Double Printing, Ghosting, Shadow Letters

[Perian113]

The printer prints a shadow behind every letter or solid line in a document downloaded from the web. Documents from Pages and Numbers print crisply and clearly, as they have always done. I have changed the ink cartridges, cleaned the print heads, aligned the cartridges, and done a hard reset, with the printer unplugged for several weeks. I think it’s a software problem, not a physical printer problem, since the local documents are perfectly fine. There is no new driver for this model, and I’ve tested it on a PC running Windows 10 as well as two different Macs. I’m at my wits end and I don’t want to have to buy a new printer when mechanically, this one works (as well as it ever did). 
I have searched through the support community for previous posts with this question, but none of the solutions proposed have worked. 
Why is this only happening with web downloads?

[Kumar0307]

@Perian113, Welcome to the HP Support Community!

To assist you better, what type of documents are you facing the issue with?

Do you have the same issue when you print the downloaded document from other computers?

Yes, this does not seem to be an issue with the printer as it prints other documents fine.

Try using a different web browser to check if that helps.

Also, check for any software updates on Mac

Click the Apple icon > About This Mac > Software Update and install any available update.

You may also perform the steps mentioned in this document - Troubleshooting Print-Quality Issues

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

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!

Have a great day! 

[Perian113]

Hi and thanks for the reply.

I was trying to print an Amazon return label (this time. There have been previous documents with the same issue. Recipes and so forth).

I tried printing from the Safari browser on a MacBook Air running Mac OS Big Sur 11.2.2. Its software is up to date.
I also tried printing from the Chrome browser on a PC running Windows 10. Its software is also up to date. 

A Word or Pages document will print just fine. Anything downloaded from the internet will have the shadowing issue. 

I've gone through all the troubleshooting steps: clean print heads, align cartridges, install new cartridges, update the printer drivers, unplug the printer for some time (a few weeks, in fact!), do a hard restart. Nothing so far has worked. I really hope you can help because the printer is otherwise working fine. 

[Kumar0307]

@Perian113

Do you have the same issue when you print the downloaded document from other computers to this printer?

This model printer has no drivers on the HP Support site to work on macOS 11 and is also not AirPrint compatible due to its age. However, Gutenprint (formerly called Gimp-Print) provides open-source basic print drivers for many printers that would otherwise not be supported in Mac OS X. To see if your printer is supported, go to Gutenprint drivers for more information.

NOTE: Gutenprint drivers are not supported by HP or Apple.

Keep me posted for any other assistance.

[Perian113]

I tried printing the same document from a PC running Windows 10, using the Chrome Browser. The same issue occurred. 

[Kumar0307]

@Perian113

In your previous posts, you have mentioned that Word or Pages document prints fine. This means the printer hardware is fine.

Try using a different web browser like Firefox or Edge and check if that helps.

Keep me posted.