We have 4 christmas card designs to choose from, shown below. All 4 designs can be found on one pdf, but it's up to you whether you print them all or just your favourite!
Simply click the images below to download the file, and print out whichever cards you desire.
The cards are ideal to print straight on to our folded A5 card kits and we recommend printing using your printer's 'high quality' setting for the best results.
You could also use either 130gsm or 190gsm A4 Matt Photo Paper or 210gsm A4 Glossy Photo Paper for the best quality possible. They will provide much greater strength and quality of finish than your standard 80gsm printer paper, but they will require manual folding which can be tricky to get perfect.
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_900.png "Canon Error Code 6A81 - FIXED!")
We recently came across error code 6A81 on our Canon Pixma MG5250 Printer (using PGI-525/CLI-526 range cartridges). The error could also occur on other printers in this range.
The error code is basically caused by an obstruction within the printer, usually a paper jam but could be any foreign body that has found its way into the printer (those with young children will understand!). The obstruction stops the carriage and print head from moving into the correct position when powering up the printer. The print head should come to rest at the right hand side of the carriage and position itself over the waste ink sponges. If the print head is unable to do so, it returns the '6A81' error message.
You can see from the picture, the position of the two waste ink sponges towards the right hand side. The sponges are spring loaded and move backwards and forwards when the printer initialisation occurs upon start up.
The problem in our case was caused by two pieces of torn paper. One at the far right of the printer which was simple to remove, but the other was stuck in a small opening behind the spring mechanism for the waste ink sponges. This was preventing the sponges from being moved freely and seated correctly, which in turn meant that the print head was unable to pass over them and come to rest in the correct position.
To remove the torn paper we turned off the power to the printer (to prevent any damage to the carriage mechanism) and used a pair of tweezers to carefully pull the offending article through the small gap. We missed this hidden piece of paper the first time we checked for obstructions so it's worth shining a torch in and having a good nose around!
Close your printer lid, power on the printer and et voila... Canon error code 6A81 is no more!
A common source of frustration from our customers relates to experiencing poor print quality, caused by a blockage in the printhead.
Many printers include a tools or maintenance menu for such occasions, featuring both a diagnostic nozzle print check or print quality report and a head clean and/or deep head clean option. Ideally, use the 'nozzle check' print out first to help diagnose which cartridge colours might not be printing fully on to the paper, before performing a head clean (or deep head clean if the results are particularly poor) to help push through any internal dried ink, ink clots or even air bubbles that might be in the system. Follow this up with another nozzle check to see if improvements have been made.
Some internal blockages are very stubborn and the in-built tools can struggle to make any improvement to print quality. With most printers this is problematic, as you've got no other tools at your disposal (Some head cleaning cartridges may be an option if available for your printer, but this is not usually the case).
Luckily, many Canon printers feature a removable printhead to perform manual cleaning. Removing a printhead can also solve some cartridge recognition issues, as we'll explain later.
Turn the printer on and wait until you hear the internal parts moving backwards and forwards. Pull the power at this point and open the lid. You should then be able to move the printhead manually to a position for removal, without pulling against the printers natural internal electronics. The print head or internals should not be moved while the printer is powered on.
Remove all cartridges and pull the bar towards you that has the cartridge colour labels on it. This will unlock the printhead.
The bar will pull forwards as below and you can then pull the printhead towards you by gripping the central plastic 'spine' circled below.
The printhead will tilt forward by 90 degrees as below, and can then be removed for inspection.
Check the metal contacts on the back of the printhead for debris, paper dust or ink as they can all prevent a correct contact when installed in the printer.
It's also worth blowing compressed air at the contacts situated behind where the printhead sits in the printer.
Place the printhead on absorbent kitchen roll and ideally with a syringe, drop isopropyl alcohol on to each nozzle where you suspect there is a blockage. It's often worth cleaning all while the printhead is removed from the printer.
The Isopropyl alcohol will help to break up any hardened ink inside the printhead. You can also run the printhead nozzles under a running tap until the ink runs clear from the bottom. Air Duster/Compressed Air can be used to help push through any clots of ink and also to speed up the internal drying process
The printhead should be ideally left overnight to fully dry on kitchen roll to absorb any residue left inside and the compressed air can be used again to double check it's all dry before installing back in the printer
Whether you've removed the printhead to solve recognition issues or print quality issues, it should be re-install as it was removed. Insert at 90 degrees with the nozzles facing towards you before letting the printhead fall backwards into place. Once in place, simply push the bar back to lock the printhead in place.
The cartridges can then be re-installed and the printer plugged in. I'd recommend performing a nozzle check and head clean to make sure everything is coming through as it should be, then you should hopefully be good to go!
_900.png "Mothers Day Printable Cards")
_900.png "Inkredible Customer Referral Scheme")
