This article will guide you on how to fix the HP printer scan quality issue.
Table of Contents
HP Printer Scan Quality Issue [Solutions]
To fix HP printer scan quality issues, do the following solutions in the given order. Once you have tried a solution, scan a document to confirm if the issue has been fixed.
If it is, then you shouldn’t continue with the next one. However, if it isn’t fixed, then move to the next solution and keep repeating this process until the scan quality issue is resolved.
1. Ensure that the Scan Quality Issue isn’t due to a Printing Issue
If your scan quality is poor, the first thing is to confirm that it has nothing to do with a printing issue. Therefore, to confirm, print a document by sending a job from your computer.
- If you discover the quality issue on the print job, then the issue is not with scanning but printing. Therefore, you should go to the HP Customer Support website. After that, type in the model number of your printer, then type in “print quality” in the search box, and then find and click on the document for “Fixing Poor Print Quality”.
- If you discover the quality issue isn’t on the print job, then it is most definitely a scanning problem which could be due to issues with your scanner hardware or the settings of the scan job.
2. Clean your HP Printer Scanner Glass & Parts
Debris, smudges, dust, or fingerprints on the printer’s scanner glass, beneath the scanner cover, or in the automatic document feeder could lead to scan quality issues such as color bands and lines. Hence, you need to clean these printer parts using a soft but lint-free fabric that has been sprayed with quality glass cleaner.
How to Clean HP Printer Flatbed Scanner
To clean the flatbed scanner of your HP printer, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Turn your HP printer off.
Step 2: Remove the power cable from your printer.
Step 3: Lift the lid of the scanner.
Step 4: Take a quality glass cleaner and spray it on a soft but lint-free fabric.
Step 5: Use the fabric to wipe clean and dry the following parts:
i. Scanner glass
ii. Glass strip (depending on if your model has it)
iii. White backing underneath the scanner lid
iv. White strip underneath the scanner lid (depending on if your model has it)
Note: Don’t spray any part of the printer with the glass cleaner directly to prevent damage to these parts.
Step 6: Plug the power cable back into your HP printer.
Step 7: Fully shut the scanner lid.
How to Clean HP Printer Document Scan Feeder
To clean the document scan feeder of your HP printer, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Turn off your HP printer.
Step 2: Remove the power cable from your printer.
Step 3: If your printer uses a rechargeable battery, remove it.
Step 4: According to the instructions on your printer’s user manual, open the printer top cover, scan document feeder cover, and document feeder tray.
Step 5: Remove debris and foreign objects such as pieces of paper, paper clips, etc. from the inner parts of the printer’s document feeder.
Step 6: Take a quality glass cleaner and spray it on a soft but lint-free fabric.
Step 7: Use the fabric to wipe clean and dry the following parts:
i. Scanner glass
ii. White strip underneath the document feeder
Note: Don’t spray any part of the printer with the glass cleaner directly to prevent damage to these parts.
Step 8: Shut the covers and tray you opened in step 4 completely.
Step 9: Plug the power cable back into your printer.
Step 10: Reinstall the rechargeable battery if your printer uses one.
Step 11: Turn your HP printer on.
Note: If your printer comes with a cleaning cloth for the document feeder, you should use it to do the cleaning by loading it into your printer’s feeder and then run a scan to clean the interior mechanism of the scanner.
In this article: Scan with HP Printer [How To/Issues & Solutions], you will learn about how to fix other issues that might be preventing your HP printer from scanning.
3. Reset your HP Printer
To reset your HP printer to fix scan quality issues, do the steps below:
Step 1: Remove the rechargeable battery if your printer uses one.
Step 2: While your printer is on, remove the power cable from your HP printer.
Step 3: Unplug your printer’s power cable from the wall outlet or any power source.
HP recommends that HP printers be plugged into wall outlets instead of power strips and surge protectors.
Step 4: Wait for about 60 seconds.
Step 5: Plug the power cable back into the wall outlet.
Step 6: Plug the power cable back into your printer.
Step 7: Turn on your HP printer.
4. Clean the Printer Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)
For HP printers that have an ADF (Automatic Document Feeder), follow the steps below to clean it:
Step 1: Acquire a clean fabric that is lint-free as well as distilled water.
Step 2: Take the original out of the automatic document feeder (ADF).
Step 3: Turn your HP printer off.
Step 4: Remove the power cable from your HP printer.
Step 5: Open the cover of the automatic document feeder (ADF).
Step 6: Locate the separator pad and the paper pick rollers within the ADF.
Step 7: Dampen the lint-free fabric you got in step 1 with some distilled water or filtered water. Ensure you squeeze out excess water from the fabric.
Step 8: Now, take the damp fabric and clean the separator pad and paper pick rollers.
Step 9: Allow the cover of the ADF to remain open for about 2 minutes. This will allow the pad and the rollers to dry.
Step 10: Close the cover of the automatic document feeder.
Step 11: Plug the power cable back into your printer.
Step 12: Turn on your HP printer.
5. Change your Printer’s Scan Settings
To change your HP printer scan settings to fix scan quality issues, follow the steps below:
Note: The settings vary by the model of the HP printer, scan software, and what is being scanned (document or photo). For instance, PDF settings are not available for photo scans.
Step 1: Ensure that the condition of the original you want to scan is good. In other words, confirm that it has no tears, folds, staples, tapes, or creases.
Step 2: Put the original on your printer’s scanner glass. Alternatively, you can put it into your printer’s ADF (automatic document feeder) if that’s what your printer has.
Note: Don’t place photos into your printer’s ADF as they could get damaged in the process. Only scan documents with the automatic document feeder.
Step 3: Launch the software you want to use to scan.
Step 4: Find the scanner settings.
Step 5: Change these settings if they are available before you scan:
- Choose the right scan type: Ensure that the scan type you choose is a match to what you want to scan to get the best quality.
- Choose either grayscale or color: If your original is in grayscale or color, then scanning it using the black & white option can affect the scan quality negatively.
- Increase scan resolution: Since you are dealing with scan quality issues, then you need to increase the resolution. A higher resolution will enhance the quality of the scan; however, the file size, as well as scanning time, will increase. Although 300 dpi is the standard resolution for documents that are text-based, you can increase it to 600 dpi or more when scanning detailed photos.
- Select the right file type: Your scan quality can be affected by the file type (extension) you select. The usual file types are JPEG, PDF, PNG, and GIF.
- Do not reduce or compress the file size: If you compress the scanned files, although you might have a smaller file, however, the quality will be affected.
Step 6: Scan the original.
The scan preview will then be displayed.
Step 7: Check the scan preview screen and make any adjustments you desire.
Step 8: Once you are done, save your scan.
6. Service your HP Printer
If none of the solutions above fixes the scan quality issue, then you need to contact HP Customer Support for further assistance. A repair schedule will then be fixed. Note that you will have to pay a repair fee if your product is out of warranty.
