Online Labels Forum

I'm sorry to hear about the smearing issue that you've encountered. We've tested the weatherproof gloss inkjet material using a variety of different printers, including a number of different HP inkjet models. The print tests have been followed by submersion and freezer tests to ensure that the material holds up well to contact with moisture and condensation after being printed and applied. Performance can vary from printer to printer, and with thousands of different inkjet printer models on the market it's impossible for us to test each one. Based on our testing, we're confident that this material will hold up well to moisture when used with most printers on the market. There are a few things you can try though that may improve the results you're seeing.

Have you tried adjusting the paper type setting within the print options? Most inkjet printers are set as default to print on plain copy paper. This default setting typically results in smearing and smudging when used with coated glossy or film-based inkjet materials. Adjusting the paper type setting to a photo option typically resolves most smearing and smudging issues with these types of materials. The name of the optimal setting may vary depending on the printer model, but for most HP inkjet printers the best option to choose is titled something like Other Photo Inkjet Papers. This setting should result in a slower feed, but will typically provide ink that is much closer to being dried as it exits the printer. Even when using the proper print setting, the material should be allowed to dry for some time before being applied. Some printer manufacturers recommend up to 24 hours drying time for the ink to cure completely, but even just a couple hours should make a difference in terms of durability to handling and moisture.

If you're already using a photo setting and still experiencing smearing the page may be oversaturated with ink. Our weatherproof inkjet materials feature a protective moisture-resistant topcoat that absorbs ink and seals it to protect it against direct contact with moisture. If that topcoat is oversaturated, any excess ink will be left unprotected and will be prone to smearing. The volume of ink used varies from printer model to printer model. The design you're printing can have an impact as well, with dark or black backgrounds being more prone to high volume ink usage. Adjusting the print quality setting can impact the volume of ink that the printer is using. Using the highest or best quality setting will typically oversaturate weatherproof inkjet materials. I've achieved my best results when using a photo paper type setting and the normal/default quality setting. If you're still seeing smearing or smudging with that combination it might be worth testing the draft quality setting to see how the results look. This will dramatically reduce the ink volume, but may result in diminished print quality depending on your design.

As mentioned above, black print tends to be more prone to smudging than other colors. If your smearing issues are isolated to black print there's one more setting adjustment that you can try. When you open the print dialog box you should see an "Advanced" button near the top. Clicking on that button should bring up a new screen with a small section for color management options. Clicking on the option titled "Preserve Black" should ensure that only black ink is used for black print. This will stop the printer from supplementing black ink with other colors to provide a "richer" black color. Combining ink colors to enrich black can result in oversaturation, so this is definitely a good option to look for if your smearing issues appear to be isolated to black print.

I know you mentioned wasting sheets, and you may need to do some additional testing to dial in the best settings for your designs. I'm going to send a sample package with a few sheets of each of the items you ordered so that you have some additional material to work with. You'll receive a confirmation email shortly and then a follow-up email with tracking information later this afternoon. If after receiving the additional sample sheets you determine you're unable to use the material, our customer service team will be happy to assist you with a return and a refund.

I hope this helps. If you need any additional information please just let us know.

Mia -

I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing a similar issue. Some printers will list the print quality options as "Standard" and "Best," while other printers list numerical DPI settings. "Best" is the highest quality setting and would be comparable to a DPI setting of 1200 found in your printer. With that in mind, you may want to try reducing the DPI to 600 with a photo paper type setting (photo matte or photo glossy) to improve the output and prevent smearing.

As Josh mentioned above, you can also try "Preserve Black" under the "Advanced" options in the print dialog box if you're still seeing that the black ink is smearing.