How to Improve the Print Quality of an Inkjet Printer

Over time, the print quality of your Inkjet printer may degrade. Running regular maintenance operations is one way to restore your Inkjet printer's original quality, but here are several other tweaks to help improve it.

Things You'll Need

• Inkjet printer

Instructions

1. Run a test. Some printers have self-tests (check your manual) but all printers can print a test page. Click "Start," then "Settings," "Control Panel" and "Printers and Faxes." Right click on the name of your printer and select "Properties." You should find an option for a test page and a key for reading the results.

2. Clean the heads. Printers can do this automatically at the press of a button. Check your manual to see how to activate this feature. Or run the head cleaning program via the printer's software. Access your printer properties as in step 1 and find the maintenance or cleaning tab from there.

3. Align your print heads. This is accessed the same way as the head cleaning and is sometimes done at the same time.

4. Use the correct settings. Your printer is capable of printing in different modes, usually normal, fast (or low-quality) and high-quality. Find these options under the "Graphics" or "Quality" tab under "Properties." For printing e-mail or articles, use the fast or low-quality settings to save ink. For resumes or reports, use the high-quality setting.

5. Choose the right paper. Check your manual or ask a store clerk to steer you towards the best type of paper for your needs.

6. Upgrade your memory. Some printers have expansion slots so you can add more memory to make your printer vastly faster and more efficient.

Tips & Warnings

• Twenty-four pound, 88 bright white paper is great for general purposes on Inkjet printers.

• Print quality degrades gradually, so maintain your printer regularly.

• Tailor the cartridge to the job. Keep some photo-quality ink on hand for printing photos, and use normal ink for printing documents.

• More expensive paper does not necessarily equal better quality. Using the wrong paper or the wrong settings for a job can yield poor results.