Printing lines and colour too dark on Envy 5030 printer

[Hambury]

Hi,

I'm having issues with my new Envy 5030.

The first issue is with white lines appearing when printing in black and white. They show on the test print quality page and on are more noticeable when printing images. I've gone through all the cleaning options you can use and even switched the ink cartridge, but the situation hasn't changed. 

I have noticed though that if I change the print quality to be 'best' instead of 'normal' than the lines won't appear, but surely that isn't expected?

The second issue is to do with colour darkness. When printing out photos the colour contrast appears too dark, especially noticeable on skin. Again, I've gone through all the cleaning and alignment options but nothing improves it. I've also switched over the ink cartridges and the problem is the same.

If I do a photocopy of a photo, then the printed colour is correct, it's only a problem when printing from a computer (where the image looks correct on screen, came out correct on my old printer but doesn't on this new one). Any ideas what the issue is?

Thanks for any help

[Jeet_singh]

@Hambury,

Welcome to the HP Forums 🙂 I would like to take a moment and thank you for using this forum, it is a great place to find answers. For you to have the best experience on the HP forum, you could also visit our HP Forums Guide for First Time Here? Learn How to Post and More. I see from your post that you're having print quality issues while printing from your HP Envy 5030 printer. Don't worry we'll work together to help you find a solution.

To provide you with an accurate solution, I'll need a few more details:

Have you recently made any changes before the issue started?

Are you using genuine HP Ink cartridges or refilled ink cartridges?

Did this happen while using the existing ink cartridges or after replacing the ink cartridges.

Are you able to make a copy from the printer?

In the meantime, let's try these steps here: 

Let's start off by updating the printer firmware. If your printer connected wirelessly, make sure to temporary connect the device with USB and then follow the link to install the latest firmware update on your printer from our HP support website. Alternatively you can also try to update the printer firmware directly from the printer control panel.

For more details on how to update, please use this link: HP Printers - Updating or Upgrading Printer Firmware

If the issue persists, I would suggest here is to do a hard reset on the printer and make sure that the printer is connected directly to the wall outlet and not to the surge protector.

With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and also unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.

Remove USB cable, if present.

Wait for 2-3 minutes, press and hold the power button on your printer for about 30 seconds to remove any additional charge.

Now plug back the power cable straight to a wall outlet without any surge protector or an extension cord and then plug back the power cord to the printer.

Turn on the printer and wait till warm-up period finishes and the printer is idle.

Next thing, I would suggest here is to try and make a “photocopy” to determine whether the issue is with the printer or not. Place a document on the scanner glass and choose “Copy” option. If the printer is making a good copy, then the printer hardware is fine.

If the copy comes out bad then I would suggest you follow the steps suggested in the support document for - HP DeskJet, ENVY 5000 Printers - Black or Color Ink Not Printing, Other Print Quality Issues

Please let me know if this resolves the issue, or if you require further assistance!

Eagerly waiting for your response!

that said, If the information I've provided was helpful, 

give us some reinforcement by clicking the solution and kudos buttons, 

that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Good Luck.

[Hambury]

Thanks for the help. I tried everything you suggested and still no luck. I even printed from my laptop to rule out a problem on my PC and had the same results. Photocopying a photo gives the correct colours, it's only a problem when printing a photo from a computer.

I tried other software (I was using HP Photo Creations) and then the problem seem to go away (the colour still looks a little off, but not as bad as it was). Turns out if I disable the 'HP Real Life Technologies' in the advance settings of HP Photo Creations then the problem does go away.

The colours are still not as good as they were on the previous printer, but it is much better with that option turned off. I still get white lines on the screen and printing in anything other than 'best' quality looks pretty bad. I assume that's just the limitations of the printer?

[Jeet_singh]

@Hambury,

Thank you for replying,

After reviewing your post thoroughly, I suspect this to be an issue with settings or the software related.

Check the print settings for your print job in Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows Vista.

1. In the software application you are trying to print from, click File, and then click Print.

   The Print window opens.

2. Open the Properties dialog box.

   Depending on the software application, the button might be Properties, Options, Printer Setup, Printer, or Preferences.

3. Depending on your print job, you might consider modifying the following settings:

   • Paper Type: If you are printing on photo paper, select the type of photo paper you are attempting to print on.

   • Print Quality: If you are dissatisfied with the quality of your printouts, increase the print quality. To print more quickly, decrease the print quality. These options typically include Best, Normal, and Draft modes.

   • Paper Size: If you are printing on a different size of paper than you normally print on, select the correct paper size.

   • Black and White: If you want to print in black and white only, select the grayscale option.

4. After selecting the print settings, click OK to apply the settings, and then click Print.

If this does not help, then I would suggest here is to uninstall the printer drivers and then reinstall the printer software by following the steps below: 

• Press “Windows key” + “r” to get the “Run” window.
• Type "services.msc" to get Services – Go to “Print spooler” – Right-click and “Stop” the service.
• Now again open "Run" - Type “spool” and ok - Go to PRINTERS folder - delete everything in that folder.
• Go to services again - Start the print spooler.
• Now check for issue resolution.
• If the issue persists, also try clean installing the printer drivers. Here are the steps:
• First, unplug the USB cable from the printer if present.
• Go to Control panel – Programs and feature – Select all the HP Envy printer entries and uninstall them.
• Now go to Control panel – Devices and printer – Select all the printer entries and remove the device.
• Press the "windows key" + "r" to get the "Run" window open - Type "printui.exe /s" (There is a space between .exe & /) and press enter.
• Under print server properties, go to drivers - remove any entry there as well.
• Again, go to the Run window, type – “c:/programdata” – Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer related folders & files.
• Restart your computer.
• Please click here (Please enter the product number and then select the correct Operating system and version of Windows before downloading and installing the printer software).
• Connect the USB cable if prompted and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Let me know if those steps worked for you.  If they did, that’s awesome!  Give us some reinforcement by clicking the solution and kudos buttons, that’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!

Good Luck!