Improving the print quality

If you have a print quality problem, print a test page first (see Machine Info.). If the printout looks good, the problem is probably not the printer. Check the interface cable or try the printer on another computer. If the printout have 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 About paper.)

Note

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

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

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.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Colors are light or unclear on the whole page

•	Make sure toner save mode is off in the control panel or the printer driver.
•	Make sure that the media type setting in the driver matches the type of paper you are using. (See About paper.)
•	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 head.)

White streaks or bands down the page

•	Wipe the windows of LED head with a dry lint free soft cloth. (See Cleaning the LED head.)
•	Clean the drum unit. (See Large spots on the printed pages in Cleaning the drum unit.)
•	Identify the missing color and put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing the toner cartridges.) To identify the color of the toner cartridge, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Colored streaks or bands down the page

•	Clean all four corona wires (one for each color) 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 ().
•	Replace the toner cartridge that matches the color of the streak or band. (See Replacing the toner cartridges.) To identify the color of the toner cartridge, 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.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Vertical streaks in a light background

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

Colored lines across the page

•	Replace the toner cartridge that matches the color of the line. (See Replacing the toner cartridges.) To identify the color of the toner cartridge, 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.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

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 setting in the driver matches the type of paper you are using. (See About paper.)
•	Check the printer’s environment. Conditions such as high humidity can cause white spots or hollow print. (See To use the printer safely.)

Completely blank or some colors are missing

•	Put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing the toner cartridges.) To identify the color of the toner cartridge, 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.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Colored spots at 94mm

•	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 in Cleaning the drum unit.)
•	Put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Colored spots at 30mm

•	Identify the color causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing the toner cartridges.) To identify the color of the toner cartridge, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Toner scatter or toner stain

•	Check the printer’s environment. Conditions such as high humidity and high temperatures may cause this print quality problem. (See To use the printer safely.)
•	Identify the color causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing the toner cartridges.) To identify the color of the toner cartridge, 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.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

The color of your printouts is not what you expected

•	Make sure toner save mode is off in the control panel or the printer driver.
•	Perform the calibration. (See Calibration.)
•	Adjust the color by using the custom setting in the driver and by using the control panel. colors the printer can print and colors you see on a monitor are different. The printer may not be able to reproduce the colors on your monitor. (See Color Correction.)
•	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 Improve Grey Colour in Settings Dialog (For Windows^® printer driver), Advanced options (For Windows^® BR-Script printer driver) or Print Settings (For Macintosh printer driver).
•	If shaded areas look dull, remove the check from the Improve Grey Colour check box of the printer driver.
•	If a printed black graphic is too light, choose Enhance Black Printing mode in the printer driver. See Enhance Black Printing in in Settings Dialog (For Windows^® printer driver), Advanced options (For Windows^® BR-Script printer driver) or Print Settings (For Macintosh printer driver).
•	Identify the color causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. (See Replacing the toner cartridges.) To identify the color of the toner cartridge, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.
•	Identify the color causing the problem and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

All one color

•	Put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Color misregistration

•	Make sure that the printer is on a solid level surface.
•	Perform the auto color registration using the control panel (see Auto Registration) or perform the manual color registration using the control panel (see Manual Registration).
•	Identify the color causing the problem and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) To identify the color of the drum unit, 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.)
•	Identify the color that is uneven and put in a new toner cartridge for that color. (See Replacing the toner cartridges.) To identify the color of the toner cartridge, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.
•	Identify the color that is uneven and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Missing image at thin line

•	Make sure toner save mode is off in the control panel or the printer driver.
•	Change the print resolution.
•	If you use Windows printer driver, choose Improve pattern printing or Improve Thin Line in Print Setting of Basic tab. (See Settings Dialog.)

Wrinkle

•	Change to the recommended type of paper.
•	Make sure that the back cover is closed properly.
•	Make sure that two grey levers inside the back cover are in the up position.
•	Make sure that the media type setting in the driver matches the type of paper you are using. (See About paper.)

Offset image

•	Make sure that the media type setting in the driver matches the type of paper you are using. (See About paper.)
•	Make sure that two grey levers inside the back cover are in the up position.
•	Check the printer’s environment. Conditions such as dry and low temperatures may cause this print quality problem. (See To use the printer safely.)
•	Identify the color causing the problem and put in a new drum unit. (See Replacing the drum units.) To identify the color of the drum unit, visit us at http://solutions.brother.com/ to view our FAQs and troubleshooting tips.

Poor fixing

•	Make sure that the media type setting in the driver matches the type of paper you are using. (See About paper.)
•	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 Improve Print Output in Improve Print Output (For Windows^® printer driver), Advanced options (For Windows^® BR-Script printer driver) or Print Settings (For Macintosh printer driver). 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 Improve Print Output in Improve Print Output (For Windows^® printer driver), Advanced options (For Windows^® BR-Script printer driver) or Print Settings (For Macintosh printer driver).
•	If you do not use the printer 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 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 inside the back cover is pulled down when you print the envelope.

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