Greetings. I recently have aquired a 2nd hand HP Laserjet 5 printer and I am very pleased with it. There seem to be only 2 setting for print 'darkness' one is very dark and the other quite light. Is there some way I can vary this, perhaps some download program? Best wishes,

I'm using a 6L. Open 'printers' in 'my computer' and right click on your printer. Choose 'properties' and click on the 'graphics' tab. Mine has a slide that goes from 'darkest' to 'lightest'. Hopefully yours is similar.

Thanks for the info Dave. I have found the slider, moved it to various settings and pushed "apply", but no change in the print darkness.

The only other thing I can thing of is a problem with the cartridge. If it's printing too light maybe it's low on toner. You can probably help that out a little by printing in Bold when that's available. I remember the LJ II and III had a light/dark dial when you opened the cartridge door but I know my 6L doesn't.

Hi Gray. Here is a portion of the following link. There is much more on the link's website. Check if you are printing Black as Color and if you have EconoMode turned on. See below. http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=110&prodSeriesId=25481&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=25481&objectID=bpl04071 Light or faded print If the print output is lighter than expected or appears faded, follow these troubleshooting steps: Print a self-test page. If the page exhibits excessively light print, contact HP for service options. Increase the toner density setting. If using a Courier font, set to Dark Courier and retest print job. Try changing the font. Font appearance may vary from printer to printer. The print setting for a black font may be sent to print in color. Set the font to print black. The print cartridge may be close to empty. Redistribute the toner by rocking the print cartridge back and forth a few times and then reinstalling the print cartridge. It may be necessary to install a new print cartridge. If EconoMode is enabled, turn it off. Lower the resolution to 300 of 600 dpi through the software or printer driver and resend the job. Verify that the print cartridge is a new HP LaserJet print cartridge supported by the printer. It takes roughly fifty copies of print before there is sufficient charge to attract toner to the toner drum. The toner will gradually start to appear darker on the page as the charge to the drum increases. Take care, Linda