HPLIP

Yellow shadow around black text on CLJ 2600n

Asked by F. Kolb

I installed the HPLIP and the plug-in Version 3.21.2 for a Color LaserJet 2600n on Raspbian (Linux for Raspberry Pi, equivalent to Debian, latest release Bullseye, CUPS 2.3.3op2 installed).
The printer is connected via Ethernet and was installed successfully using "hp-setup -I".
Printing via CUPS works locally (e.g. printing the test page from the CUPS web interface). It is also possible to print over the network on the Raspberry Pi as a print server from MacOS with installed HP printer driver for the CLJ 2600n.

When printing directly on the printer from MacOS with HP printer drivers, everything is exactly as it should be with perfect print quality.

Problem:

* When printing using HPLIP, either locally from the Raspberry Pi, or over the network, there is a significant yellow "shadow" around black areas on the printout, e.g. black text, lines, etc. All other colors in the printout (C, M, Y, R, G, B) are fine.
(When I print the same document using grayscale settings, there is no yellow "shadow".)

It would be great if someone has an idea what the issue could be. It seems to be related to how the HPLIP driver is generating black areas in color mode.

Thanks!

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F. Kolb
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Joe L. Thompson (joelthompsons) said : 		#1

The yellow shadow around black text on your Color LaserJet 2600n could be caused by a few different factors related to the printer settings, driver configuration or hardware. Here are a few suggestions that may help resolve the issue:

Check the toner cartridges: Make sure that all of the toner cartridges are installed correctly and have enough toner. If any of the cartridges are low on toner, replace them with new ones.

Adjust the print quality settings: Try adjusting the print quality settings in the printer driver to see if it improves the output. You can try increasing the print resolution or changing the color mode to grayscale to see if it makes a difference.

Clean the printer: Dirt or residue on the printer's paper path or imaging drum can also cause issues. Try cleaning the printer's paper path and imaging drum using a lint-free cloth to see if it helps.

Update the printer driver: Ensure that you have the latest version of the HPLIP driver and plugin installed for your printer model. You can check for updates using the command sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade.

Use a different driver: If none of the above solutions work, you can try using a different driver such as the Gutenprint driver, which is an open-source driver that supports many HP printers.

Contact HP support: If the problem persists, contact HP support for further assistance. They may be able to offer additional troubleshooting steps or recommend a solution.

I hope these suggestions help resolve your printing issue.

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F. Kolb (flomk) said : 		#2

Thanks for the quick response and the suggestions!

As the print quality for the same document was fine when printing directly from MacOS vs. yellow shadow when printing through HPLIP/CUPS, I could rule out a hardware or toner issue.

Gutenprint unfortunately does not have drivers for the CLJ 2600n, as this model apparently uses a special printing data stream model and does not use PCL or PS.

The HPLIP version that comes with the distribution unfortunately is not the very latest one (3.21.2 installed vs. 3.23.3 newest available for download), but as the printer is quite old, I do not expect a significant difference. I will try to get it installed on my distribution, though.

I looked around for alternative drivers and was able to get the printer working fine by installing the printer-driver-foo2zjs package, which includes the foo2hp printer driver. Now the yellow shadow is gone, so it assume it is a driver issue within HPLIP / CUPS for this specific printer model.

(The print resolution when printing from MacOS via foo2hp/CUPS could be slightly better (looks a bit like good old 300dpi times...) but I might be able to resolve that minor issue in the future.)

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F. Kolb (flomk) said : 		#3

When printing from MacOS with a Standard PostScript printer driver on the foo2hp/CUPS printer queue, the resolution looks better than when using the "foo2hp" printer setting on the Mac.