poor photo quality with Deskjet 6940

[newgranny]

My Deskjet 6940 has never posed problems with ordinary BW printing, but I cannot seem to produce a decent photograph. Prints are consistently too dark with exaggerated contrast, grainy, and often striped. I have a new photo cartridge which tests OK, adequate level in color cartridge. I am using glossy Canon photo paper (weight 45). I cannot find the Real Life Technologies (?) anywhere on any screen. Problems persist whether I print through HP Photosmart Print or iPhoto.

I have an iMac, OS 10.4.11, wireless to the printer, which is Ethernetted to my router. I am using the Easy Install software (from original disk) now, having had trouble getting the OS X software to install when I started from scratch yesterday. Would it help to download the 2007 Mac OS software on the HP site? I can't distinguish the differences among the 3 software downloads offered for Macs/6940.

And the weirdest thing: a few nights ago, after several tries, I managed to print a few absolutely perfect, gorgeous prints!  The next morning, I couldn't, and haven't been able since to figure out what I might have done right.

Thanks for any suggestions, answers.

[Bob_Headrick]

Disclaimer:  I do not have a Mac, so the following may or may not apply to your driver options.  That said, I suspect the followingn is the most likely:

The Deskjet 6940 has an automatic paper type sensor.  It may or may not correctly see the Canon paper as photo paper.  If it incorreclty selects plain paper then you would get the results you are seeing.  The first thing I would do is set the paper type from Automatic to Photo Paper.  You may need to check the several options for Photo paper to find the one the best fit for the Canon paper. 

Regards,

Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

[newgranny]

Thanks, Bob--I need another suggestion, as I have set the paper to glossy photo.

[Rixander]

go to the printer propeties and look for the

paper type that you are using

and click apply and ok

once you are finish printing

special projects

return you setting to regular paper

or which ever job you do the most

and for the driver look for the laster

for your printer and os (window or mac or linix)

and look for the lastest date

and manually save it to your hard drive

and install from there

making sure you know where it download and saved at

if still poor printng change the brand of paper

Message Edited by rickp400 on 12-15-2008 04:41 PM

[frprinterwiz]

Check to see if there is a PostScript (PS) driver available for your printer.  PS always does a much better job with photos.

[newgranny]

I've downloaded and installed the later software (2007) available on the HP site. No luck. Did wreck my internet connection though; corrected with reboot. I've checked for a PostScript driver but there doesn't seem to be one for my printer, although I may well be missing something. I'm not a complete novice and am willing to try anything, but if you check my username you'll guess that I'm a bit past my teens also. What next? new printer?

[Bob_Headrick]

OK for the paper type, also check the quality setting - in WIndows the preferred choice would be "Best".   Normal or Fast Draft would not be suitable for photo printing.

Also, is there a difference in the quality of the image?  If you try to reprint the same image that came out OK yesterday does it fail now?  The following  may help.

One thing to check would be the nozzle health of the cartridges.  Load a plain paper sheet in the printer and try printing a nozzle diagnostic page as shown here.  The black cartridge is not used for printing on photo paper.  Look that eh nozzle patterns and color strips.  If there are many random color nozzles missing run a cleaning cycle from the toolbox.  If there are missing sections of color that are in the same position in the cyan, magenta and yellow diagnostic blocks it would be an indication of  an interconnection issue.  To address this try removing the color cartridge and cleaning the contacts as shown here (for a different cartridge series, but the same cleaning principles apply).

If you were to reinstall the driver I would suggest this one.  Unfortunately I will be of no help in the details of how to uninstall the older driver and install the new one as I do not use a Mac...

Regards,

Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

[newgranny]

Bob, the driver I installed was the one you suggested. Hasn't helped. Photo that printed perfectly no longer does (although I printed it through HP Photosmart Print, not iPhoto or the Finder). It has perfectly spaced vertical lines (lighter, not darker) running through the entire width of the photo. I've gone through cleaning 3 and now am getting consistent horizontal lines through the red, orange, and fuchsia (?) rectangles although the other rectangles are OK. The ink level in my tricolor cartridge is getting low--but it wasn't when all this began. All the other tests look good, however. Am I doomed never to print photos from my printer again?

[Bob_Headrick]

When you say "perfectly spaced vertical lines in the photo" but horizontal lines in the test page is this because the photo is in landscape mode? Are the lines about 1/16" apart?   If so it sounds like the magenta (used for red, orange and magenta test blocks) portion of your ink cartridge is clogged or empty.  Replacing the color (not photo) cartridge should resolve the issue.  If the lines are about 1/8" or more apart it sounds like an issue with driver settings as well.

One other thing, did you run a diagnostic print (where you turn on the printer, then press and hold the power button, then press and release the X button and then release the power button)?  See step 6, figure 5 of the following document. (Written for a different printer, but the same principle applies).  If the nozzle pattern looks as shown and you have done three levels of cleaning then you will need a new color cartridge.  Check the following to see if it is covered by warranty, if so contact HP or your dealer for a replacement.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, Microsoft MVP Printing/Imaging

[newgranny · Accepted solution]

Bob, I guess I have to give up. Yes, the photo with the vertical stripes was in landscape mode. Changing the color cartridge did get rid of that, but now the printer seems to want to print just part of the photo, and that part isn't so great. I printed a test page out when this first started and I got an email response to a query to HP Help, but after 2 exchanges with "Eleanor" I've heard nothing more; she asked me to print the test page and give her the results of certain lines by email. I must have scared her off by actually responding as requested.

I have so many variables to deal with--printing with the Finder, with iPhoto, with HP Photosmart, that I just can't play with this any longer. I've blown off50 pages of photo paper (and bought another pack of another type that will now go unused) plus new cartridges for photo and color (and my first photo cartridge was defective so I had to go back to the store and exchange i). And I still have just 2 nice prints to show for all this.

So phooey! I really appreciate your help, though--you get kudos for trying! I think I will see whether anyone on the Mac forums has any ideas, but I'm about ready to burn a disk and go to the drugstore!

Thanks again!