Adjusting Print Quality - SATO CG4 Series Operator's Manual

Section 5: Cleaning and Maintenance

5.5 ADJUSTING PRINT QUALITY

Print quality can be optimized with regular cleaning and maintenance of the print head and components along
the label path. Additionally, you can fine-tune print quality by adjusting print darkness and print speed settings.
When adjusting the printer for optimum print quality, a barcode verifier system is highly recommended for
evaluating the printouts. The human eye is a poor judge of the relative widths of the bars in a symbol, a
characteristic that is extremely important for good barcode quality.
Print Darkness
This adjustment allows the user to control (within a specified range) the amount of power that is used to
activate the print head heating elements. It is important to find a proper print darkness level based on your
particular label. The printed images should not be too light nor should the edges of text or graphics be
smudged. Instead, the edges of each image should be crisp and well defined. The adjustment can be made
via standard SBPL commands or by the Utilities Tool application. For more information refer to the SBPL
Programming Reference.
Print Speed
The other method of controlling print quality is by controlling the speed at which the label is printed. It is
especially critical when printing "ladder" barcodes (barcodes printed with the bars parallel to the print line).
When printing a "ladder" barcode, it is important to allow the head to cool sufficiently before stepping to the
next position. If it does not have sufficient time to cool, the bar will be "smeared" on the trailing edge. The
adjustment can be made via standard SBPL commands or by the Utilities Tool application. For more
information refer to the SBPL Programming Reference.
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CG4 Series Operator Manual