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### 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 in the table and follow the recommendations.

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

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

Examples of poor print quality | Recommendation
--- | ---
Faint | If the machine indicates Replace Toner status, put in a new toner cartridge. Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as humidity, high temperatures, and so on, may cause this print fault. If the whole page is too light, Toner Save may be turned on. Turn off Toner Save mode in the machine's menu settings or the printer driver. Clean the drum unit. Clean the corona wire of the drum unit. Replace the toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
Grey background | Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as high temperatures and high humidity can increase the amount of background shading. Clean the drum unit. Replace the toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
Ghost | Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as low humidity and low temperatures may cause this print quality problem. Select the appropriate media type in the printer driver. Select the appropriate media type in the menu setting. Make sure the two green levers inside the back cover are in the up position. Pull up the two green levers until they stop. Clean the drum unit. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit. Replace the toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge. The fuser unit may be contaminated. Contact Lenovo customer service.
Toner specks | Clean the corona wire on the drum unit. The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit. The fuser unit may be contaminated. Contact Lenovo customer service.
Hollow print | Select Thick Paper mode in the printer driver or use thinner paper than you are currently using. Select Thick Paper in the machine's Media Type menu setting. Check the machine’s environment. Conditions such as high humidity can cause hollow print. The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
All black | Clean the corona wire inside the drum unit by sliding the green tab. Make sure you return the green tab to the home position (). The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
White lines across the page | Select the appropriate media type in the printer driver. Select the appropriate media type in the menu setting. The problem may disappear by itself. Print multiple blank pages to clear this problem, especially if the machine has not been used for a long time. Clean the drum unit. The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
Lines across the page | Clean the corona wire inside the drum unit. Clean the drum unit. The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
White lines, bands or ribbing across the page | Check the machine's environment. Conditions such as high humidity and high temperatures may cause this print quality problem. Clean the drum unit. If the problem is not solved after printing a few pages, replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
White Spots on black text and graphics at 94 mm intervals Black spots at 94 mm intervals | Make 10-15 copies of a blank, white sheet of paper. If the problem is not solved after printing the blank pages, the drum unit may have foreign material, such as glue from a label, stuck on the drum. Clean the drum unit. The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
Black toner marks across the page | If you use label sheets for laser printers, the glue from the sheets may sometimes stick to the drum surface. Clean the drum unit. If you used paper that has clips or staples, the drum unit may be damaged. If the unpacked drum unit is in direct sunlight (or room light for long periods of time), the unit may be damaged. Clean the drum unit. The toner cartridge may be damaged. Replace the toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge. The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
Black lines down the page Printed pages have toner stains down the page | Clean the corona wire inside the drum unit by sliding the green tab. Make sure you return the green tab to the home position (). The toner cartridge may be damaged. Replace the toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge. The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit. The fuser unit may be contaminated. Contact Lenovo customer service.
White lines down the page | Make sure foreign material such as a torn piece of paper, sticky notes or dust is not inside the machine and around the toner cartridge and drum unit. The toner cartridge may be damaged. Replace the toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge. The drum unit may be damaged. Replace the drum unit with a new drum unit.
Image skewed | Make sure the paper or other print media is loaded correctly in the paper tray and the guides are not too tight or too loose against the paper stack. Set the paper guides correctly. The paper tray may be too full. Check the paper type and quality. Check for loose objects such as torn paper inside the machine. (For automatic 2-sided printing models) If the problem only occurs during 2-sided printing, check for torn paper in the 2-sided tray, verify the 2-sided tray is inserted completely and the back cover is closed completely.
Curled or wavy | Check the paper type and quality. High temperatures and high humidity will cause paper to curl. 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. Open the back cover (face-up output tray) to let the printed paper exit onto the face-up output tray. Choose Reduce Paper Curl mode in the printer driver when you do not use our recommended print media.
Wrinkles or creases | Make sure paper is loaded correctly. Check the paper type and quality. Turn over the stack of paper in the tray or rotate the paper 180° in the input tray.
Poor fixing | Make sure the two green levers inside the back cover are in the up position. Pull up the two green levers until they stop. Make sure the media type setting in the driver matches the type of paper you are using. Choose 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, choose Env. Thick in the media type setting.
Envelope creases | Make sure the two green levers inside the back cover are pulled down to the envelope position when you print envelopes. After you have finished printing, reset the levers back to their original positions. Pull up the levers until they stop. Make sure envelopes are printed with the back cover (face-up output tray) opened. Make sure envelopes are fed only from the manual feed slot.

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