Why Is My Printer Printing Faded Text
Are you tired of seeing faded text on your printer? If yes, then you might want to check out our guide on why is my printer prints faded text.
Have you ever wondered why some pages print fine, while others turn out faded or even completely blank? This problem is common for laser printers and inkjet printers. The reason behind printing faded text is due to improper maintenance.
Now, Without further ado, let’s get into this article.
What is Faded Text?
Faded text is when the printed words of a document appear to be faded or lighter in color than normal. Faded text usually refers to black and white documents, but color prints can also be affected by faded text.
Printing Faded Text for a Variety of Reasons
We’ve broken down the causes of faded printing into two sections. The first is concerned with non-technical issues that can be resolved quickly, even if you are a novice. Technical issues, on the other hand, necessitate technical knowledge and experience to resolve; therefore, don’t mess with faulty printers unless you have experience and technical knowledge of printers. Let’s go over both parts (technical and non-technical issues) in considerable detail.
Reasons that Ain’t Technical
We’ll start with the non-technical reasons. You can easily fix the issue without any prior knowledge of printers. Here are some of the non-technical reasons:
- Issues with Paper Quality
- Cartridges that have been emptied
- Humidity level
1- Issues with Paper Quality
There appears to be no link between paper quality and faded printing; however, there is. How? Let me give you a detailed description of what I’m talking about.
Inkjet printers and laser printers work in completely different ways. To form a bond between the toner and the paper, a laser printer uses high heat. Inkjet printers, on the other hand, use a chemical to dry ink on the paper before printing. In this case, using Inkjet printer paper in a laser printer may result in faded printing.
Check to see if the paper is designed for an inkjet or laser printer. After that, make your selection based on your printer.
Apart from the paper type, manufacturing quality may have an effect on the print quality. The rough surface of the paper makes it difficult to print smoothly, which can occur in patchy results.
Solution: Print on a different bundle of papers and compare the results.
2- Cartridges that have been emptied
It is also a non-technical issue, as stated above. Furthermore, when it comes to faded printing text, empty cartridges are the most common issue. If you use your printer on and off, make sure the toner cartridges have a sufficient amount of toner/ink.
LED printers have the ability to check the toner levels in cartridges.
Solution: Before printing, check the toner level; if it’s low, replace it and print.
3- Humidity level
The humidity is the final non-technical issue.
Humidity is another factor that can cause your printer to malfunction. Humidity can cause printing papers to become humid, affecting the printing quality as a result. Humidity can cause the printing pages to warp as well as clog the nozzle.
Solution: Try to keep the printer in a less humid environment.
Technical Factors
If your printer has ink but prints dimmed, or if your Epson, Canon, Oki, Brother, or even Xerox printer is printing very light or faded, we’ll help you figure out why and how to fix it without costing you a fortune or requiring you to buy a new printer! Each of the following causes will be discussed in greater depth further down, but here are the most common causes of faded text or images in printed materials:
- Toner clinging to the fuser roller or transfer roller issues.
- Low-density ink or toner settings
- The print head on your inkjet printer is clogged.
1. Toner clinging to the fuser roller or transfer roller issues
Fuser roller issues resulting in ghosted images on the page
The fuser in your laser printer heats the toner powder, assisting it in sticking and sealing the paper to create a print. Toner can sometimes get stuck on the upper roller of a fuser. If you see a ghosted image of your printout somewhere else on the page, this could be the issue.
This happens because the previous print job left toner particles that weren’t completely melted stuck to the fuser; when the next print job is done, the toner particles transfer to the paper and create a faint ghostly picture over the top of the new print job.
The presence of ghosting indicates a fuser issue. Check to see if the upper roller has toner stuck to it by removing your fuser unit (after unplugging your printer). If it does, it’s probably time to get a new one, which you should be able to order online and have delivered fairly quickly.
There are issues with the transfer roller.
To get the toner from your cartridge’s drum unit onto the page, your transfer roller uses its electrical charge. It’s possible that it was positioned incorrectly in your printer, resulting in the light prints. Remove it with care, using the hooks that came with it, and try to re-insert it.
It should look nice and flat once inserted properly. (Don’t break out the tools or try to rip it out if you’re having trouble removing it! (Ask for help from a technician.)
It could also have something on its surface that is affecting its electrical charge and, as a result, its ability to transfer toner properly onto your page, resulting in a faint print. Avoid touching the surface with your hands, as this could aggravate the situation! Wipe the surface with a dry cloth or blow it clean with compressed air from a can.
2. Low-density ink or toner settings
You can change the density settings of your ink and toner in some printers. Without your knowledge, your default setting may be too low, resulting in those faint prints. If your printer has ink/toner density settings, you should be able to find them in ‘Devices & Printers’ after clicking on it. If it appears that you’re printing at a low density, try increasing it slightly and printing again.
3. The print head on your inkjet printer is clogged.
The mechanism that transfers the droplets of ink onto the paper, known as the print head, can become blocked or clocked over time, resulting in faint or missing areas of print on the paper for inkjet printer owners.
Air bubbles trapped in the ink cartridge well can also cause faded print areas. Instead of ink droplets, air bubbles are pushed out of the ink cartridge, resulting in missing print areas on the paper.
The solution or fix for each of these issues is to clean the ink cartridges where the ink comes out with a lightly dampened cloth. Remove the ink cartridges first, and be careful not to get ink on your skin or clothing because it can be difficult to remove.
Run the print head cleaning process from your printer menu or PC after you’ve cleaned the cartridges. After the first print head clean process, wait 2 hours before running another clean process, and repeat until 3 to 4 cleaning processes have been completed, with a 2-hour break in between. If you don’t wait a few hours in between, you risk worsening the clogging of the print head.
What is the cause of the faded text on my Lexmark printer?
On the page, the print will appear light or faded. This problem could be caused by a number of factors. Most of the time, the toner cartridge is just out of toner. Most likely, the light print is caused by a low toner warning message displayed on your printer’s screen.
Is it necessary for me to print checks with magnetic ink?
However, magnetic ink has always been required by law on checks used as payment instruments, and the requirement remains in effect today.
A check must contain MICR in order to be treated as a cash item, according to the Federal Reserve and the Accredited Standards Committee X9 (for financial industry standards).
What is the reason for my printer’s light printing?
There are a variety of reasons why your printer may be printing lightly. Check the status of your ink or toner cartridges, install the new driver software, and tweak your density settings.
Is there anything I can do to improve the print quality?
If you want to improve the overall print quality, we recommend thoroughly cleaning your printer and performing any available maintenance jobs. Your prints’ overall resolution may be improved as a result of this.
Conclusion
We’ve discussed every possible scenario in which fading text could be caused by a variety of factors. There are numerous causes of streaky printing, so calm down and read this article to determine what is causing your issue and how to resolve it! Otherwise, you should send your printer in for service or even replace it entirely if you are unable to repair it. Perhaps this is a signal that it is time to upgrade your printing device.
