Does my printer need ink?

[Eireann]

I started printing several pages, and they came out with wonky color and lines through the images. The printer hasn't given me any warnings, though it does say a few of the inks are low. Shouldn't I have had some kind of notice if something was wrong with the ink?

[KiaKat]

You might need to clean the printer heads. Look in your manual for the procedure, and if you're still getting streaks, then you may need new ink.

[suburbandecay]

On the printers here at work, that is generally a sign that the printhead needs cleaned. Your printer should have an option to do that on it's own. If you haven't printed anything in a while, I'm betting a cleaning will fix it. However, the printer cleaning cycle will burn through ink.

[Eireann]

Yep, that was it! I cleaned it and ran a test page, and everything works fine now. Thanks!

[wolfie]

Is your printer HP/Lexmark, or Epson/Canon? There are 2 philosophies behind inkjet printer design. With HP and Lexmark, the printhead is an integral part of the cartridge (you can see multiple electrical contacts on the cartridge). On the minus side, this means ink is more expensive. On the plus side, clogged (beyond the cleaning cycle) printheads are no big deal - just put in a new ink cartridge. Of course, the manual warns against refilling the cartridge due to the risk of printhead damage (yeah, right! If the user DOESN'T refill the cartridge, they'll be throwing away the printhead because the cartridge is empty, so risk of damage from refilling is a non-issue - the REAL reason is that ink cartridges are where the manufacturer makes their money).

Epson and Canon have a permanent printhead, and the cartridge only contains the ink. This means that ink is cheaper, but a clogged printhead means an actual part needs to be replaced.