Problem with toner rubbing off of cardstock

[Derek Neuland]

I just noticed that some of the toner on the cardstock covers of my zine  easily rub off.  Has anyone else encountered this problem with photocopying onto cardstock? any ideas how i prevent this or make sure it doesn't happen anymore than it is now?

[Saling Pusa Distro/closed]

i dont know... i wonder the same thing... well mine's a printer that also usese toner... and it happens even on regular copy paper... and it doesnt exactly rub off easily, but it smudges if you actually intentionally rub it...

[Elaine]

I've had this problem several times. It's not the paper. It's a problem with the fuser cartridge in the copy machine. It's heat fused and if the heating element is not working right the ink doesn't adhere all the way.

VERY annoying when you have a black and white image that's intended to be colored in (as in paper doll designs). Have the place redo the job for you. Just show them that it rubs off. They won't argue.

[Derek Neuland]

thanks for the info! i'll keep that in mind next time, BEFORE i assemble my zines

Elaine said:

I've had this problem several times. It's not the paper. It's a problem with the fuser cartridge in the copy machine. It's heat fused and if the heating element is not working right the ink doesn't adhere all the way.

VERY annoying when you have a black and white image that's intended to be colored in (as in paper doll designs). Have the place redo the job for you. Just show them that it rubs off. They won't argue.

[Blake]

One thing that you may want to consider, to save the zines that you've already assembled, is to get some art supply stuff called "fixative" or something like that--used to "fix" charcoal and dry pastel artwork. A couple of sprays of that stuff and you should be okay.

[Emma Jane Falconer]

We used to have a copier with the same problem at my work and it used to drive everyone insane, my work just had to replace the copier in the end.

[Andy (Footprint Workers Co-op)]

It is to do with the laser printer / photocopier being either not set up correctly or not suitable for card stock. With our laser printers we have to tell them the weight of the stock that we are about to put though it. This then slows the passage of the stock through the printer and ensures that the toner is set correctly. The Heavier the card the slower the passage. It may also change the temperature of the fuser unit but I'm not sure about that.

So
1) Go through the menus on your printer, you may well find that it has a card setting, if not then there may be a fuser unit temperature setting, I guess increasing the temperature may have the same effect as slowing the passage of the card through the machine.
2) Make sure you are using the manual feed tray and the back out bin (to give a straight passage through the printer), it may be that by doing this it will automatically set it to a card setting.

That is all I can think of

Andy