Simple Fixes for Paper Jams and Slow Printing

You depend on your office equipment to keep your daily projects moving at a steady pace. Perhaps that’s why little irritations can escalate into major problems so quickly—they’re very good at keeping you from doing your job.

Easier Than You Think

If you’re ready for a break from endless printing hassles, check out these simple fixes for common problems.

Slooooow Printing

Before you resort to throwing office equipment from your second story office window, try these preventative measures to fix slow printing problems first.

1. Switch to draft mode. Printing everything in high resolution could be the root of your slow printing hassles. By setting your laser printers and copiers to default to draft or standard mode, you’ll get faster results and use fewer supplies. When the job demands higher resolution, simply turn off draft mode until you’ve finished the task.

2. Eliminate unneeded graphics. Require your employees to remove unnecessary images before printing. And while we’re on the subject of graphics, a print policy that prohibits employees from printing web pages and emails is always a good idea.

3. Eliminate white space. Some multifunction copiers include options to remove excessive white space and even offer two-up printing to reduce paper waste.

Excessive Paper Jams

If paper jams are a frequent occurrence, something’s not right. A simple fix is sometimes all that’s needed to keep jams at bay. Try these first:

1. Fan the paper. Whether it’s too much moisture, a dry environment causing an overload of static electricity, or a packaging mis-pick, fanning the paper before loading it into the laser printer can do wonders to eliminate paper jams.

2. Align the paper. When refilling paper trays, be sure to straighten the paper and line the sheets up with the paper guides. It’s a simple fix, but one that often does the trick.