why are there stripes on every photo I print?

[ssgusty]

Office Jet Pro 6968  Every photo I print has stripes in the background

[Kumar0307]

@ssgusty, Welcome to the HP Support Community! I’m here to help.

I see that the photo print quality is not good. Print on regular paper and check if the lines persists.

Are you using HP photo papers?

Perform the steps mentioned in this document - Black or Color Ink Not Printing, Other Print Quality Issues

Check the ink levels, clean the printhead up to 2 times and print a test page to check the result.

Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click on the YES button to reply that the response was helpful and/or to say “Thank You”.

Have a great day! 

[ssgusty]

I don't use photo paper, it's how I keep track of my jewelry inventory.  I've been printing pics of my jewelry since 2016, and this issue w/lines in the background started a few months ago.  you mentioned cleaning printer heads .... where are they and what should I use to clean them?  

Thank you,

ssgusty

[Kumar0307]

@ssgusty

I have attached a document in my previous post that shows how to clean the printhead.

1. From the printer control panel, open the Setup  menu.

2. Open the Printer Maintenance menu.

3. If necessary, open the Tools menu, and then touch Clean Printhead.

   A test page prints.

   

4. Examine the test page.

   • If the print quality is unacceptable, touch Clean Again to continue the next level of cleaning. If necessary, repeat these steps for the third cleaning cycle.

     NOTE: 

     If the printhead is badly clogged, it might require another cleaning cycle. If so, wait 30 minutes before you perform all three levels of cleaning again.

   • If the print quality is acceptable, touch Done.

Try to print. If these steps resolved the issue, you do not need to continue troubleshooting.

Let me know how it goes.

[ssgusty]

Hi, Kumar

I followed the steps to clean printerhead and test page was perfect.  However, there are still stripes on my photos that I print

Thanks for your help and feedback

[Kumar0307]

@ssgusty

Try printing different picture or from a different app and check if the lines persist. Are you using regular everyday paper?

Are these vertical or horizontal stripes?

Print Word, PDF or emails to check if the line persist.

Update the printer firmware

Click here to download and install the latest printer firmware from your computer.

Click here to know different methods of updating printer firmware.

Let me know how it goes.

[ssgusty]

HI, Kumar,

Horizontal stripes, I use regular paper, I print from my phone and my laptop.  Every photo has horizontal lines

Thanks for your input.

ssgusty

[Kumar0307]

@ssgusty

I understand. We will have to isolate this issue by checking if these horizontal stripes occur while printing regular documents like PDF, Word or Emails.

Can you kindly check that and let me know in your next post?

Keep me posted.

[ssgusty]

No stripes of any kind when I make copies. Only when I print a photo

[Kumar0307]

@ssgusty

The last option would be to perform a factory reset on the printer.

• The reset instructions are specific for your printer and performing those steps on a different printer may corrupt the device.
• I've sent you a private message with reset instructions, follow the reset instruction to perform a full reset and re-initialize the printer.
• In order to access your private messages, click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP community profile, next to your profile Name or simply click on this link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/notes/privatenotespage

Let me know how it goes.