I own an HP Photosmart C3180. Everytime I try to print the start up button blinks and the paper goes through, but then it just stops and spits the paper back out. Please help.

Try using the HP Print Diagnostic Utility in Windows - HP Customer Care (United States - English).

If you need more help come back.Post / thumbs / testimonial are welcome!

1. Turn on the HP all-in-one.
2. Disconnect the USB cable from the all-in-one.
3. Press the sequence of front panel buttons below to initiate the print cartridge alignment process. The button-press sequence must be completed within ten seconds. It might take several tries to complete the sequence within ten seconds.

a. Press and hold Cancel.
b. While holding Cancel, press On.
c. When the Check Paper and Check Print Cartridge lights begin to blink simultaneously, release both buttons.
d. Press Cancel again.
e. Press Copies.
f. Press Paper Type.
g. Press Color Start Copy.
h. The alignment page will begin printing. If the alignment page does not print, repeat the button-press sequence in this step.

4. Once the alignment page is printed, place the page face down on the scanner glass and press Scan. The alignment is complete when the On light stops blinking. 5. Reconnect the USB cable.

Well I had the exact same problem with a C3180 bought in the USA and I moved to France. I called the HP tech support and after I bought 5 brand new cartridges upon their recommendation we haven't been able to print the 10 tap test page

I recommend that you try doing that before you call them otherwise you will be wasting your time

To print the 10 tap test page you need to press simultaneously CANCEL and START COLOR COPY. I couldn't print the 10 tap test page because the printer will not recognize the cartridges bought in France (START COLOR COPY and START BLACK COPY blinking + E in front of COPIES)

If somebody knows an alternate method to print the 10 tap test page, please share it as this is the blocking point with HP support

Thanks

Click Here To See A List of Solutions from HP!

You might need to reinstall th driver.
You can try this link to download the drver.
Just choose the appropriate operating system.

Exactly what I'm experiencing, it goes though all the motions, but no ink is on the paper. I just installed 10.5.8 last night on my Mac Pro. The drivers are up to date, but no ink hits the paper.

Normal 0 I suggest you get a sheet of Card Stock (Heavy paper) and place it in the feed way. Then press the print button applying a slight amount of pressure on the Card Stock so it will feed through the printer. The reason for this is in some cases I have been able to clear the paper track of debris that was deposited there over time.
Worth a try, as I have fixed a number of printers this way, saving costly repairs.
Hope this helps. Bud

If both the Check paper, and the Check Cartridge Lights are blinking, this indicates a Carriage Jam. Follow the instructions here to clear this error.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&rule=8471&product=1146331&docname=c01447224

Are the files you are printing from actually on the computer connected to the printer?
I've had this problem in the past (with a different printer) - the image I was printing from was either on a memory stick plugged into a usb port or on a portable hard drive. I solved the problem simply by dragging the image files onto the desktop and printing from those.

Okay, just chatted online with an HP tech, and she helped me solve the problem!

She said: the printer prints an alignment page everytime you turn on due to incomplete initialization process.

Turn off the printer and Turn on.
Please unplug the usbcable.

1. Lift the scanner lid of the product.
2. Place the top of alignment page face down in the left front corner of the glass.
3. Place the alignment page face down
4. Close the scanner lid of the printer.
5. Press the Scan button.
6. The On/Resume light will blink during the alignment process.
7. After the On/Resume light stops blinking, alignment is complete.
8. Turn off printer and Turn on.

It shouldn't print the alignment page any more! :)
Hope this helps!