Blog Layout
Facts about paper that you didn't know you needed!
Mar 20, 2020
There are many ways to get the best performance from your printer, the paper you use is just one of them!
Print Speed
Print speeds for most printers are measured in Pages Per Minute (ppm). You will see this used across all of our product pages
on the Colornet
website.
This speed is evaluated by using an industry standard print test page and printed single-sided on 60-105 gsm 8.5×11″ LEF (Long Edge Feed) paper.
Heavier and larger paper stocks, paper orientation, duplex (double-sided) printing as well as increased document complexity, will increase printing time and slow print speeds down.
Print Speed Considerations:
- Heavier media is thicker, so it offers more resistance when being fed through the paper path of the printer. To adjust for this, the printer adjusts friction and feeds the paper slower to allow the paper to properly pass through the paper path without jamming. Tray settings that have the paper weight set too heavy incorrectly will take longer to print, and may also increase the instance of skewed prints, paper jams and misfeeds. Tray settings that are set too light will increase the likelihood of misfeeds, jams and possible damage to the printer.
- Printing with the grain is less of an issue with normal bond paper weights, but is still important and critical with paper weights of 120 gsm or more. When paper is pulled into the printer to be printed on, it is bent and curled around rollers inside the machine as part of the printing process. Paper bent perpendicular to the grain structure of the paper offers more resistance than paper bent parallel to the grain. As a result, printing against the grain of the paper can increase the occurrence of misfeeds and paper jams. For best results, load the grain edge of the paper parallel with the printing process.
- As heavier paper is thicker, it contains more mass, requiring a higher fuser temperature to properly bond the Toner to the media. Tray settings that are set incorrectly can result in poorly fused Toner, Toner rub off, as well as misfeeds and jams.
- Print speeds for single sided and double sided are generally rated as the same print speeds, with the exception that each side of a Duplexed sheet is counted as 1 sheet (ie: 50 pages per minute equals 25 sheets). However, as the paper in a duplexed print job needs to be bent around rollers and fed around the duplex path to print the second side, print speeds are reduced for heavier media. Incorrect tray settings can result in slower duplex print speeds, or increased occurrence of jams in the paper path.
Print Quality
Also, print resolution of a companies such as Xerox is measured using Dots Per Inch (dpi), with modern printers ranging between 1200×600 dpi up to 2400×1200 dpi.
However, as the dots are small, and so the surface quality of the selected media is an important factor in the image quality. Plain 20 lb/75 gsm paper, or uncoated card-stocks with rougher surfaces such as cover material, may have a surface that is unable to resolve the printers output resolution as well as smoother paper stocks can.
- A smoother surface on the paper means a flatter area for Toner particles to bond to when deposited on the paper. A flatter, smoother print surface means the printer can print cleaner, sharper text, cleaner solid areas and more accurate halftones. For best results when printing to Plain paper, use a 24 lb/90 gsm paper such as Xerox Bold Digital Printing Paper.
- Paper with rougher surfaces offer an uneven surface for Toner to bond to, resulting in poorer output resolution, muddier text, mottled solid areas and poorer looking halftones. Also, Toner will not properly bond to extremely rough surfaces, such as textured paper, and may result in light or faded output, deletions, lines, poorly fused output and Toner rub off. Some issues with light output can be alleviated by using a higher density setting using the Lighter/Darken setting.
- Coated stocks use a special coating to fill in and smooth out the microscopic pits and valleys to create an even smoother surface, and comes in glossy or satin varieties and more. The coated surface offers the optimum flat surface for Toner particles to bond to in the pattern deposited, resulting in optimum condition solid areas, halftones and text. Coated paper is the optimum paper choice where image quality is paramount, such as with posters, banners and even flyers.
In digital printing, Xerox white toner brings incredible versatility to the page. You can layer it on top of colour paper stock for spot embellishments, put CMYK on top of it, and mix it with specialty colours to create an entirely new colour.
Free to clients that operate a Ricoh production digital printing press, Ricoh Business Booster contains a wealth of information including advice and ideas on what the next steps could be in a post Covid-19 marketplace.
The Halo wristband wirelessly senses other Halo devices in the vicinity and analyses Bluetooth signal strength to determine relative distance. Contact events when the relative distance between two devices is stored as a series of data events that can be collected from the Halo by the mobile app via a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless connection.
Ricoh is using its innovative technology to 3D print and produce 40,000 face shields a week for NHS workers, designed to improve comfort and offer a re-usable solution to cut long-term costs.
Based in Telford, UK, Ricoh 3D is in discussions with medical establishments and NHS Trusts across the UK, after working around the clock to get effective protective equipment to the frontline using the rapid prototyping capabilities of additive manufacturing.
Canon can be found in homes and businesses all across the world and are well known for their cameras, printers and amazing advancements in technology.
Canon aims to make technology easy so you can focus on your business - big or small. Their range of products ranges from small and medium office printers to advanced software solutions and medical imaging.
But today we are bringing you something a little more lighthearted. We stumbled across this free online resource that anyone can use to keep yourself and the family occupied. There are 100s of free paper craft templates that you can print at home and start creating!
With the world news dominated by the Corona Virus pandemic, many are setting up our home offices and taking their printers too...
The option to work remotely or from home has become more and more popular in recent years. Especially with the advancement of wireless technology, managed print services and remote access to cloud storage. Not braving the rush hour to get into the office has never been so easy. However, with this new and disruptive pandemic sweeping the world, working from home has taken on a whole new purpose. It is not just about flex-ability anymore, remote work is safer.
Canon has been taking steps to minimise disruption while taking preventative measures to serve the best interests of employees and extended communities. They are committed to supporting the many business customers that are on the frontline in helping our communities confront the pandemic while they navigate this extremely difficult time.
As with most businesses, Xerox has established a COVID-19 Response Team that meets regularly to monitor developments and closely follow the guidance and advisories from governments and public health organisations.
They have updated us with their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and are taking a range of actions.
Ricoh group were quick to respond to the outbreak of the coronavirus and had established a Crisis Management Team back in January to stay onto of the ongoing situation and guidance from the World Health Organisation.
Ricoh has been evaluating putting action plans into place on a region-by-region basis to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their customers, employees and family's whilst also maintaining the supply of their products and services to its customers.
Here is what they have to say on their current operations and how they are planning for the future.
Whether you realise it or not, Colour is one of the most inspiring and influential things in many peoples lives and is an important channel that contributes to the perception of reality, emotion and mood.
Since 2008 this day has been celebrated with various various activities that are related to colour and perception. Colour can attract, influence, and even increase retention. Colour is and often underrated but powerful tool that can be used for any business and has so many applications. The way you present your company’s ideas with the use of colour in printed material is becoming an increasingly important issue.
