Printed Surface Is Scratched/Paper Is Smudged

    13-Mar-2008
    8200133600

    Issue


    Cause and Solution

    Paper Feed Roller is dirty
    Cleaning the Paper Feed Roller will wear the rollers, so perform this procedure
    only when necessary.

    Inside of the printer is dirty
    When performing duplex printing, if the specified paper size does not match the actual size of paper loaded in the paper source, the inside will become stained with ink, causing printed paper to become smudged.
    Perform the Bottom Plate Cleaning to clean the inside of the printer.
    For details on cleaning, see [Cleaning the Inside of the Printer].
    REFERENCE
    To prevent the inside of the printer from stains, set the paper size correctly.

    Printed paper is taking long to dry
    When printing documents such as photos, which takes longer to dry, the next sheet may be fed before the previous one has dried.
    Either remove each printed sheet from the Paper Output Tray as soon as it is printed, or specify the Ink Drying Wait Time so that the printer will pause after each sheet has printed.
    (Windows)
    1. Make sure that the printer is turned on.
    2. Open the printer properties dialog box.
    3. Click the Maintenance tab and then Custom Settings.
    4. Drag the Ink Drying Wait Time slide bar to set the wait time, and then click Send.
    5. Confirm the message and click OK.
    (Macintosh)
    1. Make sure that the printer is turned on.
    2. Open the Canon IJ Printer Utility.
    3. Select Custom Settings in the pop-up menu.
    4. Drag the Ink Drying Wait Time slide bar to set the wait time, and then click Send.
    5. Confirm the message and click OK.

    Printing in monochrome
    When you are printing a monochrome document or otherwise printing in monochrome, stacking the printout paper may cause undried ink to stain the sheets.
    Reducing the color intensity setting or increasing the print quality setting will help prevent this.

    Printing on inappropriate type of paper
    • Check to see if the paper you are printing on is not too thick or curled. See [Printing Media].
    • When performing Borderless Printing, print quality may be reduced at the top and bottom edges of the paper. Make sure that the paper you are using is suitable for Borderless Printing. For details, see [Printing Area].

    Paper is curled
    For Plain Paper:
    Turn the paper over and reload it to print on the other side.
    Leaving the paper loaded in the Rear Tray for a long time may cause the paper to curl. If this happens, load the paper with the other side facing up. It may resolve the problem.
    We recommend putting unused paper back into the package and keep them on a level surface.
    For Other Paper:
    If you are using paper with either any of the corners or the whole printing surface curled, the paper may become dirty, not feed properly, or both. Use such paper after correcting paper curl as follows.
    1. With the printing side (A) facing up, cover the paper with a fresh sheet of plain paper to avoid staining or scratching the surface.
    2. Roll up the paper in a direction opposite to paper curl as seen below.
    3. Check to see that the paper curl is within approximately 0.08 to 0.2 inches / 2 to 5 mm (B) in height.
    We recommend printing curl-corrected paper one sheet at a time.
    REFERENCE
    Depending on the media type, the paper may be smudged or may not be fed properly even if it is not curled.
    In such case, follow the procedure described the above in "For Other Paper" to curl the paper before printing.
    This may improve the print result.

    Printing on thick paper
    Selecting the Prevent paper abrasion setting will widen the clearance between the Print Head and the loaded paper. If you notice abrasion even with the media type set correctly to match the loaded paper, set the printer to prevent paper abrasion by using the printer driver.
    * Deactivate the Prevent paper abrasion setting once printing is complete. If not, this setting remains enabled for all subsequent print jobs.
    (Windows)
    Open the printer properties dialog box, and in Custom Settings in the Maintenance sheet, select the Prevent paper abrasion check box, and then click Send.
    (Macintosh)
    In the Canon IJ Printer Utility, select Custom Settings in the pop-up menu, select the Prevent paper abrasion check box, and then click Send.

    Printing graphics with Intensity setting set too high
    Especially if you are using plain paper to print images with high intensity, the paper may absorb too much ink and become wavy, causing paper abrasion.
    Reduce the Intensity setting in the printer driver and try printing again.
    (Windows)
    1. Open the printer properties dialog box.
    2. On the Main sheet, select Manual for Color/Intensity, and then click Set.
    3. Drag the Intensity slide bar on the Color Adjustment sheet to adjust the intensity.
    (Macintosh)
    1. Open the Print dialog box.
    2. Select Color Options in the pop-up menu.
    3. Drag the Intensity slide bar to set the intensity.

    Printing beyond the recommended printing area
    If you are printing beyond the recommended printing area of your printing paper, the lower edge of the paper may become stained with ink.
    Resize your original document in your application software.
    For details on recommended printing area, see [Printing Area].