Okay, apparently I have solved at least a part of my problem. I have been printing borderless 4 x 6's and getting the dim color. After reading some of The Hat's explanations in his link, I tried printing with borders. Voila! Bright color! Just to be sure I went back to the borderless...
Yes, when I say "regular" paper, I mean "plain" paper.
Yes, when I print 4 x 6 I get dim colors. Other sizes are ok.
I don't have a preset for 6 x 4, but when I asked for that size (custom) I got dim color and it was printed in the same orientation as normal 4 x 6.
I saved a copy of a photo...
After more experimenting (and using about a third of my new ink cartridge) here is what I have found: If I print on plain paper, 8.5 x 11, with plain-paper settings, I get correct color. If I print on either photo or regular paper, 4 x 6, I get the weak, pastel color. The same is true, whether...
Thanks for the suggestions!
I looked at the originals through a strong lens, and the yellow is solid, though very dim. Here are two images--photos taken at the same time, one printed when the system was behaving properly, the other (the one on the left) printed after the new cartridge was...
It appears now that this color problem only comes when I print from iPhoto. (And the print dialog box that comes up in iPhoto is different from the normal box.) But it did print normally from iPhoto before I changed the cartridge. I still need to solve the iPhoto printing problem.
Edit--added...
My printer was printing photos beautifully, then suddenly I got wide streaks. I replaced the cartridge (CL211xl) and when I printed everything came out a pale pastel. Thinking the cartridge might be defective, I got another cartridge. Same result. I even reinstalled the old cartridge. Same...