Why does my HP 3830 print *bleep** photos?

[PrinterAngst]

Ever since my 3830 printer was new it can never print a good photo. They are grainy and lined. I've gone through print alignment, head cleaning etc and have new ink direct from HP.

[Dragon-Fur]

@PrinterAngst 

Welcome to the HP User Community.

Printer series introduced in 2015

That's a long time to have not printed photos - given the right paper, a decent original photo file, and the right settings, the printer should have been capable of doing so when it was new.

"Why"

At this point, printer age, including normal wear-and-tear associated with possibly years of use might be a factor that impacts photo print quality.

What else?

Photo file quality, including the number of pixels in the photo file, is important to the results.

For example, a photo with a low pixel count will not produce a decent printed photo at larger sizes.

This is normal - the fewer the pixels in the file, the more they have to "spread out" to accommodate a larger print size.  The results can be grainy, blurry, oddly colored, or perhaps a combination of all of these.

Photo files scanned from old original printed photos may not produce excellent results.  Similar reasons - poor original pixel count, faded colors, incorrect settings when the original photo was taken.

What else?

Perhaps not much...

The troubleshooting steps normally provide a fairly good starting point - once passed, the printer is deemed ready to print.

 Black or Color Ink Not Printing, Other Print Quality Issues

For those reading

Reloading the printer software can help when a printing quality issue is "new" or recent.  It likely will not help for a years old printer that has never printed photos the way you expect AND for which the printer software has likely be reloaded many times already.

References / Resources

Size of file in Pixels

Open File Explorer

Navigate to the folder in which the file is located

Right-Click on the image file name > Properties > tab Details

Check the size of the image > Dimensions

One of an excellent series – includes article text and aspect ratio calculator

https://scantips.com/lights/resize2.html#aspect

 Printer Specifications for HP OfficeJet 3830, DeskJet 3830, 5730 All-in-One Printers

HP Printer Support Home Page - References and Resources – Learn about your Printer  - Solve Problems

 “Things that are your printer”

NOTE:  Content depends on device type and Operating System

Categories:  Alerts, Access to the Print and Scan Doctor (Windows), Warranty Check, HP Drivers / Software / Firmware Updates, How-to Videos, Bulletins/Notices, Lots of How-to Documents, Troubleshooting, Manuals > User Guides, Product Information (Specifications), more

When the website support page opens, Select (as available) a Category > Topic > Subtopic

HP OfficeJet 3830 All-in-One Printer series 

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Question / Concern Answered, Click "Accept as Solution"

[PrinterAngst]

Thank you. I ended up doing a printer another alignment, this time through the HPsmart app and I'm happy to say my photos are looking much better now. My printer angst level has gone way down. If anyone else is having quality problems with the 3830 printer I suggest going into your HP Smart app. Select "Printer Settings". Then select "Advanced", then "Print Quality Toolbox" and follow the steps there.

[Dragon-Fur]

@PrinterAngst 

You are welcome.

So, good news, then. 

For those reading:

 Black or Color Ink Not Printing, Other Print Quality Issues

Alignment is discussed / explained starting in Step 8 through Step 13

Tools are available at the printer, in the full driver printer software, and in the HP Smart application.

Thank you for participating in the HP Community.

Our Community is comprised of volunteers - people who own and use HP devices.

Click Helpful = Yes to say Thanks!

Question / Concern Answered, Click "Accept as Solution"