When I print to my inkjet printer, there is a line that runs across my paper, whats causing this?

One of the causes of a line printing across a sheet of paper fed through an inkjet printer is due to the print head or something else being too close to the paper. Check the weight of the paper, if it is too thick it will smudge when it comes in contact with the ink cartridge print head. In fact if anything rubs against the print head while the paper is being printed it will leave a mark or line on the page. On some printers there is an adjustment for the print head and this can compensate for using thicker paper or card. It’s common to think the problem may be with the ink cartridges but it's more likely to be a build up of ink in the print head. Some inkjet cartridges have a built in print head, for example, HP, some Canon and Dell but it's more likely to be a build up of ink. Ink can build up gradually on the bottom of the head; this 'lump' may rub on the paper causing a smudge or line. If there is an integrated print head on the ink cartridge you can remove it and gently remove the build up with a soft damp cloth (being careful not to touch the copper 'chip' area of the cartridge.

Should I buy a colour laser printer or a color inkjet printer?

One of the most asked questions when you are considering buying a new printer is whether to go for inkjet or laser. Many people don't really know the difference between the two printer types but essentially it depends on your usage and quality of the print outs you require. Of course the laser printer does't use ink in the conventional sense, it uses toner powder. This is more expensive than buying an ink cartridge but your page yield is considerably more. If your print outs are needed to be very high quality and you require a high volume of copies then the laser toner is the printer to select. Printing large volumes on an inkjet printer means you will go through a ridiculous amount of ink cartridges. Inkjet printers are not designed to produce large volumes of print outs, a typical inkjet printer that uses ink cartridges may be as much as 5.000 A4 sheets a month printed at 5% coverage. A typical monthly output for a laser printer would be in the region of 35,000 copies. The other factor to consider is the price of the laser toners in comparison to ink cartridges. The laser printer will also require regular servicing by qualified personnel and will also require Drum replacement approximately after every 20,000 print outs.

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