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General discussion

Terrible color prints

Nov 27, 2009 8:32PM PST

I just bought a new Dell Studio XPS 9000 desktop equipped with Windows 7 Home Premium. I also bought an HP all-in-one model CD035A printer to use primarily for printing 8 1/2" x 11" photos. I printed about a dozen photos, and all photos had terrible color - totally inaccurate coloration.

I returned the printer to the retailer and upon the advice of a Geek Squad representative at the store, I exchanged the HP printer for a Kodak ESP 7. After installing the new printer, much to my dismay, the first 2 - 8 1/2 x 11" glossy photos I printed had the same terrible coloration.

Is there something in Windows 7 that causes this? Can I adjust something so I can get accurate coloration? What is causing the bad coloration?

My previous HP printer worked like a charm from square one when using a Dell Inspiron equipped with Windows XP Professional. How can I get my color photos to print in accurate colors? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Terrible or ACCURATE?
Nov 27, 2009 11:21PM PST

What I see are inaccurate prints. The reason is very simple. In consumer gear the display and printer are not calibrated. What color calibration are you using?

I suggest the Pantone Spyder.

What happens sometimes is people get lucky but unless we do some calibration it's usually off.
Bob

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Likely not Windows 7-related...
Nov 27, 2009 11:30PM PST

Such issues are usually with the printer driver, though it could be that the printer is using a generic Windows 7 driver instead of the one made for the printer, thus causing the inaccurate representation. Try disconnecting the printer, uninstalling any/all HP printer drivers, downloading/installing the latest drivers from HP, and then reconnecting the printer.

Hope this helps,
John

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Good advice
Dec 5, 2009 1:31PM PST