Printer Servicing & Support

Q: What is causing our printing to curl?

Technical: Mostly it is a quality issue but poor storage of paper, before it’s used, can create a few problems too. Paper should be stored in a dry location, away from the cold and damp. If paper is stored in older buildings then, sometimes cool air and rising damp can become a problem over time. It’s worth checking paper storage a few times a year, especially in winter.

Q: What paper type appears to cause the main issues? 

Technical: We have had some known issues with some cheaply produced papers. We have also found a few problems with some coated papers when they are used for high volume tasks and over a long period of time.

Q: Is there a pattern to the type causing the issues? 

Technical: Generally, we have found paper curl tends to happen more on A3 paper and is caused by the paper not being discharged properly.

Q: Have you had many people ask for advice about paper types?

Technical: We have been asked, although, in general, most systems are compatible with a wide variety of paper/media types and grades. We do not recommend a specific make of paper as there are complex quality issues to be taken into account, due to the different types of materials available. Ignoring these factors could lead to unforeseen problems such as mis-feeds, paper jams, poor quality print and copy appearance and even damage to the inner workings of a machine.

Q: What other issues do the “wrong type of paper” cause? 

Technical: The paper curls and blocks the exit unit and causes jams. There can sometimes be issues with toner not fusing correctly on coated papers so you might end up with unsightly banding or colours not being very strong.

Q: What would be your advice to customers to prevent this sort of thing happening in future?

Technical: We advise customers to check the sort of paper that is being fed through the machine, making sure that the correct paper type is selected, that the paper is positioned correctly and to run good quality A3  90-100gsm paper (where issues occur in A3). So far these recommendations appear to correct problems customers may have where their low throughput of A3 paper causes issues.

Have you noticed that text on an email is mostly black and that the only colour on the screen may be a blue hyperlink email address or coloured logo at the bottom of an email. If you print this you could be charged the full cost of a colour page on your printer!

TOP TIP: If you have to print an email why not default your printer to black only. You’ll make your colour toner go much further and you’ll only be charged for black toner! Have you also noticed that most emails now carry a privacy notice as a footnote which might mean you end up printing 2 pages with only the privacy notice on Page 2?

To use an AirPrint™ compatible printer users have to connect to a printer on a local Wi-Fi network and it must be connected to the same network as an iOS device. The AirPrint™ printer is selected from an app – many are free to install.

Google Cloud Print works on mobile phones, tablets, Chromebooks, PCs and any other web-connected device a user wants to print from. Printers are managed from the Cloud making it easy for anyone, wherever they are, to find their nearest printer. Simply register with Google Cloud Print using a feature of Google Chrome.

Olivetti and Develop machines support PageScope™ Mobile App, available as a free download for both iOS, Android and even Windows devices to connect to these MFPs using Wi-Fi. It enables users to print documents and images as well as import scanned data and even supports QR Code scanning and NFC.

On some of the new models there is a special area allowing connection when a mobile touches it, or is brought within a few centimetres of it.

Partners such as YSoft and PaperCut provide software for authentication and data security. Their software includes a number of modules such as Print Roaming (or Follow-Me Printing), Mobile Print and Rules Based Printing using a web link  that users can access tenable printing which removes the risk of incoming viruses.

Many MFPs  feature Network Cards and Licence Kits which give a choice of options for printing or creating a Wifi “Hotspot”, where Wifi is not standard. Users can email directly to the d-Color MF range and print out attachments, which could be PDF, XPS, DOCX, TIFF, PNG files etc. It’s also possible to scan straight to Word, Excel or PowerPoint and can take advantage of OCR functionality.