Improving the print quality

If you have a print quality problem, print a test page first (Menu, 3, 2, 3). If the printout looks good, the problem is probably not the machine. Check the interface cable connections or try printing a different document. If the printout or test page printed from the machine has a quality problem, check the following steps first. And then, if you still have a print quality problem, check the chart below and follow the recommendation.

Check that you use the paper that meets our specifications. (See Acceptable paper and other print media.)

Note

To get the best print quality, we suggest using the recommended paper. (See Recommended paper and print media.)

Check that the drum units and toner cartridges are installed correctly.

Examples of poor print quality

Recommendation

White lines, bands or ribbing across the page

•	Put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Colours are light or unclear on the whole page

•	Make sure Toner Save mode is off in the control panel of the machine or the printer driver.
•	Make sure that you choose the proper media type in the printer driver or in the machine's Paper Type menu setting. (See Acceptable paper and other print media and Basic tab in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)
•	Shake all four toner cartridges gently.
•	Wipe the windows of all four LED heads with a dry lint free soft cloth. (See Cleaning the LED heads.)

White streaks or bands down the page

•	Wipe the windows of all four LED heads with a dry lint free soft cloth. (See Cleaning the LED heads.)
•	Clean all four drum units. (See Cleaning the drum unit.)
•	Identify the missing colour and put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing a Toner cartridge.) You may only need to replace one toner cartridge to solve the print problem. To identify which toner cartridge needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Coloured streaks or bands down the page

•	Clean all four corona wires (one for each colour) inside the drum unit by sliding the green tab. (See Cleaning the corona wires.)
•	Make sure the corona wire cleaners are at their home positions ().
•	Clean the scanner glass and scanner glass strip. (See Cleaning the scanner glass.)
•	Replace the toner cartridge that matches the colour of the streak or band. (See Replacing a Toner cartridge.) You may only need to replace one toner cartridge to solve the print problem. To identify which toner cartridge needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.
•	Put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Vertical streaks in a light background

•	Wipe the windows of all four LED heads with a dry lint free soft cloth. (See Cleaning the LED heads.)

Coloured lines across the page

•	If coloured lines appear at 30 mm intervals, replace the toner cartridge that matches the colour of the line. (See Replacing a Toner cartridge.)
•	If coloured lines appear at 94 mm intervals, put in a new drum unit that matches the colour of the line. (See Replacing the drum units.)

White spots or hollow print

•	If the problem is not solved after printing a few pages, the drum unit may be stained. Clean all four drum units. (See Small spots on the printed pages in Cleaning the drum unit.)
•	Make sure that the media type settings in the printer driver and in the machine's Paper Type menu matches the type of paper you are using. (See Acceptable paper and other print media and Basic tab in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)
•	Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as high humidity can cause white spots or hollow print. (See Choosing a location.)

Completely blank or some colours are missing

•	Put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing a Toner cartridge.) You may only need to replace one toner cartridge to solve the print problem. To identify which toner cartridge needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.
•	Put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Coloured spots at 94 mm

•	If the problem is not solved after printing a few pages, the drum unit may have glue from a label stuck on the drum surface. Clean the drum unit. (See Large spots on the printed pages.)
•	Put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Coloured spots at 30 mm

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Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing a Toner cartridge.)
You may only need to replace one toner cartridge to solve the print problem. To identify which toner cartridge needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Toner scatter or toner stain

•	Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as high humidity and high temperatures may cause this print quality problem. (See Choosing a location.)
•	Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing a Toner cartridge.) You may only need to replace one toner cartridge to solve the print problem. To identify which toner cartridge needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.
•	If the problem continues, put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

The colour of your printouts is not what you expected

•	Make sure Toner Save mode is off in the control panel of the machine or the printer driver.
•	Perform the calibration. (See Calibration.)
•	Adjust the colour by using the custom setting in the driver and by using the control panel of the machine. Colours the machine can print and colours you see on a monitor are different. The machine may not be able to reproduce the colours on your monitor.
•	If colours appear in the printed grey areas, make sure there is a check in the Improve Grey Colour check box of the printer driver. (See Basic tab for Windows^® printer driver, Advanced tab for Macintosh printer driver or Printer Features for Macintosh BR-Script printer driver in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)
•	If shaded areas look dull, remove the check from the Improve Grey Colour check box.
•	If a printed black graphic is too light, choose Enhance Black Printing mode in the printer driver. (See Settings Dialog for Windows^® printer driver, Advanced options for Windows^® BR-Script printer driver, Print Settings for Macintosh printer driver or Printer Features for Macintosh BR-Script printer driver in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)
•	Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing a Toner cartridge.) You may only need to replace one toner cartridge to solve the print problem. To identify which toner cartridge needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.
•	Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

All one colour

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Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.)
You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Colour misregistration

•	Make sure that the machine is on a solid level surface.
•	Perform the auto colour registration using the control panel (see Auto Registration) or perform the manual colour registration using the control panel (see Manual Registration).
•	Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.
•	Put in a new belt unit. (See Replacing the belt unit.)

Uneven density appears periodically across the page

•	Perform the calibration. (See Calibration.)
•	Adjust the contrast or brightness when you are in copy mode. (See Adjusting Contrast, Colour and Brightness.)
•	Identify the colour that is uneven and put in a new toner cartridge for that colour. (See Replacing a Toner cartridge.) You may only need to replace one toner cartridge to solve the print problem. To identify which toner cartridge needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.
•	Identify the colour that is uneven and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Thin lines do not print

•	Make sure Toner Save mode is off in the control panel of the machine or the printer driver.
•	Change the print resolution.
•	If you use Windows^® printer driver, choose Improve Pattern Printing or Improve Thin Line in Settings of Basic tab. (See Settings Dialog in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)

Wrinkle

•	Change to the recommended type of paper.
•	Make sure that the back cover is closed correctly.
•	Make sure that two grey levers inside the back cover are in the up position.
•	Make sure that the media type settings in the printer driver and in the machine’s Paper Type menu matches the type of paper you are using. (See Acceptable paper and other print media and Basic tab in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)

Offset image

•	Make sure that the media type settings in the printer driver and in the machine's Paper Type menu matches the type of paper you are using. (See Acceptable paper and other print media and Basic tab in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)
•	Make sure that two grey levers inside the back cover are in the up position.
•	Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as dry and low temperatures may cause this print quality problem. (See Choosing a location.)
•	Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) You may only need to replace one drum unit to solve the print problem. To identify which drum needs to be replaced, please visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Poor fixing

•	Make sure that the media type settings in the printer driver and in the machine's Paper Type menu matches the type of paper you are using. (See Acceptable paper and other print media and Basic tab in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)
•	Make sure that two grey levers inside the back cover are in the up position.
•	Choose Improve Toner Fixing mode in the printer driver. (See Other Print Options (For Windows^® printer driver), Advanced options (For Windows^® BR-Script printer driver), Print Settings (For Macintosh printer driver) or Printer Features (For Macintosh BR-Script printer driver) in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.) If this selection does not provide enough improvement, select Thicker paper in Media Type settings.

Curled or wavy

•	Choose Reduce Paper Curl mode in the printer driver when you do not use our recommended paper. (See Other Print Options (For Windows^® printer driver), Advanced options (For Windows^® BR-Script printer driver), Print Settings (For Macintosh printer driver) or Printer Features (For Macintosh BR-Script printer driver) in the Software User's Guide on the CD-ROM.)
•	If you do not use the machine often, the paper may have been in the paper tray too long. Turn over the stack of paper in the paper tray. Also, fan the paper stack and then rotate the paper 180° in the paper tray.
•	Store the paper where it will not be exposed to avoid high temperatures and high humidity.

Uneven density or faded

•	Fully open the top cover and then close it again.

Envelope creases

Make sure that the envelope levers are pulled down when you are printing envelopes.

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