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Do Your Scans, Copies, or Faxes Have Lines or Streaks or Spots?
The Problem
Has this ever happened to you?
- You scan a paper document using your scanner’s ADF (automatic document feeder) and the scan on your Windows or Macintosh computer screen displays one or more vertical lines running through it that were not in the original.
- You notice similar lines when you make a paper copy of a paper original, or after sending a fax your recipient tells you that it arrived with spots or vertical streaks.
- When you scan a single sheet of paper into your computer using your scanner’s flatbed, the scan on the screen displays spots that were not in the original.
- You receive a scanned document or fax from someone else that displays spots or vertical lines that don’t seem like they were part of the original.
Read on for my advice on how to handle these problems.
What type of scanner do you have?
There are many types of scanners, including:
- A multifunction printer with a flatbed scanner but no ADF
- A multifunction printer with both a flatbed scanner and an ADF
- A stand-alone flatbed scanner
- A stand-alone document scanner with an ADF
Terminology
When talking about scanning, copying, etc., it’s important to be clear about the terminology:
- Print: You start with a document or picture in your computer and then you produce a piece of paper. Lines, streaks, or spots caused by printing are probably due to ink or cartridge issues, which are beyond the scope of this newsletter.
- Scan: You start with a piece of paper and then your scanner creates an image of it and stores that in a PDF or document or picture in your computer.
- Copy: You start with a piece of paper and then your multifunction printer produces another piece of paper.
- Sending a fax from paper pages: You start with one or more pieces of paper, your fax machine scans them, and then sends those images to someone else using your landline (or the internet, if you use an online fax service). On their end, they might produce pieces of paper or store your fax in a PDF or document or picture in their computer.
- Sending a fax from your computer: You start with a document in your computer and then your fax machine (or fax software) sends an image of each page to someone else using your landline (or the internet, if you use an online fax service). On their end, they might produce pieces of paper or store your fax in their computer. If you send your fax using an online service and your recipient stores it on their computer, that combination is very unlikely to create any lines, streaks, or spots since no scanner or printer was involved in the process.
Lines or streaks caused by your ADF scanner
When you load a paper document into your scanner’s feeder input tray and start the scan, it pulls each piece of paper past a scanner between a stationary strip of glass below and a strip of white material above. If there is even a tiny spot of debris on that glass (including dust, ink, adhesive or correction fluid reside, a fingerprint, or a scrap of paper) or on that portion of that white material, that will block part of the scanner’s view of your original and create a vertical line on the resulting scanned image, paper copy, or faxed image.
If your ADF scanner can scan both sides of your originals (sometimes called a double-sided or duplex scanner), the paper actually passes between two scanners, each behind its own strip of glass. If either of those pieces of glass has a spot on it, that will also create lines or smears on the odd or even pages in the resulting image.
In either case, to fix this you will need to get access to that strip of glass by opening up that part of the scanner, and then carefully clean it with a very small amount of water or glass cleaner and a soft cloth. Many multifunction printers permit access to this area without needing to use any tools. With some, it’s as easy as opening the lid. I recommend either checking the device’s manual or searching online for your particular model. See “Where to go from here” below for suggestions.
If you’re having trouble locating where the spots may be on the strip(s) of glass, try scanning a blank sheet of paper.
Spots caused by your flatbed scanner
When you place a sheet of paper on your scanner’s flatbed, close the lid, and start a scan, copy, or fax, the original remains stationary while the scanner moves under the glass, creating an image from what it “sees” as it “looks up” through the glass. If that sheet of glass has smudges, dust, or other things stuck to it, that will create spots on the resulting image.
To fix this, you will need to carefully clean it with a very small amount of water or glass cleaner and a soft cloth. I also recommend cleaning the underside of the lid (which is typically a solid white area), since spots on that surface may also affect the resulting image or get transferred to the glass when the lid is closed.
If you’re having trouble locating where the spots may be on the strip(s) of glass, try scanning a blank sheet of paper. If that yields a scan with no spots, the problem may be that your original has very thin paper, making spots on the white lid visible. Try scanning with nothing on the glass, which will check the lid.
Cleaning the glass didn’t help
If you’ve cleaned the appropriate scanner glass but you’re still getting lines or dots on your scanned images, it’s likely that the spots are on the underside of the glass. In order to clean that, you’re going to have to take your multifunction printer or scanner apart. That’s much more complicated and will probably take more time and require using tools.
Replacing your scanner
If you decide to replace your scanner because fixing this problem is too difficult, I strongly recommend that you do a factory reset before disposing of your device to erase any personal or confidential information that your device may store internally. See “Where to go from here” below for more information.
If you’re shopping for a new multifunction printer and you want one with both duplex printing and duplex scanning, read each product’s description carefully before buying, since many devices that can print on both sides come with ADFs that can only scan one side at a time.
Spots, lines or streaks on faxes that you send
If you send a fax and your recipient tells you that it arrived with spots or streaks:
- The problem may be on your end, as described above,
- Or the problem may be on their end, i.e., their fax machine’s printer may have one or more problems,
- Or both of your devices may have problems.
This can be a tricky and complicated problem to figure out. If you sent the image via email then the problem is likely to be on your end, but if you sent a fax, I suggest starting by scanning a test page into your computer and looking at the resulting image.
Lines, streaks, or spots in things that you get from someone else
If you see spots or streaks in scans, copies, or faxes that you receive from someone else, the problem may be on their end, on your end, or both, depending on the exact combination. It may take some time, discussion, and experimentation to troubleshoot this. If you received the image via email then the problem is likely to be on their end, but if you received a fax, I suggest starting by printing a test page from your computer and looking at the resulting image.
Where to go from here
As always, if this seems too complicated to manage on your own, I recommend that you find someone you know and trust to help you.
In the searches below, replace “X” with either “scan” or “copy” or “fax,” depending on what type of problem you’re having, and “M” with the make and model of your particular scanner or multifunction printer, e.g., “HP OfficeJet 4630.”
- google: scan lines OR streaks OR spots
- google: X M lines OR streaks OR spots
- google: M how to clean scanner glass
- google: M how to clean scanner glass underside
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http://www.kadansky.com/files/newsletters/2020/2020_12_31.html - “Getting Rid of Your Old Printer/Copier/Scanner/Fax? Do This First to Protect Your Privacy!”
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