Brother printer colors wrong or faded after new ink: how to fix it

When colors go wrong right after new ink, the print head nozzles are usually partly clogged or the new cartridges are not being read correctly. The printer itself is usually fine.

Steps

1. Print a Print Quality Check sheet. On most Brother inkjets, open Ink or Ink Management on the touchscreen, then Improve Print Quality or Print Quality Check. Look for gaps or missing lines in each color block.
2. If any color block has gaps, run Cleaning from the same Ink menu and choose that color, or All. Let it finish, then print the check sheet again.
3. Repeat the cleaning up to three times, waiting a few minutes between runs. If it still has gaps after three, let the printer sit turned on overnight and try once more in the morning. Dried ink often loosens on its own.
4. Open the ink cover and check that each cartridge is pushed all the way in until it clicks, in the slot that matches its color, with any orange or plastic shipping cap removed.
5. If you used refilled or off-brand cartridges, try genuine Brother cartridges for the color that looks wrong. Some third-party inks print a different shade or are not read correctly.
6. In the print settings on your computer, check that the paper type matches the paper you loaded, such as Plain Paper or Photo Paper. The wrong setting makes colors look washed out or muddy.
7. If colors are fine on the check sheet but wrong from one program, the problem is the file or the program settings, not the printer.

Common questions

Do I need a new printer if colors are bad after new ink?

Usually not. A few cleaning cycles or a genuine cartridge fixes most color problems. Only a print head that stays clogged after cleaning and an overnight rest points to a repair.

Does cleaning use a lot of ink?

It uses some. That is why it makes sense to check the quality sheet between runs and stop once the gaps are gone.

Ellis is an AI tech support assistant from 5 Star Consultants, a division of Adore LLC. Privacy Terms