Canon MP610 black not printing from computer

[Jim Attrill]

My Canon MP610 prints photo-copies from the platen OK but when printing photos/pictures from the printer driver there is no black what should be black prints as purple. Why is it so and what can I do about it? I have had the problem for several months.

thanks for your interest.

 

[ghwellsjr]

What do you mean "prints photo-copies from the platen"? What do you mean by platen?

Also, when you say printing from the printer driver, do you mean when printing from the computer?

The best thing you can do for us to help you is do a nozzle check, scan it and save it as a .bmp, then load it into Paint and save it as a .png and then upload it here using the Upload link at the top of this page.

 

[stratman]

The "platen" is the glass surface one places the item to be copied on and is found in copiers, scanners and all-in-ones.

Jim -

1) Print out a Nozzle Check, scan it and post the image on this thread. Also, you can scan and post an example of your printout problem.

2) Do you refill your cartridges? If so, what brand ink, what method of refilling, what cartridge are you using (OEM Canon or a third-party), how many refills on the cartridges,and how often/when was the last purge of the cartridges?

 

[Jim Attrill]

Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your response.
1. Prints photocopies from the platen means it copies from the scanner bed OK within the MP610.
2. I do use third party cartridges - generally Skyhorse brand made in China but the problem persists when using genuine Canon cartridges also.
3. I have a couple of scanned images - which I will upload shortly. I tried this last night but ran out of time. Being new at this I'm not sure how my uploads get linked to this message?
4. May I ask what is the point of the double conversion .bmp to .png?
Thank you

 

[stratman]

You're welcome.

2. Third party cartridges have never been shown to be equal or superior to Canon OEM cartridges particularly if you are refilling. Canon OEM cartridges are more reliable functionally and may last longer for refilling purposes. The recommendation is to only use Canon OEM cartridges when refilling to decrease your risk of problems. An OEM Canon cartridge handled well may last years, even for the life of the printer. Third party cartridges may lessen the life of your printhead due to malfunctions in flow or leak and create a mess.

It is unknown whether the third party cartridges caused a problem for you. Still, if you refill, I would use only Canon OEM cartridges except in a pinch. If either OEM or 3rd-Party cartridge caused a clog in the printhead, then you will have flow problems no matter what cartridge you use.

Concerning your choice of 3rd-party ink - Skyhorse - there is little info here on it that I can recall. Generally, and sadly, ink from China is inferior, oftentimes in multiple ways. If you are refilling, there are known excellent aftermarket inks readily available. Your general location, (USA, Britain, Australia, etc) will help us to identify brands with lower cost shipping to you. If you are on the African continent or one of the poles then you are screwed, postage-wise. Still, a smooth running printer beats saving a few pennies on cheap ink that creates a problem down the road, especially if it's those few months in the Arctic when no one comes or goes.

3. To upload your scanned images, click on "Upload" in the dark green menu bar at the top of the Nifty-Stuff page. Use the "Browse" button to locate and select the file(s) you want to upload for us to see. You can also have the software "resize" the image for you by ticking "resize image" and selecting your desired size such as 640x480 (which is done automatically for any file over 100KB's anyways), otherwise you can leave "resize image" alone. If the upload does not look good to you on the web site, edit your post, remove the file and try again, or, ask us for further help.

You could, alternatively, upload your image to a file hoster, but that is not necessary given Nifty-Stuff will host the image for you. It's up to you.

4. BMP's are usually large files. JPG's are smaller than BMP but may retain good resolution even though less KB's size. PNG's may be smaller than JPG's but with the same resolution. So, it's about conserving file size not only for your upload, but also the space needed to store the pic file and the download time required for us to look at your picture -- all without sacrificing useful resolution. Also, the Nifty-Stuff software does not accept BMP"s and you will need to upload your file as a JPG, PNG, or GIF format. GIF's can be larger than JPG's at similar resolutions.)

 

[ghwellsjr]

The difference between a JPG and a PNG is that JPG's are lossy, meaning that after saving an image as a file and then reloading it back for viewing, the final image is not exactly the same as the original and artifacts are introduced. PNG are lossless meaning that after you save an image as a file and reload it back for viewing, it will look exactly the same as it started out.

The reason I said to save it first as a BMP is in case your scanning software does not permit you to save it as a PNG. If you were to save it as a JPG and then converted it to a PNG, it would already have the artifacts introuduced. So if your scanning software will let you save the image as a PNG, then just do that instead of the two-step process I outlined.

I'm going to guess that the reason your copied pictures look good but your printed pictures look bad is probably because your printer assumes that your copies are going on photo paper, in which case it uses your dye black ink, whereas when printing from your computer, it assumes that you are printing on plain paper, in which case it uses your pigment black ink but it is probably not working.

 

[Jim Attrill]

Re the uploading - I did get 2 files uploaded but I can only see them by clicking on My Uploads.
How do I link them to my post?

 

[ghwellsjr]

When you see your images after going to My Uploads, there are two text fields under each image, one called Thumb and one called Image. If you want the full-size image to appear in your post, right-click in the Image text field and select "Copy". Then go to your post (it helps if you keep two windows open for the forum) and right-click where you want the image to appear and select "Paste". You won't see the image while you are editing your post but it will be there after you Submit it. If you have a whole lot of images, you might want to copy the Thumb text field instead which will produce a small version of your image that users can click on if they want to see the full-size original.

 

[Jim Attrill]

Finally... It took me several tries to convert the upload to an acceptable .PNG file.

I think I may have discovered where the problem sits. The BK cartridge seems to be not firing very much.
This was a genuine Canon (full) and when I replaced it with Skyhorse it is still showing the same pattern.
I also had to replace the PGBK and Cyan cartridges (Skyhorse) because they were critically low.



Because I'm basically lazy I haven't kept a log of the cartridge replacements but it appears to me that it has been a looooong time since I replaced the BK cartridge and it was still pretty much full.

My location is in Sydney Australia where I am getting Skyhorse cartridges for $11.50 as against $21 - $29 for genuine ones.

I can't agree with your diagnosis of the printer assuming plain paper or photo paper as I have tried several combinations of print and paper quality.



Thank you for your help - I'm getting a much better handle on how things work - I think!

 

[stratman]

Jim:

Congratulations on posting your scans.

Unfortunately, the images you posted are a little small, so, could you please rescan the printouts and crop the images down to just the printed area minus all the unprinted white paper surounding. In this way, we may be better able to see a magnified image of the nozzle check and purge test pattern and give you a more educated hypothesis of your problem(s).