The short version
- 01Work out whether it is an inkjet or a laser before doing anything.
- 02Print a nozzle check and read it before cleaning anything.
- 03Run the built-in head cleaning, then check the pattern again for improvement.
- 04Never touch the print head — it can damage it and void the warranty.
- 05On a laser, check the toner indicator and raise the print density setting.
- 06Match the paper type setting to the paper, and load the print side face up.
Start here
Inkjet and laser fade for reasons that share nothing
Work out which you have before doing anything. On an inkjet, faded print almost always means clogged nozzles, and the first move is a nozzle check — a test pattern that shows you exactly which colours are not firing. On a laser there are no nozzles to clog: faded print means low toner, a print density set too low, or paper that will not take toner properly. Running inkjet advice on a laser printer, or the reverse, is the most common way to waste an afternoon and a cartridge.
Applies to: Inkjet and laser printers generally. The inkjet procedures are documented by Epson and Brother, and the laser procedures by HP for its LaserJet Tank range; the specific menus differ by manufacturer but the reasoning holds across brands.
What does the fading look like?
Faded printing is one fault name covering two unrelated technologies. An inkjet sprays liquid ink through microscopic nozzles that dry up and block; a laser fuses powdered toner onto the page with heat. Nothing about the first applies to the second. Once you have separated them, each has a proper diagnostic — a test pattern for the inkjet, a toner indicator and a density setting for the laser — and neither requires guessing.
One colour is missing or weak
What does the nozzle check show?
Print the patternHorizontal gaps through blocks of colour
Are the nozzles clogged?
Clean the headWhole page uniformly pale, laser printer
Is print density or toner low?
Check tonerFaded and smeared together
Is it the right paper?
Check the paperCleaning helps, then it fades again
How old is the cartridge?
Look further1. Decide which machine you have first
If your printer uses liquid ink cartridges or refillable ink tanks, it is an inkjet and sections 2 and 3 are yours. If it uses a toner cartridge — a bulky plastic unit full of powder — it is a laser, and section 4 is yours. Both share the paper problems in section 5.
The distinction is not pedantry, because the dominant cause on each is impossible on the other. An inkjet fades because ink has dried inside nozzles that are finer than a human hair, and the cure is to flush them. A laser has nothing to clog; it fades because there is not enough toner reaching the page, or because the page will not accept it.
The pattern of the fading is a further clue once you know which you have. A single colour missing or weak, or regular horizontal gaps through solid colour, is characteristic of blocked inkjet nozzles. A whole page uniformly pale, with everything still present but too light, is characteristic of a laser running low or set to print sparingly.
One more piece of context helps before you start: how long has the printer been idle? Inkjets that sit unused for weeks are the classic case, because ink dries in the nozzles between jobs. A laser can sit for months without this happening at all.
Ink cartridges or tanks
Inkjet. Start with the nozzle check — it tells you exactly which colours are blocked.
Toner cartridge
Laser. Check the toner level and the print density setting.
2. Inkjet: print the nozzle check before anything else
The nozzle check is the single most useful thing an inkjet can do, and Epson’s instruction for faint printouts or printouts with gaps is exactly this: run a nozzle check to see if any of the print head nozzles are clogged, then clean the print head if necessary. In that order — the check tells you whether cleaning is even the right response.
Brother’s equivalent is a Print Quality Check Sheet, and its design shows what you are looking for. The sheet prints four blocks of colour, which you compare against reference samples marked OK and Poor. A good block is solid and uniform; a poor one shows horizontal lines or gaps running through it, which is what a clogged nozzle produces.
On the Brother DCP-T420W the sheet is produced from the printer itself rather than the computer: press Stop and Copy Shortcut together, wait for the Ink LED to blink, then press Copy Shortcut again. Producing the check from the printer’s own buttons matters, because it removes the computer, the driver and the application from the experiment entirely.
Read the result properly before acting on it. If every block is solid and the page is still faint, the nozzles are clear and cleaning them will achieve nothing except using ink — go to sections 5 and 6. If one colour is broken up while the others are perfect, you have isolated the problem to that channel, and that is exactly what cleaning is for.
A nozzle check that comes out perfect is a useful result, not a failed test. It rules out the most likely cause in one page.
3. Inkjet: cleaning the head, and the thing never to touch
When the check shows gaps, run the printer’s own head cleaning routine. Epson’s guidance is direct: if printouts are faint or have gaps, clean the print head to clear the clogged nozzles. Every inkjet has this built in, usually under maintenance in the driver or on the printer’s own menu.
The warning Brother attaches deserves repeating in full, because the instinct it counters is strong. Do not touch the print head — touching it may cause permanent damage and may void the print head’s warranty. When a printer is producing streaky output, reaching in with a cotton bud or a tissue feels like the obvious thing to do. It is the one action that can turn a cleanable clog into a replacement part, and it can cost you the warranty at the same time.
Use the automated cycle and re-run the nozzle check after it to see whether the pattern improved. That check-clean-check loop is the whole method, and it gives you evidence at each step rather than hope.
Two practical notes. Head cleaning consumes ink from every cartridge, sometimes a substantial amount, so running cycles speculatively on a printer whose nozzle check was clean is genuinely wasteful. And improvement between cycles is the signal to watch: a pattern that gets better each time is worth another round, while one that is identical after two or three cycles is telling you the blockage is not going to shift this way.
4. Laser: toner level, then print density
On a laser, HP’s sequence for poor print quality starts with the obvious and then offers something most people never find. First, check the toner level, since low toner causes poor print quality. On a LaserJet Tank the level indicator is explicit: three lights lit means full, two means partly depleted with no action needed, one light with an amber status light means low, and one light with a blinking status light means very low.
The second is the setting worth knowing about. HP documents a Print Density control, reached through the printer’s Embedded Web Server via the HP Smart app — Advanced Settings, then the System tab, then System Setup. Selecting a higher density value increases how much toner is used when printing, which can improve print quality. If pages have always been slightly pale on this printer rather than fading over time, this is the first place to look, because a low density setting produces exactly that.
HP also documents a Cartridge Cleaning Mode, in the same Embedded Web Server under the System tab and then Service, which addresses print quality issues including vertical dark bands and repetitive horizontal banding. The printer may take up to 3 minutes to complete it. Logging in requires the username admin and a PIN from a label typically inside the cartridge access area.
There is a separate fuser cleaning page for toner specks, spatter, smears, streaks, lines and repeating marks, started from the same Service page under Fuser Cleaning Mode. The printer uses a single sheet of paper for it and it also takes up to 3 minutes. Firmware updates are worth checking while you are in there, since HP lists them as part of the same sequence.
Faded over time
Toner. Check the level indicator and reload or replace.
Always been pale
Print density. Raise it in the Embedded Web Server.
5. Paper is a cause, not a bystander
Both technologies list paper among the causes, and it is the one people dismiss fastest. Epson names paper that is damp, curled, old, or loaded facedown — the printable side should be faceup — alongside a paper type setting that does not match the paper actually loaded.
That setting is worth dwelling on. A printer told it is printing on plain paper lays down a different amount of ink from one told it is printing on photo paper, so a mismatch produces output that is too light or too heavy with nothing mechanically wrong at all. Both Epson and HP list checking it, and HP points at the Paper Type/Quality or Media & Quality menu reached through File, then Print, then Options, Printer Setup or Preferences.
On a laser, HP is more emphatic still, and adds a warning that goes beyond print quality. Use paper designed for HP LaserJet printers, which is built to handle the additional heat of the printing process — and do not use paper designed only for inkjet printers, because inkjet glossy photo paper can blister during the print job and might damage the printer. That is a hardware risk, not a quality one.
HP’s other paper notes are directly relevant to fading: some paper does not absorb toner as well as others, causing faded or smeared prints; wrinkled or curled paper can cause dark horizontal defects; and paper that is too rough prints worse than smoother stock. Load with the print side facing up — typically the smoother or glossy side.
6. When cleaning is not the answer
If the nozzle check is clean, or cleaning stops helping, the cause is somewhere else and continuing to clean simply consumes ink.
Epson’s cause list for a faint printout is broader than most people realise, and the remaining items are worth working through in order. The ink cartridges may be old or low on ink and may need replacing — age matters independently of level, since ink degrades in a part-used cartridge. The print head may be misaligned, which the printer’s own alignment routine addresses. And the paper path may be dirty, which produces fading and marking together rather than fading alone.
A pattern worth recognising: cleaning helps, then the fade returns within a few pages or a few days. That is characteristic of a cartridge at the end of its life or a head that is drying faster than it is being used, rather than a one-off clog. Repeated cleaning will keep producing the same brief improvement without ever fixing it.
On a laser, if toner is not low, density is set correctly and the paper is right, the remaining candidates are the cartridge itself and the fuser. HP’s own ordering puts the cleaning routines and a firmware update before that conclusion, and it is worth finishing its sequence before buying anything.
Finally, if faded print arrived alongside another symptom — blank pages, lines down the page, or black refusing to print at all — that combination is more diagnostic than the fading on its own, and those faults have their own routes through the problem.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my printer printing faded even with full ink?
On an inkjet, because the nozzles are clogged rather than empty — ink dries inside them between jobs. Print a nozzle check: it shows which colours are not firing. A full cartridge and a blocked nozzle look identical from the outside, which is why the level is not a useful guide here.
How many times should I clean the print head?
Watch for improvement rather than counting. Re-run the nozzle check after each cycle: a pattern that improves each time is worth another round, while one that is unchanged after two or three is telling you cleaning will not shift it. Every cycle uses ink from all cartridges.
Can I clean the print head by hand?
No. Brother’s warning is explicit: do not touch the print head, because touching it may cause permanent damage and may void the print head’s warranty. Use the printer’s built-in cleaning routine, which flushes the nozzles from the inside rather than wiping them from the outside.
Why is my laser printer printing light?
Low toner or a low print density setting. Check the toner level indicator first, then the Print Density control in the printer’s Embedded Web Server — raising it increases how much toner is used. If pages were always pale rather than fading over time, density is the more likely cause.
Can the wrong paper cause faded printing?
Yes, on both types. Epson names damp, curled, old or face-down paper and a paper type setting that does not match. HP notes that some paper does not absorb toner well, causing faded or smeared prints. Check the paper type setting matches what is actually loaded.
Can I use inkjet photo paper in a laser printer?
No. HP cautions that paper designed only for inkjet printers should not be used in a laser, because inkjet glossy photo paper can blister during printing and might damage the printer. Laser paper is made to survive the heat used to fuse toner onto the page.
Sources and review notes
Checked on . Compiled by Glitchary from Epson’s troubleshooting for faint printouts and printouts with gaps, Brother’s print quality check procedure for the DCP-T420W, and HP’s guidance on fixing poor print quality for LaserJet Tank MFP 1005, 1600 and 2600 printers. The nozzle check and cleaning sequence, the check sheet procedure, the print head warranty warning, the toner indicator states, the print density and cleaning modes and the paper cautions are theirs. The inkjet-versus-laser framing and the guidance on reading the results are editorial. Menus and button sequences differ by model — check the documentation for yours. Glitchary is independent of Epson, Brother and HP.