darker and lighter printed levels (or 'beams') in my photo prints (not lines or streaks!)

[nlpprint]

Hi, when I print photo's the print itself is 'allright' but printed photo's have darker and lighter levels (or 'beams'), horizontally, in it. Each level or 'beam' is about 4 cm's wide. Not lines or streaks, no, what I mean is that at the top and at the bottom it's a much darker print and looking at the middle of the printed photo you see a much lighter (sometimes even darker) printed level. What's causing this to happen? How can I fix it? By the way: this does not happen when I print text and sporadically a printed photo has no lighter/darker levels or 'beams' in it at all ... PS: the demo page (with the red and blue asian temple picture) I can print just fine,10 times in a row; no levels or 'beams' in it at all (???).

[Repairatrooper]

What you are seeing is usually referred to as banding. It can be caused by hardware issues or software problems, but as you indicate test prints are fine then you can safely assume this is a settings issue. Things to try include printing the file from a different application, if you are using special paper make sure the driver settings match the paper type, change print quality on the driver or try a different print driver. 

[nlpprint]

Thank you very much. I'll check it out and provide the feedback soon (today, otherwise tomorrow). Best regards!

[nlpprint]

Hi, it seemed the 3 color tonercartridges (still 20 - 30 % full) were the problem. When I eventually changed them, the problem didn't occur anymore.