LaserJet Pro M252dw Not Printing True Colours

[SaskyD]

Hi, 

I have a Colour LaserJet Pro M252dw that I bought in January. At first I had no problems, the colours were as expected and then all of a sudden it started printing everything really dull, the colours were no longer vibrant and all blacks were jet black. I'm a pet illustrator and use a lot of varied tones to create portraits - especially when the pet is black I need different shades to create the shade and highlights - so I need it to be true colours.

I've spoken to HP and they tell me it's my iMac and I spoke to Apple and they tell me it was my printer.. 

So Far I've tried:

• Resetting the driver
• Reinstallation
• Remote access from HP Support where they changed settings for over an hour with no luck
• Printing from 3 different devices
• Checking my display settings
• Changing my documents colour profiles
• Printing from different programmes

So far nothing has made any steps in the right direction.

I have the original cartridges which are genuine and again, I bought it in late January, brand new from the Apple Store.

I'm pretty computer savvy but I am running out of ideas of what is causing it to print such dull colours, I have printed out the "test page" from HP that has a hot air balloon on and that seems to come out perfect - I did print a "Print Quality Page" however that I don't think looked right.

If anyone has any ideas please let me know as I'm desperate to get it corrected as I have commissions I need to post and hate having to send people a sub par product. 

[John_Getzke]

>  I did print a "Print Quality Page" however that I don't think looked right.

If reports direct from the printer are not printing out correctly then there is a physical print defect and we can rule out all software troubleshooting.

> I have the original cartridges which are genuine and again, I bought it in late January, brand new from the Apple Store.

HP originals should be covered by HP or the Apple Store.  Contact them and share the info about the defect.  They shoudl be quick to send you replacements or refund you so that you can purchase more.  Print defects with HP originals should be a greenlight to speed through the troubleshooting process.

Another test that could be helpful is the Halfway test:

http://www.printertechs.com/printer-troubleshooting/halfway-test

Halway test will help you isolate if the problem is related to the cartridges or the fuser.  If the test page looks fine going into the fuser and poor on the other side, then its a bad fuser. 

> I'm a pet illustrator and use a lot of varied tones to create portraits 

All that said, laserjet may not be the best printer technology for you and this business task.  If your income depends on color quality then a standard inkjet should blow away most color laserjets.  This is the primary function inkjets are good at doing.  A inkjet with the correct color profile should produce superior image quality results, lasers are only good at producing passable/acceptable image results and are better suited for text or simple images.

The downside of inkjets is that they need much more maintenance than a laser does.  Most users who purchase inkjets as a primary home printer end up throwing away more ink and printheads than they actually use.  Inkjets are a use it or loose it situation and once the cartridge is opened the clock starts ticking. 

[SaskyD]

I've contacted HP in the hope I can get some replacement toner as I've ran so many tests and it would make sense it was the ink as nothing else has worked testing from the computer or the printer. I'm still waiting for them to call me back - my only other guess is something to do with the driver possibly, but I have tested off multiple devices with no change. I had a Canon inkjet and it didnt have the depth, I went laser because that's what I used at my university when I was doing my art degree and had great results, plus it was printing just fine and then suddendly lost it's vibrance - so again you might be on to something with the ink itself.

Thanks for your advice!

[John_Getzke]

> my only other guess is something to do with the driver possibly

Nope.  You previously confirmed that the defects were visible from the reports printed directly from the printer.  There is no print driver involved in this kind of a test, only the software directly on the printer.

>  I went laser because that's what I used at my university when I was doing my art degree and had great results,

Your university may have invested in high end lasers that may have higher resolutions than the models within your budget.  Lasers are not as good as inkjets when it comes to image quality.  We would have to know what model you were using in the past to compare DPI specs for a better understanding.

> so again you might be on to something with the ink itself.

Quick clarification, you mean toner.  Lasers use toner and inkjets use ink.  Toner is a solid pigment particle wrapped in a waxy coat.  Ink is either a dye or a pigment liquid solution.