Canon i6500 when i run a test page or run the head alignment and it prints out the page a,b,c,d e,f and each one has a series of coulours under it the e colum has nothing under it.what does this mean ? please help

Dennis: According to an old FixYa.com, urbanhookupz said: "You need to run a printer alignment page like you do when you put in new cartridges.

unplug your printer plug it back in.
open door and take out print ink cartridges.
put them back in and then close the door.

It should now prompt you to do a test alignment page.

now try and print it should solve the problem.

if it does not prompt you to do a test page

Aligning the Print Head

This operation must be carried out when using the printer for the first time.
Aligning the
Print Head positions allows you to print without shifts in the color registration.
Print head alignment is performed either automatically or manually. This section deals with
automatic Print Head alignment only.
?? Ensure that the Inner Cover is closed.
?? The Print Head can also be aligned from the printer itself.
1.With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter-sized plain paper in the Sheet
Feeder.
2. Hold down the RESUME/CANCEL button until the POWER lamp flashes four
times.
1 With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter-sized plain paper in the Sheet
Feeder.
2 Open the Printer Properties dialog box.
See "Opening the Printer Properties Dialog Box Directly from the Start Menu" on
page 28.
3 Print the pattern.
(1) Click the Maintenance tab.
(2) Click Print Head Alignment."

Step 1 Ensure the printer and computer are turned on and connected.
Step 2 Locate the printer utility program by clicking on the printer's desktop icon if present. If it is not, click Start and type the printer make or model into the search box. When the printer utility program is displayed, click the program name to open the utility dialog box.
Step 3 Locate the "Maintenance" tab at the top of the printer dialog box and click to view contents. If the tab cannot be found, the maintenance screen can be accessed by clicking on various buttons (Advanced, Tools or Properties) and subsequently searching the dialog boxes to locate the maintenance button or tab.
Step 4 Click "Align Print Heads" or a similarly-phrased button.
Step 5 Click "Print Alignment Page" to yield a test page printed with a numbered series of vertical bars in various colors. Click "OK" or "Finished" to open the next instructional dialog box.
Step 6 Inspect the page, choosing bars from each color group with the sharpest image, and enter the corresponding numbers into the text fields for each color. Click "OK" or "Finished" to begin the automated alignment procedure. The printer adjusts cartridges based on the numbers you've entered. When the process is completed, you may click "Finish" to close the window and process, or print a test page featuring detailed shapes and lines of varying colors to further inspect. Click "Finish" to exit or "Repeat Alignment" to further adjust cartridges.

Click on Start - Printer and Faxes - Right click on the Canon printer - click Properties - click on Maintenance tab - then Print head Alignment. The printer will then print a page with a series of color bars. Note the clearest color print of each color and enter that number when instructed.

Print heads can be cleaned by using the commercially available print head cleaners or you can use warm-hot water. Gently clean the print heads with soft, lint-free cloth as the heads are very fragile and may get damaged. Dipping the printheads in hot water would dissolve dried-up in stuck in the heads.

Good Luck!
Hope this helps!
CreativeTECH

you need to run a printer alignment page like you do when you put in new cartridges.

unplug your printer plug it back in.
open door and take out print ink cartridges.
put them back in and then close the door.

It should now prompt you to do a test alignment page.

now try and print it should solve the problem.

if it does not prompt you to do a test page

Aligning the Print Head

This operation must be carried out when using the printer for the first time.
Aligning the
Print Head positions allows you to print without shifts in the color registration.
Print head alignment is performed either automatically or manually. This section deals with
automatic Print Head alignment only.
􀁺 Ensure that the Inner Cover is closed.
􀁺 The Print Head can also be aligned from the printer itself.
1.With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter-sized plain paper in the Sheet
Feeder.
2. Hold down the RESUME/CANCEL button until the POWER lamp flashes four
times.
1 With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter-sized plain paper in the Sheet
Feeder.
2 Open the Printer Properties dialog box.
See “Opening the Printer Properties Dialog Box Directly from the Start Menu” on
page 28.
3 Print the pattern.
(1) Click the Maintenance tab.
(2) Click Print Head Alignment.

remember if my answer was of assistance please leave a positive rating and a testimonial.. THanks Good luck

This sounds like you are using either a refilled cartridge or an after market cartridge and the ink is clogging the print nozzle. To clear the problem you need to insert an OEM cartridge, run the deep nozzle cleaning utiliity, alignment utility. This should clear up the problem with the spotty printout.
Let me know if this solves your problem otherwise we can explore other solutiions.
Please rate this solution. Thanks.

I bought a new printer!

This sounds like you are using either refilled cartridges or after market cartridges and the ink is clogging the print nozzle. To clear the problem you need to insert an OEM cartridge, run the deep nozzle cleaning utiliity at least twice, alignment utility. This should clear up the problem with the spotty and washed out printout.
Let me know if this solves your problem otherwise we can explore other solutiions.
Please rate this solution. Thanks.

Perhaps the CMY color heads need alignment. If you have not already done so, run a head alignment from the driver maintenance section. It will print out a page containing several lines and text, and request you select the closest-aligned images. After this is done, do another image print to check for improvements.
Normally, the printer uses the black cartridge for text and the CMY inks for images (even for black on photo and specialty paper). So when you are printing normal text pages on plain paper, only the black ink is used. A good check for this would be to print a normal text page, but select photo paper in the driver to trick the printer into using the CMY inks to make a substitute black text page. If this looks ok, then you are having issues other than cartridge alignment.

press stop reset button for few seconds and you can use your black cartridge for printing,but do remember to put use black only setting in ur printer cartridge settings.