Printing problem

[Nelson37]

I thought you said that your son's printer printed this image correctly? This error has most likely Always been present and you just didn't notice it until now, but now that you know what to look for it's obvious.

I agree with the comments regarding process black, this can also be heavily dependent on paper type and print type selection. This is not at all unique to HP, SFAIK all inkjet printers operate the same way.

Using multiple colors to produce "black" does make alignment issues more critical.

[CSULB71]

I thought you said that your son's printer printed this image correctly?

I did, but I also said his printer had an empty tri-color cartridge.

I also mentioned that text comes out in perfect black, as does (apparently) the black parts in normal color images.

Interesting point about "composite" black -- didn't know they did it that way. Why? It doesn't make sense to me -- where the image is black, the black ink cartridge should be used. So that means the refilled color cartridge I started this odyssey with and the later "original" HP cartridge both have the same alignment issue? If so, that's nothing I can fix because the printer calibration (done several times with both cartridges) passed the test.

Thanks for the various suggestions -- I guess the only thing left to do now is to get a new/refilled color cartridge and see if that fixes things.

[Nelson37]

It may only do this in Photo mode, Text & Graphic may print more correctly. And/or it may look OK on glossy photo paper. Both are worth a shot.

[CSULB71]

It may only do this in Photo mode... Unfortunately, that's the mode I need to use to print the DVD cover.

Text & Graphic may print more correctly. Text does print correctly (I haven't tried graphics), but that doesn't help me.

And/or it may look OK on glossy photo paper. Don't think so, because I printed the DVD cover on semi-gloss brochure paper, and that's when I first noticed the problem.

[Nelson37]

Did you set the paper type in the printer driver for gloss paper?

Text & Graphic should be an available mode in the printer driver, as opposed to describing content.

The print mode and paper type, both the physical paper and the driver setting, can have an effect on this. For the multi-color, multi-pass process black, getting these right can make all the difference.

Try the same settings on plain paper, also plain-paper driver setting while physically using gloss paper. Also a smooth gloss in place of the matte paper.

These settings and media types change how much ink is laid down, the increment of the paper feed, and number of passes. It doesn't take much to get a slight mismatch and cause such an issue. Not an actual misalignment of the print heads, but instead in the passes and paper feed.

[CSULB71]

Yes, I set the paper type to "Brochure paper - glossy". The paper is closer to semi-gloss, but that small difference shouldn't matter. I've been doing all the test prints since then on HP "bright white" inkjet paper, using "normal" and "draft" modes. I didn't use "best" mode because that's what I first used on the brochure paper.

My HP printer software does not have a "text & graphics" choice -- it's either full color or "grayscale". Grayscale mutes the color portion of an image but the "black" still prints as dark green.

Over all the test prints I've done, I think I've covered the different settings/paper combo's, and it makes no difference. Up until a few months ago, using an original HP color cartridge and then having that one refilled at a local ink shop, the printer worked perfectly. Short of getting a new/refilled color cartridge, I don't know what else to do, so I'll wait until then. Thanks again.

[CSULB71]

Just thought I'd close the loop on this issue -- the problem was a bad color cartridge. After trying another refilled cartridge (that was also defective!), I got a good one that prints like it should.

Not sure how much this had to do with it, but I also changed the paper type selection from "brochure paper - glossy" to "brochure paper - matte". I think the matte setting allowed more ink to be used, and the result was better than an earlier printing where I used the glossy setting.

[Nelson37]

Oddly enough just had a similar issue on two Cannon i960's. Greenish cast when printing color X-rays as black and white. Glossy paper and regular both being used.

The bad news is that the problem apparently just went away for no known reason. There was some shuffling of printers and possibly of ink cartridges, but no more than one set of new carts, maybe. Unclear if both printers were having the problem, but both are now printing fine.

All I could take from this is that the issue is likely related to low ink levels, defective replacement carts, and possibly different paper types, with the paper possibly being a triggering event. That's an educated guess.

[lordsmurf]

This is why I don't use ink anymore. Only laser. See https://forum.videohelp.com/topic367437.html

[Nelson37]

Just had the same problem on the Cannon while I was there to see it, definitely traced to replacement ink cartridges from a third party. Install factory cartridge, no problem.

Interesting that problem did occur on grayscale print, also on print with color manually adjusted to B & W, which on this printer seems to be the same thing.

These images are black and white X-Rays, got the greenish tint, was the Magenta cartridge which failed. Nozzle check pinpointed the problem.

[Bjs]

Well seems you went through a reasonable trail and error test ... but one

Unistal all software on the affected system and reboot ... reinstall, then try print test again ... sometimes its software / driver related ... not printer itself ... my epson r230 goes nutts when reinstalling as the default settings print like rubbish and I must change one setting for it to work properly.

[Cornucopia]

Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines as SCDVD.

It's a CMY vs. RGB mismatch, with or WITHOUT the K. I've seen this before with 3 printere I used to use for on-face CD printing. One unit would erraticly spew out mismatched tones and contrast. (and that was WITHOUT using knock-off cartridges--they were proprietary and cost $57 each!!!)

This is one of those time where it makes sense to go through the whole "calibrating your input and output devices" process, and testing/checking the file's proper colorspace and its place in the conversion chain.

Scott