consistent unwanted "shadow" behind most text

[RyanGeek]

Since I moved to Georgia from Indiana and have installed new black and color cartridges my HP Officejet 4500 printer has been adding an unwanted shadow to most text of print jobs, which makes it fuzzy and difficult to read.  It does this for printing from pdf's and from Word.  I recently printed a fillable pdf document from a doctor's office.  All of the text in the original document came out shadowed (thus difficult to read), and every piece of text I entered came out normal - without shadows.  The header with the file name and time/date stamp also printed without the shadows.  So it seems like there's a setting that was made to shadow certain text and not others.

I can't find any settings on the printer that relate to automatic shadowing of text.  The shadows are not sloppy; they look like an option that was chosen this way, but I never did intentionally choose it.

Any help would be appreciated.  I've had this printer for years without problems, and I'd like to keep it!

[TEJ1602]

@RyanGeek, Welcome to HP Support Community!

Does the photocopying work fine?

Follow the steps below to isolate and resolve the issue?

Use HP Print and Scan Doctor

Download HP Print and Scan Doctor and run the program. It will automatically diagnose and fix any printing/scanning issues. 

For more information, go to https://support.hp.com/us-en/topic/printscandoctor

Check the printer driver settings. Refer to the document for help- HP Printers - Print Driver Settings Guide (Windows)

If the issue persists, I recommend you delete the driver and root level and retry, follow the steps below: 

1) In Windows, search for and open Programs and features 

2) Select your HP Printer 

3) Select Uninstall 

4) In Windows, search for and open Devices and printers 

5) In the Devices and Printers windows look for your HP printer. If you see it listed right-click on it and choose ‘Delete’ or ‘Remove Device’ 

6) Open up the run command with the “Windows key + R” key combo. 

7) Type printui.exe /s and click Ok. (Note: there is a space in between “printui.exe”

8). Click on the “Drivers” tab 

9) Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it Click on it and click Remove at the bottom 

10) Select Ok 

11) Select Apply and Ok on the Print Server Properties windows 

12) Close Devices and Printers.

Use this link to download and install the new driver. Configure the printer and try printing.

If you still have issues, try the Windows built-in drivers. Follow the steps below:

•   Uninstall the printer drivers. Go to Control Panel - Devices and Printers - Click on "Add printer" and follow the on-screen instructions.

•    When the page prompts for the drivers, select "Windows update". The driver list will be updated.

•    Click HP, Hewlett Packard, or Hewlett-Packard in the Manufacturer pane, and then click the name of your printer in the Printers pane.

Refer to this document HP Printers - Installing and Using the Windows Built-in Print Driver for help

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted 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!