Strange printing problem

[friesian]

I had a problem that seems very strange, and I would like to figure it
out before it happens again. I needed to print 3 pages that have 8
photos each. When I printed the first page, 4 of the photos printed
fine. The two black items had a green tint. The gold item was bright
green, and one of the pink items was cream color. I figured it was the
ink, so I did a printhead cleaning, changed out the photo magenta that
was low. And tried again. Same problem.

So, I tried a different printer. Two more. Same problem on all 3
printers.

Maybe it is the file. It was a contact sheet of the smaller psd files.
So, I made a contact sheet of the smaller jpg files. Same problem.

I transferred the file to another computer and tried the same printer.
Same problem.

So, I took the file to another computer with another printer. And it
printed fine.

What are the odds that 3 printers have the same problem or that 2
computers would translate the file incorrectly?

If it were simply an ink malfunction, wouldn't all of the photos be
tainted teh same way? For example, the one pink picture looked
perfect, while the other photo (back view of the same item), was
almost white, it was so light. The red, purple, and blue items all
looked fine. Only 3 items had a green tint. And only one item was
washed out.

Usually when I have a color issue, it is because a tank is bad or the
printhead needs to be cleaned. If I can't solve it quickly, I change
printers and fix the problem later. But this was really odd.

 

[me]

I had a problem that seems very strange, and I would like to figure it
out before it happens again. I needed to print 3 pages that have 8
photos each. When I printed the first page, 4 of the photos printed
fine. The two black items had a green tint. The gold item was bright
green, and one of the pink items was cream color. I figured it was the
ink, so I did a printhead cleaning, changed out the photo magenta that
was low. And tried again. Same problem.

So, I tried a different printer. Two more. Same problem on all 3
printers.

Maybe it is the file. It was a contact sheet of the smaller psd files.
So, I made a contact sheet of the smaller jpg files. Same problem.

I transferred the file to another computer and tried the same printer.
Same problem.

So, I took the file to another computer with another printer. And it
printed fine.

What are the odds that 3 printers have the same problem or that 2
computers would translate the file incorrectly?

If it were simply an ink malfunction, wouldn't all of the photos be
tainted teh same way? For example, the one pink picture looked
perfect, while the other photo (back view of the same item), was
almost white, it was so light. The red, purple, and blue items all
looked fine. Only 3 items had a green tint. And only one item was
washed out.

Usually when I have a color issue, it is because a tank is bad or the
printhead needs to be cleaned. If I can't solve it quickly, I change
printers and fix the problem later. But this was really odd.

More information is needed to try to accurately pin down the problem.

What exact printers are involved, first which pinters are specifically
involved, those that didn't work and those that did? Second what
application atre you printing from and how is color management setup,
both for the monitor and the printer(s) in the application on both
computers? Third, how was colormangement set up in the printer drivers
on each computer for each printer.

Notre that when using a color managed application to print it is VERY
importatnt to match the specific paper type and ink type being used.
Also print head cleaning cycles may not be helpfull if the head is
badly clogged, you also need to run the check utility to make sure all
nozzles for each color are properly delivering ink to the paper.