How to Troubleshoot Scanning on a Canon MX870

The Canon PIXMA MX870 is an all-in-one inkjet printer capable of printing, sending and receiving faxes, and scanning documents. Somewhere along the line during ownership, you may run into problems while scanning. Most of these problems can be solved by either altering scan settings or by proper maintenance of the scanner. By tweaking the appropriate settings, you can get your built-in scanner up and running again
 Check theprinter. Make sure that the power cord is plugged in and that the printer is turned on. Make sure one end of the USB cable is firmly connected to the printer, and the other end is inserted into a working USB port on your computer.

Check the document you are attempting to scan. If you do not have a quality document to begin with, you can't expect much from the final product. Above all, make sure that the document you are attempting to scan isn't too faded. Light markings, such as pencil, can be difficult to scan properly.

Clean the glass of the scanner, along with the plastic plate above the scanner glass. Turn off and unplug your printer before cleaning, and then wipe down the scanner with a slightly damp, lint-free glass cleaning cloth. Make sure that the cleaned areas are completely dry before turning the printer back on.

Increase the resolution on the scanner. You can access the resolution settings in the "Scanning Resolution" dialog box, which can be found under the "Scan Settings" header. If your scanning resolution is low, your image may come out looking blocky and may appear out-of-focus.

Open the ScanGear tool on your computer. Click the "Preferences" button in the top-right corner of the window. Click the "Color Settings" tab. Normally, you should set the color settings to "Recommended." However, if the colors in your document are not scanning properly, try switching to the "Color Matching" setting.

Open the ScanGear tool on your computer. Open the "Advanced Mode" tab. From here, you can make more detailed changes to how your document is scanned. For example, if you are having a problem with dust and scratches appearing in your scanned document, alter the "Reduce Dust and Scratches" setting. Or, if stripes are appearing across your document, turn on Descreening.