Seven steps for Summer printing success

Temperature

1. When printing, keep the print room temperature around 22C plus or minus 7C. Close to and beyond these limits, print quality can suffer.
2. Don’t operate the printer when the room temperature is over 35C.  Print quality will suffer considerably and many modern printers have environmental sensors to shut themselves down when the room reaches about 40C.  Consider enclosing your print room if needed and buy an air conditioner.  At the least, print during the cooler parts of the day (or night).

Humidity

3. Keep the print room at 40-60% Relative Humidity (RH).  Inks and media do not perform as well in very dry or very humid environments.  Dry days below 20% RH are common all year round in sub tropical Australia, and air conditioners will only further dry your room.  Buy a humidifier if needed.

Media and ink storage

4. Store your print media in a similar environment – or the same room - as your printer.  Sudden changes in temperature and RH can impact on the media when taking it from a non- climate controlled environment to a cool print room.
5. Store your inks and media in a cool, dark place, away from sunlight and sources of heat.  Don’t leave media on your printer; keep rolls tightly wound and in the original packaging. About 18 to 22C is best.  Don’t store ink in a fridge.
6. Rotate your ink and media stocks – use the oldest first, and remember that any use-by dates are only applicable when stored at or around 20C. Never use out of date ink.

Power and storms

7. Summer storm activity often causes power spikes.  Unplug your printer from the power and network until the storm has passed or consider spike protection (call your electrician).  Don’t rely on the power strip boards claiming to protect your equipment.  They don’t.