Loosing shadow/ low light detail when printing on HP 1115

L
Posted By
larrysimon
Sep 28, 2003
Views
353
Replies
5
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Closed
The dark shadowy, or low light, areas of my photos seem to print as variations of black smuge on my HP1115. The problem is more pronounced when I print using the best quality setting on photo paper then when I print using draft quality on plain paper. Is this because it is an economy printer or is there something I should be doing? The bright and colorful parts of the pics do well and the colors seem to match my monitor pretty well (except the dark areas). I’ve tried with and without color management and seem to get the same results but it is certainly possible that I did not set up color management properly. Any help is greatly be appreciated.

Thanks

Larry
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Phosphor
Sep 28, 2003
Hi, Larry. I can’t say about that model specifically, but I have the 920C and it prints fairly well except for drop shadows which always look like dirt.

One thing you might try is this: I find that if I leave the ink setting at the default, which is about the middle of the range, the printer lays down too much ink and my prints are too dark. I usually move the slider a notch or two towards the light side and it prints much better that way. You might want to experiment with that setting if you haven’t yet.
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Phosphor
Sep 28, 2003
Also are you using black point compensation in the print preview? Some people say it’s better to use it, but I got prints something like what you are describing when I turned that on.
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Phosphor
Sep 28, 2003
The other thing that often enters into the print quality is the paper you’re using. Is it HP paper, or are you using another brand? I have an HP 1215. When I use HP paper, I don’t have to mess with settings; however, when I use Kodak paper I have to reduce the saturation.

The manufacturers always say in "the book" to use only their own branded products. I think we often assume it’s because they want all of our money, not just part. The truth is that each manufacturer sets up their equipment to perform at its best using their own consumables. If you’re not using HP products, you’ll probably have to play around with the printer settings. You should be able to get a perfectly acceptable print, but it may take some tweaking.
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Phosphor
Sep 28, 2003
Hi, Beth. Actually, in my post I was referring to what I get using HP papers, too. The end result is better with HP, but it’s still overinked if I don’t compensate.
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larrysimon
Oct 1, 2003
Beth and Barbara, Thanks for the information. I tried reducing the amount of ink as Barbara suggested and that did help a bit in the problem area but it seemed to have a negative impact overall. I am using HP paper – HP premium photo glossy to be exact. I am not using black point compensation and have yet to try with it on. Will let you know. Thanks again

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