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HP Designjet T2300 eMFP Product Series - The scanner diagnostic plot

Resolution
Alignment
Loss of shadow or highlight details
Printer banding
Streaks
Grain

Prepare the product and the paper to print the diagnostic sheet

Turn on your product and wait until it is functioning. Then select the paper on which the diagnostic plot is going to be printed (you can reuse the diagnostic plot any time in the future, if it is saved carefully). Ideally, the diagnostic plot should be printed on glossy paper, and you are highly recommended to do that if you use your product mostly for scanning or copying photo originals (posters, pictures printed on glossy paper, etc). If you use your product mostly to scan or copy matte originals, then you can use any matte white paper to print the diagnostic plot. Please do not use recycled or tracing paper to print this plot. The size of the diagnostic plot is 610 × 914 mm. It can be printed on any 914 mm landscape or 610 mm portrait paper roll. You can also use a single sheet that is at least 610 × 914 mm.
Once the correct paper is loaded, if this paper permits color calibration then we recommend color-calibrating the printer.
You can print the diagnostic plot from the front panel: press , then , then Internal prints > Scanner IQ plot or Image Quality Maintenance > Scanner IQ plot.

Visual check for errors while printing the diagnostic sheet

Once the diagnostic plot is printed, the first step is to check that all the patterns included in it are correctly printed. The diagnostic plot, if printed correctly, should look like this:
Figure : Scanner diagnostic plot
Some of the most common defects that may appear in a printed diagnostic plot are described below. If you find any of these problems, you should follow the recommended recovery procedure, all of which are available by pressing , then , then Image Quality Maintenance at the front panel. Once the printer has been diagnosed and it is working correctly, you can reprint the diagnostic sheet.

Resolution

By looking at pattern 7 you may find problems with the printer’s resolution for the loaded paper. Usually, this test does not reveal a printer problem, but a defect in the paper, which may not be suitable for printing the diagnostic sheet with the required quality.
Here is what you should see if all is well, followed by two defective examples.
Figure : Diagnostic image
Figure : Scanned diagnostic image

Alignment

Looking at patterns 4, 13, and 14, you may find problems with the printer’s printhead alignment, which can cause defects such as the following.
Additionally, misalignment problems can be seen in patterns 4 and 9 in the form of color fringing (which is exaggerated below, on the right). That is, the limits between two strong colors are not well defined or a third color appears between them.
Figure : Diagnostic image
Finally, a special pattern for checking the printer’s printhead alignment can be found at the top left of the diagnostic sheet. This pattern has no number as it is not used for scanner checking. It is made of three colored crosses that may be used to identify the problem in question. The correct pattern is shown on the left, an example of misalignment on the right.

Loss of shadow or highlight details

Looking at pattern 16, you may find a problem with the color calibration of the printer (CLC process). If you can distinguish lightness steps beyond the upper and lower specified thresholds, then the printer is fine. Here you can see examples of correct functioning on the left, incorrect on the right.
If the printer does not pass this test, you should run a color calibration if the paper loaded in the printer can be calibrated (coated or glossy paper, for instance). The color calibration can be launched from the front panel by pressing , then , then Image Quality Maintenance > Color calibration.

Printer banding

Looking at patterns 1, 2, and 3, you can see vertical banding problems due to a miscalibrated paper advance in the printer.
You can also see some banding in patterns 4, 9, 10, and 11, indicating that the printheads need to be cleaned. You can launch printhead cleaning from the front panel by pressing , then , then Image Quality Maintenance > Clean printheads.

Streaks

Looking at patterns 1, 2, 3, 9 and 16, you may find vertical streaks as in the examples shown below, if the printer’s printheads are not working correctly. Replacing the printhead for the color showing the streaks may solve the problem.

Grain

Looking at patterns 1, 2, and 3, you may find problems in the printer’s paper advance or the printheads that cause visible grain in area fills. The following examples show this defect: original on the left, printed image on the right.
Figure : Grain example
Figure : Grain example

Scan or copy the diagnostic plot

There are two options for evaluating the diagnostic plot: scanning into a JPEG file, or copying onto paper. We recommend using the scan option, so that the generated file can be analyzed more easily by a remote support engineer if necessary. If you decide to scan the plot, first adjust your computer’s monitor as described in Monitor calibration section below. Once you have scanned the diagnostic plot, please remember to open the scanned file in any image viewer software and select a zoom of 100% for correct visual evaluation of patterns.
If you decide to copy, make sure that a paper roll at least 36 in (914 mm) wide is loaded in the printer. Ideally, the same type of paper used to print the diagnostic plot should be used for copying it.
These are the settings that you should select:
Scan
  • Quality: Max
  • File type: JPG
  • Content type: Image
  • Paper type: photo or matte, according to the paper used to print the diagnostic plot. Use photo if in doubt.
Copy
  • Quality: Best
  • Content type: Image
  • Paper type: photo or matte, according to the paper used to print the diagnostic plot. Use photo if in doubt.
Load the diagnostic plot into the scanner input tray, making sure that the printed side of the plot is facing up. The black arrows on the diagnostic plot indicate the direction of loading. Make sure that the diagnostic plot is loaded without skew, and it is centered (that is, it covers the whole scanner area).
Once you have scanned the diagnostic plot (in case you selected the scan option), please remember to open the scanned file in any image viewer software and select a zoom of 100% for correct visual evaluation of patterns.

Monitor calibration

The monitor on which the plot is going to be evaluated should ideally be calibrated. As this is not always feasible, we propose here to follow an easy procedure for adjusting the brightness and contrast of the monitor in order to see the patterns correctly.
Adjust the brightness and contrast of your monitor until you can see a difference in lightness between these two squares:
Figure : Monitor adjustment pattern
Now you are ready to check each pattern individually.

Save the diagnostic plot for future use

We recommend saving the diagnostic plot with the maintenance sheet, in the solid tube provided.

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