Apple vs Windows - print quality, scanning, and print preview

I use an old Epson A3 Photo (1290) to produce very high quality prints as artists' limited edition cards. From Windows the print quality is fantastic, but printing the same page from the Apple (to the same printer) the print quality is terrible. Anyone have any idea what the problem is?
Also the Epson and my two Canon printers offer a print preview from the printer driver, which has saved me many a duff printout. I can't find the same option from Apple (for the same printers). Is there a solution?
Finally - I have a high-quality Epson Scanner, the 4870 Epson Perfection. It came with EpsonScan, a very nice program I've used for many years. The Apple image capture is pretty pathetic in comparison. Anyone have a better suggestion? Surely there must be one with good functionality and flexibility. (I tried installing EpsonScan to the Apple but for some reason it can't see the scanner, even though it is plugged in.)

I'm using Apple's Epson print utility for the Epson which I downloaded as a software update when I connected the printer, and the Canon ditto. I have finally managed to find the paper types and print options, though not a print preview atm - the problem may be the software I'm using (QuarkXpress), as there was definitely a print preview from Open Office. I'll continue looking into it.
Thanks for pointing me at Vuescan - it looks great.

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HP OfficeJet 4500 and OfficeJet 4600 both not copying any more but will scan and print

My computer/networking business has 3 HP OfficeJet AIO printers: 2 x 4500 (about 2 years old) and 1 x 4600 (about 6 months old). Only the one 4500 is still able to do everything it should. The others can both print and scan but can't copy any more. (The failures happened at different times). I have no idea about faxing because we never use this function - we don't have a landline to test it.
This is nothing to do with the PCs because we're just trying to use the standalone copy function directly from the printer. It makes no difference whether we place the document on the glass or in the auto sheet feeder. At one point, the 4600 was able to make colour copies but not mono copies but now it can't do either.
We have always used only genuine HP cartridges in both printers and they have been replaced recently - as I say, we can print fine, we just can't copy.
Clearly this isn't a software/driver issue but I can't understand how it can be a cartridge or scanning issue either (you can hear and see that it scans the document, it's just that nothing comes out on the paper). Is there some kind of firmware linking the scanning to the printing function that could have gone wrong? If so, how do we fix that? The 4600 self-updates using its wireless internet connection so it should be on the latest firmware.
Thanks.

Hi,
Please try printing a Self Test report for both of the printers, can you see both Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow colors listed as expected?
Below are the steps for the 4500:
http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-Officejet-4500-All-in-One-Printer---G510g/3919445/model/39194...
For the 4630 print a self test as following:
On the printer control panel, press the Down Arrow () to scroll to Tools, and then press OK.
Press the Down Arrow () to scroll to Print Quality Report, and then press OK. The printer prints the test page.
Figure : Example of a Print Quality Diagnostic report with no defects
If both of the tests appear fine, is the printer connected directly to a wall socket or may it connected through any power strips, hubs, surge protectors. etc.?
Say thanks by clicking the Kudos thumb up in the post.
If my post resolve your problem please mark it as an Accepted Solution

Print quality problems on Fuji Xerox printers when printing from ArchiCAD and/or Preview.

Hello,
We experience major print quality problems when printing directly from Graphisoft's ArchiCAD, Nemetscheks Vectorworks and from Apple's Preview.
Basically we see various artefacts on our printed drawings, e.g. line thicknesses change and hatched patterns / fills are reproduced with patches where the lineweights and clours change completely... which is not acceptable.
This affects the following Fuji Xerox printer models on both 10.6.x and 10.7.x with the latest FJX PPDs:
ApeosPort C5540I
Xerox LF6605 MF
The workarounds for us are to either print PDFs from Adobe Acrobat Reader or via the rather dated Accxess Tools, besides that we prefer at times to print directly from a given Software it is also not always possible to generate a PDF and print it from Acrobat Reader... especially since the latest Adobe Reader update to its print dialogue makes printing from it extremely tedious - in fact we are considering going back to 9.5.2
Obviously, we have approached FJX Tech Support and are awaiting a reply - however we are disappointed that this is happening on relatively new equipment and wonder if anybody else has already found a solution.

The symptoms you mention could be related to the FJX engine and Acrobat is masking this fault. To test, you can create a Postscript file from the print dialog of ArchiCAD or VectorWorks and then download this to the Apeos RIP. If this produces the same result as when using the printer driver from the applications, then it would indicate that the engine is not capable of handling the data being sent to it from these applications.

HP Photosmart 5520 print quality issues - Not printing black

Hi,
I bought a HP 5520 printer. I used it once and printed less than 10 photos and it was great the quality was superb.
I went to use it for the second time and the print quality was terrible. There is no problem with the printer responding to comannds it tries to print just it is awful quality.
I used the trouble shooting guide that HP have posted on line. I went through every step multiple times - I am using the correct paper, Genuine HP cartridges.
I got to the step where you run the Print Quality Diagnostic Report and there is NO Black present, Yellow is faint and the other colours have horizontal streaks.
I ran multiple print head cleans and no change.
I bought brand new HP print cartridges and still no change also ran multiple print head cleans and Print Quality Diagnostic Reports but still the same.
I tried to phone HP technical support but as I am at work just now and not with the printer they would not put me through to a technician
They told me to try and get an online Chat with a technician - well a few attempts and hours later still no response from them
Has anybody got any help on this issues please?
Chris

Hi,
Yes it is in Warranty. It is virtually brand new.
After I last posted I got through to the online chat support and was sent an email with options to 'troubleshoot' which I had already done with no success.
I was also given a link to try to update the printer firmware - which I will try when I get home from work.
I will see if that makes any difference but am sceptical as the printer worked fine the first time round but hasn't worked since and nothing has changed on it.
Chris.

Using Wireless printer 4500 series and prints dark from laptop but light when sent from a phone?

I am using a wireless f4580 printer i believe and when I print from my laptop the item print dark but when I send items from my Iphone 4 to the print they print so light you can barely see them and I just replaced the ink so I know it isn't that. What am doing wrong or what do I need to do? thanks in advance.

Do you see any advanced options for managing print quality, like "Economode printing" or changing print speed (draft, normal, best etc.) while printing from Iphone4? If yes, then choose options to give best print output.
If there are no options available while printing document, then you might need to see if you have same document or same document properties & contents (font - size, color, etc.) while printing from different computers.
Please mark the post that solves your problem as Accepted Solution
Click the 'Kudos Thumbs Up' if this was helpful. Thank You!
(Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP)

Canon Pixma MG5250 scans and prints images wrongly stretched/contracted

hi!
i have a problem with my pixma 5250 which is an all in one. When i scan an image, what i get on my screen is an image with the correct width, but with a shorter height.
see this image:
i have tried two different programs to print, tried updating the driver, fiddled with scanning settings on the printer, tried several different scanning settings in the software, tried different images, but to no avail.
When i try to print, however, it seems that the effect goes the other way round: now the images i want to print are strechted along the vertical axis, but still of the same width.
see this image:
Anyone got an idea what could cause this problem? Is it a hardware thing? A driver malfunction? Maybe my OS (Win XP)? I must add that i have issues with my hard drive, and with my usb drives (i connect with my printer via wifi btw) .
Anyone has a clue? I'd be grateful.

Hi thom36,
Regarding the scanning issue, I suspect what is happening is that the scanner is incorrectly detecting the end of the image at the top, causing it to crop incorrectly. Assuming you are using the MP Navigator software to scan, you should see a checkbox in the scan window for "Scan with Scanner Driver. If you put a checkmark in the box, then press Scan it will open Scangear. Within Scangear, press Preview to preview the entire image, then drag a box around the part that you want to include. Press Scan to finish scanning. Everything within the box should now be included in the final scan.
Regarding the picture you are printing, the dimensions of the original don't match the dimensions of the printed picture, so I suspect what is happening there is that it's stretching the picture to fill the whole paper. This can occur when you select borderless printing. If you print the picture without using borderless printing it will give you a true reproduction of the image. One thing to note when you do this is to make sure that the size of the picture matches the size of the paper you are using. For example, if you are printing on 4x6 paper, which I am guessing is the case in the example you provided, make sure that the picture size is no larger than 4x6, or else the entire picture will not fit onto the paper when you print it bordered.
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

Windows 8.1 upgrade and printing problema

I recently upgraded my to windows 8 to 8.1 now when I print to my HP Officejet Pro 8600 it intermittantly leaves text out.
An example I can print a school test and it might print the some questions and some answer choices or omit the question but print the answer choices or only part of a question. It isn't consistant about what doesn't print or where it prints. My husband has windows vista and has not encountered any problems, so I'm thinking it is from the windows upgrade. Any thoughts.
Thanks in advance.
Jo

Hi jojomulherin,
Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience!
I read your post and see that since upgrading to Window 8.1 the full text document isn't printing.
I will be happy to help you.
If you haven't already, I would uninstall and reinstall the printer software which should resolve this issue.
Uninstalling HP Printer Drivers in Windows 8.
HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One Printer - N911a Drivers. Select the operating system and click next.
Click on Driver - Product Installation Software and download the drivers. Select the Full Feature Software and Driver.
Hope this helps.
Thank you for posting on the HP Forums.
Have a great weekend!
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!
Gemini02
I work on behalf of HP

Scan and print

elements 9 let me scan directly from my printer, resize and print in a few steps. Elements 11 won't let me scan from my printer, won't let me resize to print. How did I lose this capability by "upgrading"?

To scan in the editor in PSE 11, you need to install the TWAIN plugin:
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/twain-installed-photoshop-elements-11.html

Print quality from network printer

poor print quality from HP wireless pc, Windows 7 64-bit, to wired network printer (Epson 500 all in one). Print Quality from desktop pc is great.

Happy Friday eve! It appears you are using a Epson printer This forum is used to troubleshooting HP printers. I would suggest using Epson support center to see if it can help resolve your issue. Welcome to Epson Support Be sure you have full cartridges and you are not using a Draft or low quality print setting.
Good luck!
-SeanS
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Printing from Aperture, and printing from Lightroom.

Hello,
I have noticed when I print from Aperture using my Canon i9950 and a custom paper Colorsync profile, and if I then print from Adobe's Lightroom using the same Colorsync profile and paper, the print from Lightroom is much sharper. The Aperture print is exact in every respect except it is noticeably softer.
Anyone else notice this? And if so is this a recognised problem that may be fixed in 1.1?
Kind regards,
Anil K Solanki
G4 Dual 867 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Hi Charles, I totally agree with you. Lightroom's printing features are really excellent. In comparison Aperture almost seems like the printing of photographs was something the Aperture dev team bolted on at the last minute.
I sincerely hope Apple sort out, what for me is inexcusable in a professional commercial app. A few photographers I know are going to use the next release of Aperture as a turning point, if it can't print as good as the Beta Lightroom then they will become Lightroom users and say good bye to Aperture.
Apertures sorting and logging tools really are second to none, but if the print quality is poor, what is the point. I know for a large number of photographers, producing prints is not high on their list of needs, especially if they are supplying prints for publication or the web. But if I want to do what my old fashioned enlarger can do, which is create great prints, then hey I am not going to get it with Aperture.
I know Apple can fix this, I just hope they do.
Anil.

Print from ipad if i connect a usb connector to my ipad can i connect my printer to it and print??as im thinking of buying the new ipad for work but i must be able toprint

hi can any one help i want to get the new ipad for work but i need to print.i see i can buy a usb connector can i print if i plug my printer into the usb.

If you have a USB printer connected to your computer, Mac or PC, you can activate or install AirPrint and print from your iPad over wifi without any special apps.
Activate AirPrint in Mac OS X;
http://netputing.com/airprintactivator/
Add AirPrint to Windows;
http://jaxov.com/2010/11/how-to-enable-airprint-service-on-windows/

Problem: Changing print quality iMac + Canon Printer MG6220

If I want to print a web page in Firefox from my iMac to a Canon MG6220 printer, I cannot change the print quality. I can only choose "Standard" and not "Fast". All other options for print quality are "grayed-out".
This happens in both Firefox and Aurora. It does not hold true with Safari, Opera, Chrome, OmniWeb, Camino, and Flock. Also, it does not hold true with Thunderbird.
I want to stay with Firefox/Aurora as my default browser.

Hi reidiallen-
I would recommend that you check out this Support article on troubleshooting printer issues. Checking other browsers is definitely the best first step.
[[Firefox prints incorrectly]]
Hope that helps.

How to improve the printing quality of pictures, printing a database layout

I have a database that contains also pictures in multimedia containers. If I print a layout containing a picture, the quality of the picture is really bad! Pixeled with big pixels.
Is there a possibility to get better prints?
The pictures are JPEGs of reasonable size.
The picture in the layout on the screen looks MUCH better.
Printing to an PDF and viewing this on the screen is equally bad.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

I'm guessing that your images are JPEGs. AppleWorks changes the resolution of all graphic formats except PICT to 72 dpi. There are a couple of things you can do improve the print quality of images.
1. Turn on Fractional Character widths in Preferences > General > Topic: Text. This is a text setting, but it does improve the print quality of images.
2. Open the image in Preview or GraphicConverter & Save As... a PICT to use in AppleWorks.
PICT is generally the best format to use for inserting or pasting into AppleWorks. I find the resulting graphic can be resized somewhat & the resulting saved AW file is much smaller than if using JPEG or TIFF.

Why does my printer randomly cycle and print a network configuration page?

My HP Photosmart C4795 randomly cycles like it is cleaning the printer heads. Sometimes it is hours between this cycling. Sometimes it will print a network configuration page without being requested.
There are 3 computers connected wirelessly. Both run Windows 7. The wireless signal has a very good signal - the router is ~12 ft from the printer.

It could be a power issue. If the power fluctated the printer would restart which might cause it to do a dirty power print clean.
If you have a surge supressor I would try that.
Not sure why the network config page would print with a power surge, but another possibility is a friendly neighbor playing with you by sending printer clean reauests and network config print jobs. :-)
Please mark the post that solves your problem as "Accepted Solution"
Sometimes it takes several posts back and forth to get to a solution - please be patient.
I am employed by HP

Print problem: Appleworks and Print Queue Constipation

Let me start by saying that I have had this problem intermittently on my own computer, and now my mother has it on hers. My computer is wicked fast and loaded, hers is a basic iMac17" G4. I strongly suspect that the problem only occurs with Appleworks, but I may be wrong.
So the problem is this. When I try to print, the item goes to the print queue, and then the job stops. The printer icon shows up in the dock with a red exclamation point. The job stays in the queue. In the printer queue dialog box, you can click on the "start jobs" icon, and the icon will change to the "stop jobs" icon..... but within seconds the icon will revert back to saying "start Jobs."
At this point, I have a problem that is hard to eliminate. Cleaning out the queue is not enough to make the computer behave. I do a variety of things like a restart, unplugging the usb, unplugging the power cord to the printer, etc. Eventually things get better, and I am never sure what thing I did fixed it.
This has happened only rarely on my computer, so I have not gotten too excited. But it is chronic on my Mom's, so I spent hours doing varouis disk fixing programs and dumping the printers preference files and making sure she has the latest driver (it is an Epson C88). None of that works. (incidentally, I have various printers, including an Epson R320, not sure it that printer is always the culprit on my computer).
I thought I had her problem solved when I made her go to the Page Setup dialog every time and make sure her Epson printer is selected there before printing. But today she said the problem reoccured, even doing as I suggested.
She can print from every other program. She can print to PDF and open that PDF in Preview and print from that. But that is an awkward workaround for an older woman who is scared of her computer to begin with.
So... any ideas. I scoured this forum and couldn't find anything that I hadn 't already tried

Peter,
More a guess than anything else, but I'd suspect a corrupted preferences file.
See Peggy's tip "AppleWorks has stopped working correctly" here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=121704
for more information.
Regards,
Barry

Apple vs Windows - print quality, scanning, and print preview

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