box or printer for more than a few minutes please cover them to prevent damage.

Many print quality problems are directly related to the kind of forms that are being used and the application that is being processed. If a particular form or application regularly produces unsatisfactory output, refer the application owner to the Forms Design Reference. This publication contains detailed information about selecting forms and designing applications for use with continuous forms printers.

The following table describes possible print quality problems and suggests actions that may correct the symptoms.