Gray tones print pink

[mcilrath]

Has anyone had this problem?

Since installing Revit 9, gray tones print as pink. The same thing happens now printing from AutoCad 2006. My printer/plotter is an HP DesignJet 120.

I've visited the HP forums and found other people with similar problems, and some suggested solutions. I've installed a new driver, new ink cartridges. Still get pink.

VM

[ita]

. . . . and not a peep out of HP. Had a queery abut grey printing mauve in greyscales from my 120 for over two years now. Reported to HP - no response! I suspect it is a machine error that they cannot resolve and are not prepared to comment on, that would create a situation that costs them dollars! I remember the days when HP had integrity in their products . . . not anymore . . . its all about paper and ink now!

[mcilrath]

Mr. Tucker,

Have you come up with a work-around? Did you get a new plotter- if so, what do you use?

I'm prepping working drawings for submission soon. This presents a whole new challenge.

VM

[brantfetter]

I'll be up front and confess that I can't remember the details of the solution, but I'll say that I've had a very similar problem with a new HP 800 and AutoCAD 2006. I was able to solve the problem, but I'll say from years of experience that I'd remember if it was a permanent issue. So at the very least this is encouragement. So here's what I recommend:

Try print quality set to something other than draft. ( I noticed that helped)

Compare printing in monochrome to printing in grayscale and full color.For some reason the recent HP drivers seem to have difficulty emulating gray when using other colors.

Let the application control the color handling. (may help)

[MikeJarosz]

Check your ink supply, especially the black.

In theory, CMY color technology is capable of creating gray tones with cyan, magenta and yellow. However, as a practical matter, CMY alone creates grays that are pinkish to mauvish. That is why most inkjet technolgy add black to the mix: CMYK

Don't ask why black is called K!

[ita]

Mike, with the HP120 there appears to be no way of adjusting or recallibrating the ink flow at the print head - it is all preset. All the print-heads are functioning 100%OK according to the Function Report from the machine. Black works perfectly in all other modes - just an issue with grey-scales. thanks for that advice Mike, and . . . I cannot answer your last question - even though it has puzzled me as well!

VM, there does not appear to be a workaround - talk with your equipment supplier and see if you get a response; ours could not help. We now just accept it as part of the scene.

FYI, we do not issue documents on paper any more. We provide all drawings and species in pdf format by email or (on rare occasions, the tenderer collects them on disc). If the tenderer insists on not having an email address etc then we drop them off the tender list - has only happened once and he got an email address very quickly!

[mcilrath]

It's an abbreviation for "kcalb".

Don't ask why black is called K![/QUOTE]

[mcilrath]

For the record: I just printed a sheet from an old Revit file, from my laptop, running ver. 8.1.

The printout went from grays to bright pink from one end of the sheet to the other - it's definitely a printer problem and has nothing to do with the upgrade to version 9.

VM