The Vault
Troubleshooting guide
Straight lines, streaks, or banding across the plate, or faint/missing dots in patches
Posted by the SuperPrinters team · 7/26/2026
Straight lines, streaks, or repeating bands run across the imaged plate, or dots come out faint/missing in patches. On the press sheet this shows as visible banding or tonal steps. Most often caused by dust or debris on the drum/vacuum surface, exposure glass, or imaging optics, among other possible causes — a full step-by-step diagnostic and fix follows below.
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