It keeps printing red I clean the heads and it prints part of a photo then back to red

It sounds like the print head may be clogged. To clean print head:

1. Get a saucer and fill it with hot water
2. Dip the print head in for 30 minutes
3. Wipe the print head with a dry cloth
4. Repeat the above at least 3-4 times (replace the hot water in the saucer each time)
5. After repeating and wiping down the print head, put it back in your printer, put the cartridges in and run the print head cleaning function 2-3 times.

If it still doesn't work, then you may have to replace the print head.

Print a nozzle check and clean heads if necessary.

hi
yes you need a new print head
but remember, every week you should at leas have a print to keep your print head OK

Try to clean print head and try printing after 2-3 print head cleaning

I had the same problem. It is most likely that your print head nozzles are clogged. Your choices are to attempt to manually clean them, or order a new print head from Canon.

Attempt the manual cleaning at your own risk, this doesn't always work. When it does not work, it means your print head is damaged.

To maually clean the print head. Printer cover up (so you can get to the cartridges and print head). Turn the Printer Off. Remove all the cartridges (I put each cartridge in a separate zip lock bag). Then flip up the lever and remove the print head.
Now heat (don't boil) distilled water (Iused a good sized cook pan and a plastic measuring cup to pour the water). Find a container you can soak the print head in (I used a deep alluminum baking pan). Pour the hot (not boiling) distilled water over the print head molding where the cartridges seat down (hold the printhead over your diposable alluminum pan). Then dunk the molded print head part into the pan numerous times. When the water gets dark change it (be carefuill not to stain the sink). Then slowly pour the hot distilled over the print head (opposite side from where the cartidges seat in). Eventually no ink will be in the water. Set the print head on a dry paper towel, and let it dry for 24 hours or longer. Reinstall the print head, then the catridges. If it worked, your true colors will return. It make take up to 15-20 photos to get all the ink catridges flowing-be patient. You can also just wait 24 hours after re-installing the cartridges, and hopefully it will take less photos to see the correct color match.

Never keep printing when a cartridge is low or out.
Print a few prints every week. Not printing for weeks causes the printheead and the ink flow to clog!

Good luck. I just recovered my S820 and my i900D using the above cleaning method. Like everything else, your mileage may vary! It cost me $1.29 for distilled water and about an hours worth of time!

remove print head assembly. clean off.
print head not on cartridge. 

Hi George,

It sound's like an ink-feed issue:

1) Dirty heads, even after cleaning
2) No-ink or poor quality ink
3) Damaged head: some are part of the cartridge, some are not
4) Air bubbles in ink

The test page is typically not as hi-res nor as saturated as a
photo print. The hi-res photo puts the greatest demand on the print head.

The color lines you see are actually lines of missing color,
where the head has failed to deposit ink, so one or two primary
colors are missing from the complete picture.

For example missing yellow will make a blue line.
Missing magenta will make a green line
Missing cyan will make a red line.... etc..

Clean the heads again and again, print again and again,
hoping to flush the system.

BUT, keep in mind that cleaning wastes huge amounts of
ink and tiny little cartridges of ink cost more than many new printers.

Martin

Follow these steps to clean the print head using the control panel on the printer:

1. On the Main Menu, press UP or DOWN arrow to highlight More Options, then press OK.
2. Press UP or DOWN arrow to highlight Maintenance, then press OK.
3. Press UP or DOWN arrow to highlight Clean Print Head, then press OK.
4. Press OK to begin cleaning the print head.
*NOTE: The cleaning takes several seconds, during which the message 'Cleaning print head. Please wait.' appears on the screen.
5. When cleaning is complete, you see a message asking if you want to print a nozzle check pattern. To see if the nozzles are clean, load a sheet of photo paper, then press OK to print the nozzle check.
6. Check the pattern to see if there are any gaps in the lines. If there are gaps, press OK to clean the print head again. If there are no gaps, press Cancel to go back to the PictureMate Main Menu.

Follow these steps to clean the print head using the control panel on the printer:

1. On the Main Menu, press UP or DOWN arrow to highlight More Options, then press OK.
2. Press UP or DOWN arrow to highlight Maintenance, then press OK.
3. Press UP or DOWN arrow to highlight Clean Print Head, then press OK.
4. Press OK to begin cleaning the print head.
*NOTE: The cleaning takes several seconds, during which the message 'Cleaning print head. Please wait.' appears on the screen.
5. When cleaning is complete, you see a message asking if you want to print a nozzle check pattern. To see if the nozzles are clean, load a sheet of photo paper, then press OK to print the nozzle check.
6. Check the pattern to see if there are any gaps in the lines. If there are gaps, press OK to clean the print head again. If there are no gaps, press Cancel to go back to the PictureMate Main Menu.

One of the best possible solution that we can suggest is to run a cleaning cycle for three times. Just to make sure that cleaning is effective please try the step below:

1. Using your computer go to printer utility.
2. Click on Maintenance then select Head Cleaning. Head cleaning usually took 1 minute.
3. Once the Head Cleaning is done Print a nozzle pattern to check whether the head cleaning is effective or not.

Repeat those steps for 3 times. If the nozzle pattern after 3 cleaning cycles still bad. Reseat ink cartridge if possible replace the ink cartridges.

After all those steps and issue still present printer needs to be in service.