Bleed, halo, wicking, Low gloss, haze, Color accuracy – HP Latex 3000 Printer User Manual

Page 282

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Color misalignment is most likely to be caused by printhead misalignment. To check printhead alignment,
print the printhead alignment diagnostics plot (see

Printhead alignment diagnostics plot on page 122

).

Bleed, halo, wicking

Sometimes a small color migration may be observed at the border between different colors (bleed). It may
also happen at the border between a color and blank substrate (no ink), reducing the sharpness of the shape.
On some substrates, a gloss halo can be observed at the border between colors.

There are three likely causes:

Optimizer misalignment: There may be misalignment between the optimizer printhead and the other
printheads. To check the printhead alignment, print the printhead alignment diagnostics plot (see

Printhead alignment diagnostics plot on page 122

). If necessary, perform a manual alignment, then

reprint the printhead alignment diagnostics plot.

If the problem is in the substrate axis direction, it may also be caused by incorrect substrate advance.
See

Substrate-advance test print on page 129

and

Substrate-advance compensation on page 128

.

Optimizer level, which may be too low for this substrate and ink density. Other associated defects may
also appear, such as coalescence or grain in the area fills due to low wetting of the ink on the substrate.
You can correct this problem by increasing the optimizer percentage in the substrate preset.

Drying power, which may be too low for this substrate and ink density. Other associated defects may
also appear, such as coalescence or grain in the area fills due to low wetting of the ink on the substrate.
You can correct this problem by increasing the drying power leading/trailing percentages in the
substrate preset.

Low gloss, haze

On glossy substrates, the print may have lower gloss than expected, which is probably due to the optimizer
level. To investigate and correct this problem, try increasing and decreasing the optimizer percentage in the
substrate preset.

Color accuracy

Ideally, the colors that you see on the screen should match the colors in the print. In practice, you may find
that the colors are not sufficiently accurate. There are three possible causes:

Color calibration provides consistent colors, but consistent colors are not necessarily accurate.
However, if the combination of substrate and printheads has not been calibrated recently (or ever), that

276 Chapter 10 Troubleshoot print-quality issues

ENWW

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