partial blurry prints

[mjenkins900]

I installed a new black ink cartridge, 60, name brand.  Did the alignment, and suddenly my pages with barcodes print them blurry. Most of the print is fine, but the barcode is blurry, and some of the print is blurry, or shadowed.  Most of the print is perfectly fine.  I've printed the alignment page multiple times, i've cleaned the ink heads, I've uninstalled and re-installed the printer, and nothing changes.  The alignment page looks perfect, I can print a page with just wording and it's perfect, but the bar codes are all blurry, or 'shadowed'.  I've been printing shipping labels quite a bit, and before this new ink cartridge, everything was fine. What is going on?  

[Kumar0307]

Hi @mjenkins900

Welcome to the HP Support Community. I understand you are having difficulties while printing barcodes. I'd be happy to assist you.

Are you using genuine HP ink cartridges?

Print a test page on the printer

1. Make sure you have plain white, letter-size paper loaded in the input tray.

2. Press and hold the Power button () and the Cancel button () for 10 seconds. The extended self-test report prints.

3. Check the print quality.

Check for any pending software updates on MAC

Click here to know how.

Perform the steps mentioned in this document to resolve the print quality issue.

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! 

[mjenkins900]

Thank you for the contact.  So far i've tried several options.  It is a genuine HP product, purchased from Target.  UPC is 8-83585-70253-4.  I ran the alignment test when I installed it, and it looked fine.  Scanned It, and thought we were good to go. Then my issues began when printing shipping labels.  If I print any other sheet, it's fine.  Even the majority of the text on the label is fine.  The bar code is not.  That is blurry.  The bar code numbers immediately below it are fine.  Directly above it the label says USPS Tracking #, that is perfectly fine too.  So it's not like it blurs below a certain part of the page.  It specifically blurs the bar code.  AT the very top of the label, it also blurs the USPS logo and eBay logo.  The text immediately below that is fine, however their QR code is blurry as well, even though the text directly next to it is fine.  

I tried cleaning the print heads, that didn't change anything.  I tried unplugging and plugging it back in, I uninstalled the printer and reinstalled, no difference.  I am up to date on my operating system, Catalina 10.15.3.  

I tried your suggestion, and all it does is turn on or off. It does not print any page.  It makes some noises like it's going to do something, but then just shuts off.  Paper is in the feeder.  I don't know what to do...

[Kumar0307]

@mjenkins900, thank you for the response.

• Which application are you using to print the barcode?
• Are you using a browser to print? If yes, have you tried with different browsers?
• You may also try saving or downloading the file first and then print it.

• If you are trying to print from a PDF file, try these steps –  

    

  a.) Print PDF as an image 

  b.) Try printing from preview app - Print PDFs and images in Preview on Mac 

  If you are trying specifically from Adobe software, try updating the Adobe software. 

• Click here to know how to update the adobe application.

Could you also send a screenshot or a copy of the file with the barcode that you are trying to print to recreate the issue in our lab?

You may either post it here if it is not confidential or you may send it in a private message.

Keep me posted.

[mjenkins900]

How can I send you a message?  I would prefer to not post the label as it contains addresses of myself and the recipient.  To clarify as well, I've tried several different labels, and have the same issue with them all. Some labels from eBay, and some from Mercari, so they are not from the same source.  In addition, other things i've printed have similar issues.  Part of the text (majority) is perfectly fine.  For example, a word doc prints perfect.  But, certain forms will print partially perfect, and still have portions where the ink is blurred (shadow effect).  On the bar code, that shadow affect ruins the ability to scan.  You can still read the wording that has this affect.  To clarify, this is NOT just one specific file. It appears to be an issue with certain fonts or portions of any document I try to print.  

[Kumar0307]

@mjenkins900, I understand your concern. I will send you a private message and you may reply to it with an example of the label/documents having issues.

• In order to access your private messages, click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Forums profile, next to your profile Name or simply click on this link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/notes/privatenotespage

If you do not wish to share the label as it contains your address, please contact the HP Support team for further assistance as I think this issue needs some additional technical assistance that can be better provided through one-on-one interaction.

Keep me posted.