Online Labels Forum

jaebilder -

Printing a full, black background with a desktop inkjet printer can be a tricky task - black is a very heavily saturated color, so you run the risk of potentially over-saturating the label sheet when printing with the default or high quality settings. Reducing the quality setting can help to some degree, but as you mentioned the image quality can be compromised. Professional printing services are generally using commercial printing presses that behave quite a bit differently from their desktop counterparts.

That being said, there are a couple of additional settings to change that could potentially resolve the problem that you're running into:

- If you haven't adjusted the material type already, please make sure that you select a glossy or photo material type. This can drastically improve the vibrancy and durability of the ink when printed on to a glossy surface. You could probably even increase the ink output to some degree if you're using one of these material type settings.

- When printing your labels click on the "Advanced" button within the printer dialog box. On the pop-up screen, click the checkbox next to "Print as Image" and then click on "OK". Using this setting will instruct the printer to compile the colors used on your design slightly differently, and can sometimes improve issues associated with over-saturation on designs where a lot of black ink is used.

Please try making these adjustments and let me know if you see any improvements in the printed results. If you should require any additional information please just let me know.

Josh,
Thank you for your tips! If you have any recommendations for affordable desktop printers that behave more similarly to their commercial counterparts, will you let me know? I'm fine with investing in a new printer if it will cut down my printing time (currently spending hours trying to fix problems, get colors right, etc) and produce quality blacks.

Unfortunately I've tried every paper setting imaginable in my print options and have been using "glossy"/"photo" settings this whole time. My printing software is quite old, but I've made sure to fiddle with its photography settings too. Still not sure what the problem is.

Dave,
I tried printing something in lime green and white... lo and behold, no smudging! Your suggestion was brilliant. However, the colors were still wildly inaccurate - lime green was a pale mint, even after I spent 30 minutes color correcting it in my print settings. I increased ink output, contrast, and tried everything imaginable to get a less faded look, but couldn't fix it. Then I tried printing the same image on your white matte labels... it turned out perfectly. What is it about the white gloss?

I'm SO appreciative of you bringing up the pigment vs dye based ink dilemma... I had no idea how big an issue that could be. It seems that is the main problem, although I couldn't find a dye-based ink that would be compatible with my printer. How would YOU go about printing white gloss labels with a black background?

Thank you both so much for your time (and suggestions).

jaebilder -

As far as inkjet printers go, I've had a ton of success using the HP Officejet 8600 with a wide variety of our different materials - the Weatherproof White Gloss included. It's in the same Officejet family as your current printer, but uses an entirely different inkjet set of inkjet cartridges (HP 950/951 vs. HP 62). When using the correct material type settings, this printer is capable of very vivid and durable prints, and seems to do well printing solid black.

Exact color duplication might still be somewhat of an issue due to the glossy inkjet topcoat, but in my experience the colors printed with the HP Officejet 8600 remain relatively true and accurate even on high gloss surfaces.

If you are in the market for a new printer you may also want to consider purchasing a laser printer model. The HP LaserJet Pro 200 is an affordable option and has tested well with our selection of materials. Laser printing generally results in more durable printing results and better reproduction of colors due to the fact that the toner is being fused to the surface of the material, rather than being absorbed into the topcoat.

Unfortunately, we don't offer a high gloss weatherproof material for use in laser printers, but our Weatherproof Polyester material does feature an attractive satin finish that has an almost semi-gloss appearance. You can view more information regarding our Weatherproof Polyester Laser material at the link below:

http://www.onlinelabels....lyester_laser_labels.htm

If you'd like to try samples of this material before placing an order, you can enter a request at the following link:

http://www.onlinelabels..../SamplesSelectItems.aspx

I hope that you find this information useful. If you should require any additional details please just let me know. I'll be happy to help in any way that I can!

Marlene -

As far as affordable laser printers go I am partial to the HP Laser Pro 200. I've used it with both our Clear Gloss Laser and Weatherproof Polyester Laser materials and have had a ton of success with both. Most online retailers should have this printer model available near your specified budget.

I hope this information helps. If you should require any additional details please just let me know.

I haven't had the opportunity to test the printer model that you're referring to, but my experience with HP printers in general has almost always been very positive. I'm sure the new model is excellent as well.

Regarding the HP LaserJet 200, I'm still using it as my primary color laser printer even if it is an older version.

StevenD -

I'm sorry to hear about the smudging issue that you've encountered and I'll be happy to offer any assistance that I can. I was able to locate the user manual for your printer model on Dell's website, and there are a couple of printer options that could potentially improve your print quality.

- The user manual mentions that there are two Paper Density settings: Plain and Label. Selecting the Label paper density should provide the best printing results.

- Separate from the Paper Density setting there should be a Media Type setting as well. This option should also be set to "Labels".

- According to the user manual there is a also setting available for the fuser temperature - just like the settings listed above, this one should be set to "Labels" too.

Setting all of these options properly should improve the quality and durability of your printing results. If you've made these adjustments and are still experiencing the smudging issue, it's possible that the printer is outputting too much toner onto the sheet. You could potentially try reducing the print quality in this scenario.

I hope this helps. If you should require any additional information please just let me know.

Steven,
When you press the print button, a dialog box normally pops up. In most cases, there is an advanced button or an options button in that dialog box. Just click on one of those buttons and you should be able to find configurable printer options (e.g. media type settings). The look of the print dialog box varies based the printer / print driver so I can't provide exact directions.

I hope this information helps. If you aren't able to locate the options let us know and we can do some further research on your specific printer.

Thanks.

Dave C.
OnlineLabels.com

Cheers Dave & Josh

I'll investigate and hopefully I can sort it out.
Best
Steven

I don't foresee you having any issues printing a black background with that printer. We do recommend that you set the media type to "Labels" when printing to get the best toner fusion. We are happy to send you some samples of glossy white laser labels to test with your printer if you would like to confirm you are happy with the results. You can request samples at the link below:

https://www.onlinelabels.com/samples

Thanks.

Dave C.
OnlineLabels.com

Edited by user Friday, November 23, 2018 8:41:53 AM(EST)  | Reason: typo