Printing quality has really come a long way since its inception. Even with the amazing technology that helps professionals everywhere with their print jobs, mistakes can still happen. That doesn’t mean the pros don’t know what they’re doing. These digital printing problems are usually caused by mechanical issues.
Digital Printing Problems: 4 Common Mistakes
Poor Registration of Colors
Have you ever seen an image where you can see a solid color along the edge of a full color image? Frequently, that’s bad registration. When colors that are supposed to be printed on top of each other don’t line up, you get some odd “special effects” including double images or a solid line of color at the edge of an image or text. This is usually a sign of a digital press maintenance problem.
Banding in Large, Solid Areas
Banding happens when there are “bands” visible across your printed sheet. In large printed solid areas, there are sometimes bands where there is more or less ink, due to a number of different issues. Each brand of digital press has a technical limit of how large an area of solid color it can consistently print. This problem can also arise from the paper moving too fast through the printer, media skewing or the pre-heater being set too high.
Inconsistent Color
Colors vary from printer to printer. It’s very difficult to match colors perfectly on prints made by different printers. This is normal, though, as different printers will interpret your colors settings differently. While it won’t completely fix the problem, regular calibration of the printer can help reduce inconsistency.
Cracks on Folds
In digital printing, toner sits on top of the paper instead of soaking into the paper as ink does in offset printing. Because of this, toner will crack when digitally printed pieces are folded. There are a couple of ways to try to beat this: use less toner or score the paper before it’s printed. If you use less toner, there won’t be as much to crack. Scoring the sheet before printing gives the toner a pre-set shape to lay down on top of before the folding takes place and may help reduce cracking.
Do you have any questions about digital printing problems? Let us know! We’re here to help!
Whether you need digital printing or offset printing, the experts at The Print Authority will find the right way to get your job done so it is affordable and looks fantastic! We have over two decades of experience as a business printing company printing flyers, posters, brochures, business cards, training and marketing materials and much more. Our experts will make your company or organization look great in print. Contact us today for more information!
