Printers: HP color laser printer 1312

[Nasturtium]

I've having trouble printing color photographs with this printer. At first I thought it might be the paper but even with special laser printer paper the ink flakes off sometimes and smears over the sheet.

Can anyone recommend the right kind of paper (matte please) ? Or any other tips to getting good prints from this?

[TommyO]

Nasturtium,

While it's hard to tell for sure, it sounds like the toner is not getting hot enough in the fuser assembly. Are the smears in powder form, or do they seem molten ? If powder, then the fuser is not heating properly. If molten, then the driver could be laying down too much toner for the fuser to handle.

Maybe someone else will have more/better info.

[Nasturtium]

Definitely too hot then. I guess I need to learn about dot-gain, huh? Or maybe I can just play with resolution.

[TommyO]

Resolution could help. Lasers are quite a bit different that inkjets, and quite fickle. They have to lay down toner from three drums in one pass, and hope that they overlay with the right density to create the correct color. Calibration is nearly impossible, but doable.

You may also want to check the corona wire inside the drum unit just to make sure it isn't so gummed up that it is actually dragging. There is normally a built-in cleaner/swiper thingy you just move back and forth over the wire a few times.

Also, some drivers have a setting to increase fuser time and fix the toner powder issues.

[Nasturtium]

Thanks! I will try that.