Grey shadow below Bold black print on Deskjet F4200 series

[canddski]

When printing document with black and colour I get a grey shadow beneath the text and borders - but only in Bold, and only black, not the colour text, even in Bold.  Both cartridges have been replaced and I have done a hard reset on the printer, but the problem remains.

[Jay_G24]

Hi @canddski,

If you have already performed the steps from the document Faded, Missing, or Dull Colors in Printouts and the issue persists, it could be a hardware failure.

Please reach out to the HP Support in your region regarding the service options for your printer.

If you are having trouble navigating through the above options, it's most likely because the device is out of warranty. If yes? please send me a private message with the region you are contacting us from. Check next to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it. 

Hope this helps!

And, Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

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

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping

[canddski]

Hi Jay, thanks for your email.  The printer is out of warranty so I tried UK support as you advised.  It took me to a virtual agent and round the same loop I went round before.  Maybe you can advise with more information:

The grey shadow only appears sometimes.  If I am printing a screen snip, the shadow is pronounced.  Most black text is perfect.  If it is in a bordered box, both box and text have the shadow below.

**Stop Press**    I just tried printing the same 2 documents, one Word and one PDF, in "Best" (600 dpi) rather than "Normal" (300 dpi) and the problem disappeared in the bordered text.  (The logo in black text still had the shadow.)  The border itself also printed correctly.  I then re-printed in "Normal" and the shadow re-appeared.  Looks like a s/w problem or maybe something to do with rendering True Text.

[Jay_G24]

 Let's try and uninstall the printer software from the root level on your PC and install the full feature printer software.

--->In Windows, search for and open Programs and Features.

--->Select your HP printer.

--->Select Uninstall.

--->In Windows, search for and open Devices and Printers.

--->In the Devices and Printers window look for your HP Printer. If you see it listed, right-click on it and choose "Delete" or "Remove Device.”

--->Open up the run command with the "Windows Key + R" key combo.

--->Type printui.exe /s and click OK.

--->Click on the Drivers tab.

--->Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it click on it and click remove at the bottom.

--->Select OK.

--->Select Apply and OK on the Print Server Properties windows.

--->Close Devices and Printers.

And then reinstall the printer full-featured drivers from software and drivers page  

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

[canddski]

Hi Jay

I was hopeful that your proposed "Deep Uninstall"  and clean download would work.  Unfortunately it did not.  Printing .jpg and .pdf documents still give the grey shadow beneath.  In MS Word, text is perfect until I apply boxes and shading, or increase the font size.  The grey shadow appears on the text within shading areas, but not elsewhere.  In one test block of large-font text with  only the second word shaded, the black shadow appeared on the first, unshaded, word, and the second, shaded word, but NOT the third unshaded large-font word.  When I removed the shading, all 3 words printed perfectly - no shadow.  Any thoughts on the cause of, and how to eliminate, the problem?

[Jay_G24]

To better assist you - 

1) Does the copy print out the same way? 

2) What's the application you are trying to print from? Have you tried printing from a different application or devices? 

Let me know!

[canddski]

Hi Jay

Info as requested:

1.  Printed from MS Word - perfect.  Then highlighted a couple of words on different lines and reprinted, and once again the words before the highlighted words, and the highlighted words, were shadowed, but NOT the following words on the same line.

2.  Printed from Excel - perfect.  Highlighted a word in one row.  This word only was shadowed, not preceding or following words in the same row.

3.  Printed a PDF document.  All black text was shadowed.  White text with a dark grey background was shadowed.  Coloured text was not shadowed.

4.  Copied the first (perfect) Word document.  All text, black and coloured, copied without a shadow, however, there are  black box borders and some vestigial lines appeared at random intervals immediately below the horizontal borders.

5.  Copied the Word document with a couple of words highlighted, which had shadowing.  The shadow on the words preceding the highlighted words was lower and more pronounced.  Also, the top of the highlighting had been cut off.  Once again, vestigial underlining of horizontal borders occurred but if different apparently random locations.

[Jay_G24]

If the issue occurs even copying making a standalone copy, let's identify the defective ink.

Try the steps from the document Faded, Missing, or Dull Colors in Printouts and share the print quality report.

Keep me posted!

[canddski]

Hi Jay

I have recently replaced both cartridges with new HP originals to try to fix the problem.  There has been no change.  I do not believe the cartridge is the problem because I can make the shadowing appear, and then disappear, by highlighting or un-highlighting words - as described above.  Nevertheless, I ran the print test program which appears perfect.  I scanned it at 600dpi

[canddski]

Hi Jay

I received an email saying that the scan of the print test page which I uploaded could not be posted as it contained personal info.  It did not.  I still have the scan if you want to see it by another route, however, it is flawless so the cartridges are not the problem.