All of a sudden, horrible quality printing from Word

[akabk_74]

I've had the same canon Mx490 printer for a couple of years with no issue. About a month ago, all my prints from Word look horrible. I can print from any of ther program and it's fine. But, I predomintaty need to print from Word. I did clean and align the heads regardless that other programs print fine.

I haven't changed any of my printer settings. I even tried printing from different devices, all with the same result. I print shipping labels, and the bar codes needs to be clean for scanning. Now they are fuzzy, and shadowed. This is with all prints, not just bar codes.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? - thanks

[Patrick]

Hi akabk_74,

Fuzzy, shadowed print can occur when the encoder/timing strip has a smudge.  Cleaning this will resolve this issue.  To clean the encoder/timing strip, please follow the steps outlined in the following Knowledgebase Article available from Canon's web site:

https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/index?page=content&id=ART164873

[akabk_74]

I will check and get back with you. Thanks. 🙂 

[akabk_74]

Hi Patrick. I just went to the link you provided. But I don't see where my encoder film is. Sorry for some reason this keeps uploading upside down I apologize.

[ArthurJ]

Hi,

The encoder strip is behind the ink cartridges. You can unplug the power cord to the printer and gently move the inks out of the way. You may need a flashlight since the encoder strip can blend in.

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