PIXMA TS6420a - Printer Using Color to Make Black On Color Print

Voicetek — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 13:17:01 GMT

Hello,

So I've owned an HP printer my entire life, but just recently switched to a Canon Pixma because of a great deal they had on one at Best Buy. Basically, for the cost of replacing my HP ink cartridges, I could have a brand new Canon Pixma. This was a great deal, so I decided to go that route. The printer I got was the Pixma TS6420a.

I've been using the printer for a week now, and have had a few complaints so far. Mostly, just the dull color prints I'm getting. The color isn't vibrant at all, and the color representation is terrible. Nothing looks like my original picture despite fooling around with the settings and manual color adjustments, and aligning my ink cartridges. Considering that it was originally a $130 printer, I was initially disappointed in the print quality. However, wasn't a huge issue overall, and was willing to look past it because of the deal I got.

Today though is when I came across an issue that might be the final straw for me. In all my color prints, instead of using my black cartridge to print black, it looks like it's mixing all the colors from the color cartridge and creating a composite black. For example, I'm printing a document that's mostly black text, but has some color borders and other elements surrounding the black text. All the black text is "muddied" looking and not pure black at all. However, when I print an all black document, I get true, deeps blacks all throughout. When comparing the two, it's extremely clear that the black in the color print is not utilizing my black ink at all and instead, mixing the colors to create a sort-of black.

I don't remember this being an issue with my HP printer, and always had deep blacks, even in my color prints. My question is this, is there any way around this at all? Is there any way to tell the printer to use the black cartridge for all black elements in a color print? I've been all through the settings, and can't find anything that would suggest this.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Re: Canon Pixma TS6420a Printer Using Color to Make Black On Color Print

normadel — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 01:53:44 GMT

In the Print dialog window, is there an option to print grayscale? Leaving it on Color will use all the inks to make dense blacks.

Dull colors could be a sign of a a bad driver install.

Pixmas typically require installation of the driver BEFORE turning on the printer. Did you do this?

If not, delete the printer from your system, reboot computer, and do it again.

topic Re: Canon Pixma TS6420a Printer Using Color to Make Black On Color Print in Desktop Inkjet Printers

PIXMA TS6420a - Printer Using Color to Make Black On Color Print

Re: Canon Pixma TS6420a Printer Using Color to Make Black On Color Print