DCP-J4120DW
FAQs & Troubleshooting |
When I print photos, the colour quality is not good
When printing photos, the following factors can affect the print quality:
- The brand of paper
- Mixed colours
- Use of generic ink supplies
- Driver settings
- Incorrect paper drying
To enhance the photo print quality, do the following:
1. Check the print quality
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Print a Print Quality Check Sheet.
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Press (Ink) > Improve Print Quality > Check Print Quality.
You can also press (Settings) > Maintenance > Improve Print Quality > Check Print Quality.
- Press OK. The machine begins printing the Print Quality Check Sheet.
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Press (Ink) > Improve Print Quality > Check Print Quality.
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Compare the print quality of the Check Sheet you have just printed with the examples listed below:
(A) Mixed colours
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If your Check Sheet is normal, go to STEP B.
If your Check Sheet has mixed or missing colours, clean the print head. Click here to see how to improve poor print quality.
If mixed or missing colours are improved following the head cleaning, print an image and check its quality.
If there is still a problem with print quality, go to STEP B.
2. Colour Enhancement
For PC printing
Depending on the current settings in the printer driver, you can change the following settings to improve print quality:
Windows
- Open Printing Preferences. (Click here to see how to open Printing Preferences.)
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Open the Basic tab and adjust the following settings as necessary:
- Media Type: To achieve the best print results, the media being printed on should be selected in the driver. The machine changes the way it prints depending on the selected media type.
- Print Quality: The quality selection lets you choose the print resolution. As print quality and speed are related, the higher the quality, the longer it will take to print the document. The available quality selections will vary depending on the media type you choose.
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Colour Mode: Colour is adjusted to get the closest colour match with the computer monitor.
- Natural: Use for photographic images. The colour is adjusted to print more natural colours.
- Vivid: Use for business graphics such as charts, graphics, and text. The colour is adjusted to print more vivid colours.
- Click Apply.
- Click the Advanced tab.
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Click Colour Settings.
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Select Colour Enhancement (True2Life®), and then adjust the colour settings.
This feature analyses your image to improve its sharpness, white balance, and colour density. This process may take several minutes depending on the size of the image and the specifications of your computer. With this option you can manually adjust the following settings:
- Colour Density: Adjusts the total amount of colour in the image. You can increase or decrease the amount of colour in an image to improve a washed out or faint picture.
- White Balance: Adjusts the hue of the white areas of an image. Lighting, camera settings, and other factors may affect the appearance of white. The white areas of a picture may be slightly pink, yellow or some other colour. By adjusting the white balance you can adjust those white areas.
- Brightness: Adjusts the brightness of the whole image. To lighten or darken the image, move the scroll bar to the right or left.
- Contrast: Adjusts the contrast of an image. This will make darker areas darker and lighter areas lighter. Increase the contrast when you want an image to be clearer. Decrease the contrast when you want an image to be more subdued.
- Red: Increases the intensity of Red in the image to make the image redder.
- Green: Increases the intensity of Green in the image to make the image greener.
- Blue: Increases the intensity of Blue in the image to make the image bluer.
- Click OK to close the windows.
Macintosh
- Open the Print dialog box. (Click here to see how to open the Print dialog box.)
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Select Colour Settings in the Print dialog box.
- Click Advanced Colour Settings.
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Select Colour Enhancement, and then adjust the colour settings.
For photo printing from a memory card or USB flash memory drive
- Open the media slot cover.
- Insert the memory card or USB flash drive into the correct slot.
- Press Photo > View Photos.
- Press OK. (This step may be skipped for some models.)
- Press the Left or Right arrow to browse the photos. When the photo you want is displayed, press it, and then press OK.
- Press OK.
- Press Print Settings > Colour Enhance > Colour Enhance.
- Press On.
- Press the Up or Down arrow to display the White Balance, Sharpness, or Colour Density option.(This step might be skipped for some models.)
- Press White Balance, Sharpness, or Colour Density.
- Press the Left or Right arrow to adjust the degree of the setting. Press OK.
- If you want to customise another colour enhancement, repeat steps 10 and 11.
- Press (Back).
- Press (Back) or OK.
- Press Start to print.
Recommended ink type
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Brother strongly recommends that customers do not use generic ink or refill their Brother ink cartridges. Using non-Brother supplies may affect the hardware performance, print quality and machine reliability since the ink formulation in genuine Brother ink cartridges prevents smearing and clogging of the print head. The Brother limited warranty does not apply to any issue that was caused by the use of unauthorised third party ink and/or cartridges.
> Brother Genuine Supplies information
Paper types
Print quality is also affected by the type and brand of paper used as well as the selected print or copy resolution. In order to achieve optimum print quality, Brother Paper is recommended, but other brands may work as well depending on the type of document you are printing.
Correct paper handling after a photo has been printed
- After the photo has finished printing, remove the photo immediately from the machine and place it on a flat surface to dry for 24 hours. Do not allow additional printed documents to lay on top of the photo while it is still in the machine's paper output tray.
- Do not place anything on top of the photo until after 24 hours. This can cause the picture to not dry correctly.
- Do not place a photo in a photo album or a picture frame until after 24 hours. This can cause the picture to not dry correctly.