Aligning the Print Head


If your printouts contain misaligned vertical lines, or you see light or dark horizontal banding, you may need to align the print head.

Note: Banding may also occur if your cartridges are low on ink or you need to clean the print head.

  1. Turn on the printer.
  2. Load several sheets of paper.
  3. Right-click the printer icon on your taskbar (in the lower right corner of your screen). Select Print Head Alignment.
  4. Note: If you don't see the printer icon, see display the printer icon for instructions on making it appear.

  5. Follow the instructions on the screen to print a black vertical alignment sheet. You see a window like this one:


  6. Look at the four sets of patterns on the alignment sheet. For each set, if you see a pattern with no visible vertical lines, enter its number in the corresponding box on the screen and click Next.
  7. If you can't find an aligned pattern, choose the one that's closest to being aligned. Then click Realignment to print another alignment sheet and repeat this step.

  8. Click Print, to print the color vertical alignment sheet. You see a window like this one:


  9. Look at the four sets of patterns on the alignment sheet. For each set, if you see a pattern with no visible vertical lines, enter its number in the corresponding box on the screen and click Next.
  10. If you can't find an aligned pattern, choose the one that's closest to being aligned. Then click Realignment to print another alignment sheet and repeat this step.

  11. Click Print, to print a black horizontal alignment sheet. You see a window like this one:


  12. Look at the alignment sheet and select the pattern with no gap or line between the rectangles. Enter the number for that pattern in the corresponding box on the screen and click Next.
  13. If you can't find an aligned pattern, choose the one that looks the best. Then click Realignment to print another test page and repeat this step.

  14. Click Print, to print a color horizontal alignment sheet. You see a window like this one:


  15. Look at the alignment sheet and select the pattern with no gap or line between the rectangles. Enter the number for that pattern in the corresponding box on the screen.
  16. If you can't find an aligned pattern, choose the one that looks the best. Then click Realignment to print another test page and repeat this step.

  17. Click Finish to close the Print Head Alignment Utility.