Improve the Print Quality

Home > Troubleshooting > Improve the Print Quality

If you have a print quality problem, print a test page first. If the printout looks good, the problem is probably not the machine. Check the interface cable connections and try printing a different document. If the printout or test page printed from the machine has a quality problem, check the examples of poor print quality and follow the recommendations in the table.

IMPORTANT: Using non-genuine supplies may affect the print quality, hardware performance, and machine reliability.

To get the best print quality, we suggest using recommended print media. Make sure you use paper that meets our specifications.
Check that the drum unit and toner cartridges are installed correctly.

Examples of poor print quality	Recommendation
Printed pages are compressed, horizontal stripes appear, or characters in the top, bottom, left, or right margins are cut off	Adjust the print margins in your document's application and reprint the job.
Coloured letters and thin letters in the original document are light or faint in the copy	Choose Text or Receipt in the copy quality setting. Adjust the copy density and contrast.
Colours are light or faint on the whole page	Use the machine's LCD to perform calibration. See Related Information:Correct Colour Printing. Adjust the copy density and contrast if you are copying. Make sure Toner Save mode is off on the LCD or in the printer driver. See Related Information:Reduce Toner Consumption. Make sure the media type setting in the printer driver matches the type of paper you are using. Shake all four toner cartridges gently. Wipe the laser scanner windows with a dry, soft lint-free cloth. See Related Information: Clean the Laser Scanner Windows.
Vertical white streaks or bands appear on the page	Wipe the laser scanner windows with a dry, soft lint-free cloth. See Related Information: Clean the Laser Scanner Windows. Wipe the scanner glass strip with a dry lint free soft cloth. Make sure foreign material, such as a torn piece of paper, sticky notes, or dust is not inside the machine and around the drum unit and toner cartridges.
Vertical coloured streaks or bands appear on the page	Wipe the scanner glass strip with a dry lint free soft cloth. Clean all four corona wires (one for each colour) inside the drum unit by sliding the green tab. Make sure the green tab of the corona wire is in the home position (1). Replace the toner cartridge that matches the colour of the streak or band. To identify the colour of the toner cartridge, visit support.brother.com and view the FAQs & Troubleshooting page for your model. See Related Information:Replace the Toner Cartridge. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
Horizontal coloured lines appear on the page	Identify the colour causing the problem and replace the toner cartridge that matches the colour of the line. To identify the colour of the toner cartridge, visit support.brother.com to see the FAQs & Troubleshooting page. See Related Information:Replace the Toner Cartridge. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
White spots	Make sure the media type setting in the printer driver matches the type of paper you are using. Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as high humidity and high temperatures may cause this print quality problem. If the problem is not solved after printing a few pages, the drum may have foreign material, such as glue from a label, stuck on the drum surface. Clean the drum unit. See Related Information:Clean the Drum Unit. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
Blank page or some missing colours	Identify the colour causing the problem and install a new toner cartridge. To identify the colour of the toner cartridge, visit support.brother.com to see the FAQs & Troubleshooting page. See Related Information:Replace the Toner Cartridge. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
Coloured spots at 94 mm	If the problem is not solved after printing a few pages, the drum may have foreign material, such as glue from a label, stuck on the drum surface. Clean the drum unit. See Related Information:Clean the Drum Unit. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
Coloured spots at 29 mm	Identify the colour causing the problem and install a new toner cartridge. To identify the colour of the toner cartridge, visit support.brother.com to see the FAQs & Troubleshooting page. See Related Information:Replace the Toner Cartridge.
Toner scatter or toner stain	Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as high humidity and high temperatures may cause this print quality problem. Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. To identify the colour of the toner cartridge, visit support.brother.com to see the FAQs & Troubleshooting page. See Related Information:Replace the Toner Cartridge. Install a new drum unit.See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
The colour of your printouts is not what you expected	To improve the colour density, perform the colour correction using the LCD. To adjust the print position of colours for sharper edges, perform the colour correction using the LCD. Adjust the copy density and contrast if you are copying. Make sure Toner Save mode is off on the LCD or in the printer driver. If the print quality of the black portion is not what you expected, select the Enhance Black Printing checkbox in the printer driver. Clear the Improve Grey Colour checkbox in the printer driver. Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. To identify the colour of the toner cartridge, visit support.brother.com to see the FAQs & Troubleshooting page. See Related Information:Replace the Toner Cartridge. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
Colour offset	Make sure the machine is on a solid level surface. Perform the colour correction using the LCD. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit. Install a new belt unit. See Related Information:Replace the Belt Unit.
Uneven colour density across the page	Perform the colour correction using the LCD. Adjust the copy density and contrast if you are copying. Clear the Improve Grey Colour checkbox in the printer driver. Identify the colour causing the problem and put in a new toner cartridge. To identify the colour of the toner cartridge, visit support.brother.com to see the FAQs & Troubleshooting page. See Related Information:Replace the Toner Cartridge. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
Missing thin lines in images	Make sure Toner Save mode is off on the LCD or in the printer driver. Change the print resolution. If you use a Windows printer driver, select Improve Pattern Printing in Print Setting of the Basic tab.
Wrinkled printout	Check the paper type and quality. Make sure the back cover is closed correctly. Make sure the media type setting in the printer driver matches the type of paper you are using.
Ghosting images	Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as low humidity and low temperatures may cause this print quality problem. Make sure the media type setting in the printer driver matches the type of paper you are using. Install a new drum unit. See Related Information:Replace the Drum Unit.
Toner smears easily	Make sure the media type setting in the printer driver matches the type of paper you are using. Select Improve Toner Fixing mode in the printer driver. If this selection does not provide enough improvement, change the printer driver setting in Media Type to a thick setting. If you are printing an envelope, select Env. Thick in the media type setting.
Curled or wavy image	Select Reduce Paper Curl mode in the printer driver. If the problem is not solved, select Plain Paper in the media type setting. If you are printing an envelope, select Env. Thin in the Media Type Setting of the printer driver. 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 high temperatures and high humidity. Open the back cover (Face up output tray) to let the printed paper exit onto the Face up output tray.

Related Information

Troubleshooting