The formula of good printing relies on 5-components:

• Resolution

• DPI

• Ink Jet Cartridge

• Paper

• Printing Software

• Cleaning Printer Heads

Resolution Defined
Resolution refers to the clarity, vibrancy and sharpness of an image. In general, resolution is used to describe printers, monitors, and bit-mapped graphic images. Regarding a laser printer of dot matrix, the resolution represents the number of dots per inch (DPI). For instance, a 300-dpi (dots per inch) printer has the ability to print 300 distinct dots in a line 1 inch long. (In other words, 90,000 dots per square inch are printable). As technology improves, the actual resolution ranges are constantly shifting.

DPI Defined
DPI is the acronym or abbreviation for dots per inch. DPI indicates the resolution of images. The more dots per inch, the higher the resolution will be. Commonly, the resolution for laser printers are 600 dots per inch. The total of dots is 600 dots across and 600 dots down. As a result, there are 360,000 dots per square inch.

How is printing sharpness evaluated?
The only way to evaluate a printer's sharpness capability is by testing the software, ink and paper.

Ink Jet Cartridge, Software and Paper Type
The sharpness of prints is defined by the software, quality of the ink jet cartridge and the type of paper. Print quality is affected by image editing software. It processes the pixels before sending them to the printer. The printer results are razor-sharp. Prints made with a simple software program are generally distinctively softer.

Moreover, print quality is affected by ink, as well. Essentially, ink spreads when applied to paper. Depending on the type of paper, ink is spread, differently. In example, a glossy surface tends to be sharper than matte paper. While printer software is designed to balance the overall tonal effects of ink spreading, it does not affect resolution. Ink cartridge quality is the final determinant in enhancing image sharpness.

Run a Print-head Cleaning Function
When installing a new cartridge, remember to remove any printhead tape. Make sure that the holes are vented on the cartridge. Place cartridge in your machine. Try to always perform the print-head cleaning cycling on your printer 2-3 times in a row to get a good flow.

Maximize Printing Vibrancy
If you’re having a problem attaining color brightness, print 4-large shaped boxes on a piece of page. Make one box blue, black, red and the last one yellow. Next, print the colored boxes at the highest resolution, possible. The ink jet exercise forces the cartridge to push the ink out at a greater volume and once a good flow is achieved, the cartridge should print vibrant documents.

Cartridge Primer
Fold a paper towel two times Place the paper towel on a hard surface. Remove the cartridge and place it on the paper towel with the print-head down. Apply pressure on the cartridge. Push down on the towel, rock the cartridge back and forth. If you lift the cartridge up you should see small spots of ink on the paper towel. The rocking motion pushes any dried particles out of the print-head so it can print properly. Prior to replacing the ink jet cartridge, perform the rocking motion a number of times.