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HP Printers - Improving Scan Quality

This document is for HP multifunction printers.

When you scan, the computer file or printed output has vertical lines, incorrect colors, color bands, or poor resolution.

Figure : Examples of poor scan quality

Step 1: Confirm the issue is not printing-related

The steps in this document resolve quality issues when scanning only.

If quality issues occur when printing from the computer, do not continue with these steps. Go to HP Customer Support, type your printer model number if necessary, then search for print quality to find the Fixing Poor Print Quality document for steps to resolve the issue.

If quality issues occur when scanning, continue to the next step.

Step 2: Clean the scanner

Fingerprints, smudges, dust, or debris on the scanner glass, under the scanner lid, or in the document feed slot can cause lines and color bands. Clean these parts with a soft, lint-free cloth sprayed with glass cleaner.

Read one of the following sections for steps to clean these components, depending on your printer type.

Printer with flatbed scanner glass and lid	Printer with a document scan feeder

Printers with a flatbed scanner glass and lid

Clean the scanner glass and underside of the scanner lid with a soft, lint-free cloth sprayed with glass cleaner.

Turn the printer off, then disconnect the power cord.
Lift the scanner lid.
Spray a soft, lint-free cloth with glass cleaner, then wipe the scanner glass, glass strip (if present), the white backing under the scanner lid, and the white strip under the lid (if present) until clean, dry, and streak-free.

caution:
To protect the interior printer parts, do not spray the cleaner directly on the glass or on the underside of the lid.
Figure : Clean the scanner glass and under the lid, and any glass or white strips (if present)

White scanner lid backing

White ADF scanner lid strip (if present)

Glass ADF scanner strip (if present)

Main scanner glass
Reconnect the power cord, turn on the printer, then close the scanner lid completely.
Load the original document or photo, then try to scan. Make sure the original document or photo is in good condition and free of tears, creases, folds, staples, or tape.

If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Printers with a document scan feeder

Clean the plastic and glass strips inside the document feeder with a soft, lint-free cloth sprayed with glass cleaner.

note:
Some printers ship with a document feeder cleaning cloth. If you have the cloth, load it into the document feeder and start a scan job to clean the scanner mechanism.

Turn the printer off, disconnect the power cord, and remove the battery if your printer has one.
Depending on your printer model, open any top cover, document feeder tray, and scan document feeder cover.
Remove any debris such as bits of paper or paper clips from inside the document feeder.
Spray a soft, lint-free cloth with glass cleaner, then wipe the scanner glass and the white strip on the underside of the document feeder until clean, dry, and streak-free.

caution:
To protect the interior printer parts, do not spray the cleaner directly on or into the printer.
Completely close any covers and trays that you opened.
Reconnect the power cord, reinstall the battery if necessary, then turn on the printer.
Load the original document or photo, then try to scan. Make sure the original document or photo is in good condition and free of tears, creases, folds, staples, or tape.

If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Step 3: Reset the printer

Resetting the printer can force some types of scanners to calibrate, which might fix the problem.

Remove any items from the scanner glass and automatic document feeder (ADF), then close the scanner lid.
With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the printer and from the wall outlet or power strip.
Wait at least 60 seconds.
Plug the power cord back into a wall outlet.

note:
HP recommends connecting the printer power cord directly to a wall outlet.
Reconnect the power cord to the printer.
If you have an HP DeskJet 3700 series printer, calibrate the scanner after resetting the printer.
Load the original document or photo, then try to scan.

If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Step 4: Clean the automatic document feeder (ADF) rollers

If your printer has an automatic document feeder (ADF), dust or paper residue on the rollers or separator pad inside the ADF can result in scan quality issues. Open the ADF, then clean the ADF rollers and separator pad.

note:
The location of the ADF rollers might be different depending on your printer, but the following steps still apply.

Gather the following materials:
- A clean, lint-free cloth, or any cloth that does not come apart or leave fibers
- Distilled, filtered, or bottled water (tap water might damage the printer)
Remove the original document from the ADF.
Turn off the printer.
Disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer.
Open the ADF cover.
Find the paper pick rollers and the separator pad inside the ADF.

Figure : Example of the paper pick rollers and separator pad in a LaserJet printer

Figure : Example of the paper pick rollers and separator pad in a OfficeJet printer
Lightly dampen a clean, lint-free cloth with filtered or distilled water, then squeeze any excess liquid from the cloth.
Use the damp cloth to wipe any residue off the paper pick rollers and the separator pad.
Leave the ADF cover open for two minutes to allow the paper pick rollers and separator pad to dry.
Close the ADF cover.
Reload the original document print side up in the document feeder tray. Gently slide the document into the printer as far as it can go.
Slide in the paper width guides until they are snug against the paper.

Do not push the paper width guides in so far that they bend the paper.
Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.
Turn on the printer, then try to scan.

If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Step 5: Change the scan settings

Change the scan settings to increase resolution, adjust the color palette, or increase the contrast.

Windows

Change the scan settings from a Windows computer with the HP Printer Assistant or HP Solution Center software.

HP Printer Assistant

Change the scan settings with HP Printer Assistant.

Load the item on the scanner glass, in the document feeder slot, or in the automatic document feeder (ADF), depending on your printer type and features.

note:
Do not load photos in the ADF to prevent damage to the photos and the printer.
Search Windows for your printer model, then click the printer name in the list of results.

HP Printer Assistant opens.
Click Scan, then click Scan a Document or Photo.

HP Scan opens.
Click one of the shortcuts that matches the file type and resulting action you want.
Change any of the shortcut default settings in the right side of the window, if necessary.

note:
Available settings change depending on if you are scanning a document or photo. For example, the PDF File type is only available for document scans.
Select Show scan preview or Show Viewer After Scan to preview and make additional edits to the scan before saving it.
Click Advanced Settings or More to change settings such as quality, color, and default scan destination folder.
Click Scan.

The printer scans the item, then a preview of the scan displays in HP Scan.
If necessary, double-click the thumbnail image of the scanned item, then change any additional settings.
Click Save.

The Save as windows opens.
Select the folder you want to save the scan to, change the File name if necessary, confirm the file type in the Save as type menu, then click Save.

If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

HP Solution Center

Change the scan settings with HP Solution Center.

Load the item on the scanner glass, in the document feeder slot, or in the automatic document feeder (ADF), depending on your printer type and features.

note:
Do not load photos in the ADF to prevent damage to the photos and the printer.
Search Windows for 'solution center', then click HP Solution Center in the list of results.

HP Solution Center opens.
In HP Solution Center, click Scan Document or Scan Picture to view available scan shortcuts and settings.
Click one of the shortcuts that matches the file type and resulting action you want.
Change any of the shortcut default settings in the right side of the window, if necessary.

note:
Available settings change depending on if you are scanning a document or photo. For example, the PDF File type is only available for document scans.
Click Advanced Picture Settings or Advanced Document Settings to change any available settings such as quality and resolution.
Click Save to file Save Options to change the folder where scans are saved, set scan file names, and select what happens after you save the scan.
Click Scan.

The printer scans the item and a scan preview window opens on the computer.
Click the scanned item to make any additional changes, then click Finish to save the scanned file.

If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

HP MFP Scan (HP Laser printers only)

Change the scan settings with HP MFP Scan on HP Laser MFP and Color Laser MFP printers.

Load the document or photo you want to scan.
Search Windows for HP MFP Scan, and then click HP MFP Scan to open the software.
Click Advanced Scan, and then click Image Scanning or Document Scanning.
Adjust the scan settings.
- Under Image Type, select True Color, Grayscale, or Black & White.
- Click More Options to make changes to other available scan settings.
- Under Resolution, click the drop-down menu, and then select a desired resolution.
  
  note:
  Increasing the resolution improves scan quality but increases scanning time and file size.
Click Scan.

The printer scans the document or photo, and a scan preview displays.
Use the editing column on the left to make additional edits, such as contrast, rotation, and cropping.
Type a file name under Name.
Under File Format, click the drop-down list, and then select the desired format, such as JPEG or PDF.
Under Save to Location, select a location on your computer to save the file, and then click Save.

If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Mac

Change the scan settings from a Mac computer with HP Easy Scan or HP Scan software.

HP Easy Scan (macOS and OS X 10.9 and later)

Change the scan settings in the HP Easy Scan app.

Load the item on the scanner glass, in the document feeder slot, or in the automatic document feeder (ADF), depending on your printer type and features.

note:
Do not load photos in the ADF to prevent damage to the photos and the printer.
Search the Mac for scan, then click HP Easy Scan in the list of results.
In HP Easy Scan, select your printer name from the Scanner drop down menu.
Select your scan type from the Presets menu.

To change any basic settings to the preset you selected, such as scan color, orientation, or quality, click Edit Settings.
Click Scan.
Click Scan Next Item to add additional pages, or click Done.
Click the thumbnail version of the scanned item in the left panel. The item displays in the right preview pane.
Click Edit to adjust colors, straighten the scan, or crop the size.
To save your scans to a folder on the Mac, click Send in the bottom right corner of the window, then click Folder.
In the window that displays, click the Where menu to browse to the folder you want to save the file to, then click Save.
To view your scan, open the folder in which you saved the scan, then double-click the file.

HP Scan (OS X 10.11 or earlier)

Change the scan settings in HP Scan.

Load the item on the scanner glass, in the document feeder slot, or in the automatic document feeder (ADF), depending on your printer type and features.

note:
Do not load photos in the ADF to prevent damage to the photos and the printer.
Open Finder , click Go in the top menu bar, then click Applications.
Double-click the HP folder, then find HP Scan in the list.
In the HP Scan window, click Scan.
Select your printer name in the Scanner menu, then select a scan job type from the Presets menu.
Click the down arrow in the upper right corner of the window to view and change scan color, orientation, and quality settings.
Click Continue.

The printer scans the item.
Click Scan Next Item or Add to scan additional items, or click Done.
Click the thumbnail version of the scanned item in the left panel to display it in the main preview pane.
Click Edit to adjust colors, straighten the scan, or crop the size.
To save your scans to a folder on the Mac, click Send in the bottom right corner of the window, then click Folder.
In the window that displays, click the Where menu to browse to the folder you want to save the file to, then click Save.

If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Step 6: Service or replace the printer

Service or replace your HP product if the issue persists after completing all the preceding steps.

Go to Contact HP Customer Support to schedule a product repair or replacement. If you are in Asia Pacific, you will be directed to a local service center in your area.

To confirm your warranty status, go to HP Product Warranty Check. Repair fees might apply for out-of-warranty products.