Canon Pixma IX6860 - Black ink appears 'patchy'?

[synical]

Hey all,

I've got a brand new IX6860, all colours on it print out consistently and without any problems but for some reason anything that's pure black will come out looking very 'patchy'. Hard to explain but the image I've attached should show it fairly clearly, basically anything black looks pretty awful.

So far I've tried:

- Heavy matte paper (300gsm, 250gsm)
- Normal copy paper (this was actually a little better)
- Gloss card/photo paper
- Printing straight from Illustrator, and also from an exported PDF
- RGB and CMYK profiles
- Adjusting colour settings to compensate (no change)

The same images print fine on my old HP Officejet 7510, in all the above scenarios other than 300gsm paper which the HP doesn't support.

Any thoughts? I had been meaning to replace the black cartridges but seeing as they're new I'd rather not do that unless they're the most likely culprit.

Cheers!

 

[ruffin]

Just replace black cartridge with OEM Canon (only) Black cartridge.
Wrap original cartridge in saran wrap or any clear plastic wrap.
Ensure wrap is air tight. This will keep ink from drying out over time.
You will be able to re-use it later. At least you will know whether you
have problem or not.

 

[synical]

Hi ruffin,

Thanks for the suggestion about wrapping up the old cartridge, worked a treat!

I've tried a new one, and still the same unfortunately. I've noticed another problem as well when doing a comparison between this printer and the HP - some blues bordering on green turn completely green on the Canon :/

Not sure if I'm best off just calling it a day with this printer and taking it back, or if there's anything else I can try perhaps?

 

[ruffin]

If were me, would return printer. Hope you still have that option.

 

[RockitRon]

Hey all,

I've got a brand new IX6860, all colours on it print out consistently and without any problems but for some reason anything that's pure black will come out looking very 'patchy'. Hard to explain but the image I've attached should show it fairly clearly, basically anything black looks pretty awful.

So far I've tried:

- Heavy matte paper (300gsm, 250gsm)
- Normal copy paper (this was actually a little better)
- Gloss card/photo paper
- Printing straight from Illustrator, and also from an exported PDF
- RGB and CMYK profiles
- Adjusting colour settings to compensate (no change)

The same images print fine on my old HP Officejet 7510, in all the above scenarios other than 300gsm paper which the HP doesn't support.

Any thoughts? I had been meaning to replace the black cartridges but seeing as they're new I'd rather not do that unless they're the most likely culprit.

Cheers!

It may be an RBG/CMYK problem. All color printers print in CMYK, because those are the 4 colors (I know they have expanded it in some inkjets but it is still basically CMYK. Now , If you make your page setup in RGB, what is black will be RGB black. If the black was set up in CMYK you can make it 100% black and nothing else. However RGB black is basically 100% of R, G & B. Most CMYK printers interpret that as something like 90%Black, 78% Cyan, 72% Mag, 69% Yel. When it prints, it is a flooded mess. Especially if you are using a Postscript enabled printer. Those are expecting CMYK file data.
If you are using some awful program like WORD, Word is an RGB program. I don't know if new versions allow you to make the colors in CMYK Format. IF you are making something in Photoshop, CorelDraw, InDesign, Illustrator, Quark.... you of course have the option of working in CMYK because they are professional page setting programs. I think Publisher may have the option at this point. But that could be a problem, Also photos in RGB may print awful on a CMYK printer, but if you take that same photo convert its mode to CMYK in Photoshop and put it back in your document, it will print great. Some printers have an RBG mode which can alleviate the problem, But you would have to look for that in your printer software. - - -RockitRon