HL-3170CDW

FAQs & Troubleshooting

FAQs & Troubleshooting

The color of your printouts is not what you expected

The color of your printouts is not what you expected


Check the following points to solve the problem:

NOTE: Illustrations shown below are from a representative product and operating system, and may differ from your Brother machine and operating system.

  1. To get the best print quality, we suggest using the recommended paper. Check that you are using paper that meets our specifications. Click here to see details of the recommended paper.

  2. The drum units or toner cartridges may not be installed correctly. Check that the drum units or toner cartridges are installed correctly.


  3. To improve the color density, perform the calibration. Click here to see how to carry out calibration.

  4. To adjust the print position of colors for sharper edges, perform an automatic color registration. Click here to see how to perform an automatic color registration.

  5. Make sure toner save mode is off in the control panel or the printer driver. Click here to see how to change the toner save mode setting.

  6. If the print quality is poor, disable the Improve Gray Color mode of the printer driver.

    (Windows printer driver)
    1. Open Printing Preferences. Click here to see how to open Printing Preferences.
    2. Select Manual for Document Type.
    3. Click Settings....
    4. Clear the Improve Gray Color check box, and click OK.

      Settings of Windows printer driver

    5. Click Apply => OK.

    (Windows BR-Script printer driver) (supported models only)
    1. Open Printing Preferences. Click here to see how to open Printing Preferences.
    2. Click Advanced....
    3. Select Off for Improve Gray Color in Printer Features, and click OK.

      Printing Preferences of Windows BR-Script driver

    4. Click Apply => OK.

    (Mac OS X CUPS printer driver)
    1. Open the Print dialog. Click here to see how to open Print dialog.
    2. Select Color Settings from the pane pop-up menu and click the Advanced Color Settings menu.
    3. Clear the Improve Gray Color check box.

      Print dialog of Mac OS X CUPS printer driver

    (Mac OS X BR-Script printer driver) (supported models only)
    1. Open the Print dialog. Click here to see how to open Print dialog.
    2. Select Printer Features from the pane pop-up menu and select General 1 or General 2 for Feature Sets.
    3. Select Off for Improve Gray Color.

      Print dialog of Mac OS X BR-Script printer driver


    If the print quality of the black portion is not what you expected, choose the Enhance Black Printing mode of the printer driver.


    (Windows printer driver)
    1. Open Printing Preferences. Click here to see how to open Printing Preferences.
    2. Select Manual for Document Type.
    3. Click Settings....
    4. Select the Enhance Black Printing check box, and click OK.

      Settings of Windows printer driver

    5. Click Apply => OK.

    (Windows BR-Script printer driver) (supported models only)
    1. Open Printing Preferences. Click here to see how to open Printing Preferences.
    2. Click Advanced....
    3. Select On for Enhance Black Printing in Printer Features, and click OK.

      Printing Preferences of Windows BR-Script driver
       
    4. Click Apply => OK.

    (Mac OS X CUPS printer driver)
    1. Open the Print dialog. Click here to see how to open Print dialog.
    2. Select Color Settings from the pane pop-up menu and click the Advanced Color Settings menu.
    3. Select the Enhance Black Printing check box.

      Print dialog of Mac OS X CUPS printer driver

    (Mac OS X BR-Script printer driver) (supported models only)
    1. Open the Print dialog. Click here to see how to open Print dialog.
    2. Select Printer Features from the pane pop-up menu and select General 1 or General 2 for Feature Sets.
    3. Select the Enhance Black Printing check box.

      Print dialog of Mac OS X BR-Script printer driver

  7. The toner cartridge may be damaged. Install a new toner cartridge as follow:

    1. Click here to print the chart. [11KB/ PDF]
    2. Compare your printed document with the printed chart to identify the color causing the problem.
    3. Replace the toner cartridge of the color. Click here to see how to replace the toner cartridge.

  8. The drum unit may be damaged. Identify the color causing the problem by using the chart printed in Step 7, and install a new drum unit of the color. Click here to see how to replace the drum unit.

If your question was not answered, have you checked other FAQs?

Have you checked the manuals?

If you need further assistance, please contact Brother customer service:

Related Models

HL-3150CDN, HL-3170CDW

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