My Printing Photos are Suddenly Looking Like Negatives?

[SeaBreeze]

Wasting a lot of time today just trying to print out a photo to send in a card. I've printed a couple of photos in the past, and never had a problem like this.

I don't know if it matters, but I'm using Windows7 and an HP Envy 4502 printer. Used this printer before for a full page photo and it came out fine. So, today I'm trying to print out a small photo using regular printer paper, which is what I used in the past.

Today, every photo I've tried (wasted a lot of ink and paper already, comes out the same...dark colors are light and the result looks like a negative. Anyone know why this is suddenly happening? Any advice? Thanks for any replies.

 

[Don M.]

The only thing that jumps out is a cartridge problem. You might print out a test page and see if all your colors are being properly printed. I think this model printer uses the HP61 cartridges, and they, and the HP60's sometimes don't seat properly in their base/mount. Pull the cartridges, and wipe down the cartridge and printer contacts with a dry q-tip, then try it again. While you have the color cartridge out, press the nozzle on a clean Kleenex, and see if you see all 3 color stripes....sharply defined, and equal. You might also visit the HP website, and see if there are any updates to the printer drivers.

 

[SeaBreeze]

Thanks Don for your advice! Well, I put in brand new ink cartridges and the problem is solved. I didn't think it was the ink because we rarely use the printer, but I remembered that the cartridges that were in there were from when we bought the printer, and as I recall, they weren't full as you would buy in the store. I was stupid not to do this earlier, and did waste a lot of time thinking it was other things...oh well, my duh moment for today.

 

[tnthomas]

Inkjet printers are a pain, seems like the cartridgesproduce only a small fraction of their rating. If my wife wants to print some photos to mail, I put them on a usb drive and get them printed at the drugstore. 29 cents each for 5x8's , IIRC.

 

[SeaBreeze]

Yeah Thomas, it did cross my mind to just take my SD card from my camera, which still has the picture on it, to my neighborhood Walgreens. I rarely print photos, usually send them in an email to relatives.