4 Paper Tips to Prevent Jams, Achieve Perfect Print Jobs

Most people know ink and toner levels, as well as an occasional cleaning, are the primary necessities for maintaining great print results.

While those are important, there is another primary component that should be handled with extreme care – paper. Benchmark wants your printer and paper performing like a champ.

Follow these simple guidelines to get unduplicated results on every print:

1. Paper Handling

It is always important to handle your paper with extreme care – even the slightest drops, bumps or other mishandling can lead to tears, creases or wrinkles in the paper. Even though some of the damages may not be noticeable until you load your paper into the printer, the damages will often result in a ruined print job and paper jams.

2 - Stacking Paper

When you receive your supply of paper, it will probably come with several reams to a carton. Stacking your paper on a shelf can help you conserve space, but if you do stack your paper supplies, make sure the stacks are perfectly aligned on top of one another. This is important to avoid damaging the edges of paper when it comes time to print. When replenishing your stock, always put new paper under the old paper and use the old paper first.

3 - Open, then Close

The wrapper your paper is shipped in serves as a protective layer against moisture and other harmful things in the air. For this reason, it is best to leave paper in the original wrapping until the moment you are ready to load it into the printer. In fact, if you are not going to use the entire ream right away, then you should try to reseal the wrapper. Because of possible lingering moisture, you should never store paper in your machine’s paper tray for more than a few hours.

4 - Temperature Control

Make sure your paper is stored in an area free from extreme climate conditions. High humidity can be devastating for printer paper, causing damp edges and wavy paper. Dry storage conditions cause paper to contract and tighten, creating the perfect recipe for those pesky paper jams. For the best results, store paper at a temperature of 68°F/20°C to 76°F/24.4°C and a relative humidity of 35 to 55 percent.

We want to make sure you are satisfied with your print jobs day after day, and following these tips can help guarantee this efficiency.