Pretty sure my printer's not supposed to do this ...

[Pixilated]

I haven't used it in a while, if that matters, but I recently printed off a one-page letter with a small graphic. I noticed very fine evenly-spaced lines across the graphic and text (the text was standard black). The lines seem to be white, or in some cases they look like a noticeably fainter shade of the colour that's supposed to be in that spot.

My printer's a Canon iP2600. I'm hoping this is a minor maintenance issue and not something that requires me to replace the dang thing ...

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

It sounds like a maintenance issue. Take the ink out, give it a shake, make sure the contact areas are clean, replace it. It could be, because it hasn't been used for a while, that the ink has settled, dust or grit or something. It could also be that your ink is running out. White / faded means less ink hitting the paper.

Also check your manual, it may have some tips on cleaning the jets. I'm not sure if that's even possible to do, but at least, once you figure out the ink issue (ie is it empty or just settled), maybe a couple more runs through will help clear them.

I've had a pixma before, they're great if you use them every day, but they can be temperamental if they're used intermittently. Mine used to constantly tell me it had no black ink, two seconds after I replaced the darned cartridge with a spanky fresh new one.

Another thought, my pixma software had a little pop-up that told me the state of the cartridges and printer, does yours have that? Can you open it and see if there are any issues there?

[Pixilated]

Actually, I do indeed have that popup ... Completely forgot about it. I'll check that, although the ink levels should be OK; I just replaced the cartridges a couple of weeks ago.

I think you're right about it being a bit cranky due to lack of use. I'll try shaking the cartridges and also check the manual to see what it suggests. Thanks!

[Aethian]

If your really careful you can use a cotton swab with alcohol to clean out where the ink cartridge sits. You have to make sure 110% that its fully dry before replacing the cartridge.

[Chromatix]

Usually a simple head-cleaning cycle will fix that sort of problem.

[wolfie]

A bit confused here - OP said the printer is a Canon, while some replies said to clean the contacts where the cartridge sits.

It's my understanding that there are 2 schools of thought on inkjet printer design. One has the printhead being part of the cartridge (HP and Lexmark follow this convention). This results in more expensive cartridges, but cheap to fix a problem with a bad printhead (just replace the cartridge). These printers have contacts in the cartridge "well".

The other school of thought (Epson and Canon do this) is to have a permanent printhead, and the cartridge merely holds ink. These won't have contacts in the cartridge "well". Cartridges are cheaper, but printhead problems are a big deal.

I agree that the white lines are probably a printhead issue, with some of the nozzles not working (clogged, burned out, or otherwise).

[Chromatix]

Actually, Canon is the one which uses an integrated print-head and inkwell as a cartridge. Everyone else makes the print-head part of the printer, and the inkwell is the only replaceable part.

Some of the earlier Canon printers had a system where you could swap the colour head (with separate Black and CMY inkwells) for a high-capacity, high-resolution black-only cartridge. This really did have twice the resolution compared to using the colour head to print a monochrome document.

[wolfie]

Actually, Canon is the one which uses an integrated print-head and inkwell as a cartridge. Everyone else makes the print-head part of the printer, and the inkwell is the only replaceable part.

I own an HP (and have owned Lexmark in the past), and both have the printhead as part of the cartridge. It's been a few years since I've even looked at a Canon, and back then they had permanent printheads. Perhaps they've changed things for this model?