Here are some costly printing mistakes and how to avoid them to ensure you get the best out of your purchase.

Mistake 1. Printing on the wrong side is a common mistake, the non coated side - This is a costly one, especially if you just stocked the paper tray and press print without checking a test page first, as some photo paper may reach £100 and more.

Matt paper is a bond paper with a top Matt coating (normally on one side only i.e. the side you need to print on) to accommodate the ink droplet and to enhance the colour of the image. We recommend that you follow the instructions on the packing and print one photo as a test.

Mistake  2. Using “high resolution” or other set up in paper or media options other than PHOTO PAPER - In HP, some Canons and Lexmark not using PHOTO PAPER option will instigate a use of the black cartridge which is pigment based. When the PHOTO PAPER option is used the black set up is a composite black which is created by mixing the other colors or in some of the Canon using the alternate black which is dye ink and not pigment. Check your printer setting for Photo Printing and don't get tempted to use high resolution straight away.

Mistake  3. Using wrong size of paper.

Mistake 4. Resolution is too low.

Mistake 5. Orientation of the image, i.e. Landscape or Portrait is not in line with the paper so image is going out of the paper or just wasting paper.

Mistake 6. Printing small images on A4 where 10x15cm card could be much more economical and save time of cutting it down.

Mistake 7. Using HP type of photo paper on Epson printer, or any paper which is not universal, may cause bleeding colours of the image, smearing, cracking of black colours, very slow drying.

Mistake 8. Printing with “swellable” coated paper  i.e.HP papers and others with no space of time between prints, the papers will stick to each other and may cause damage to the image.

Mistake 9. Image looks nice on screen but having very low resolution which will print poorly on photo paper.

Mistake 10. ink cartridge need replacement or print heads are clogged-need to replace cartridge or clean print head.

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You may also download this guide to your computer (hover over the file and click on the blue arrow)