Aligning the Print Head

If your printouts look grainy or blurry, 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.

You can also align the print head using the control panel buttons. Press the Setup button, select 6.Head Alignment, and follow the instructions on the display.

  1. Turn on the EPSON STYLUS CX5700F all-in-one.
  2. Load several sheets of paper.
  3. Windows: Right-click the printer icon on your taskbar (in the lower right corner of your screen). Select Print Head Alignment.

    4. Macintosh OS X: Open the Applications folder and select EPSON Print Utility. Select Stylus CX5700F in the printer list, click OK, and select Print Head Alignment.

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



  5. Look at the four sets of patterns in your printout. 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.

    6. If you cannot find an aligned pattern, choose the one that is closest to being aligned. Click Realignment and then Print to print another alignment sheet and repeat this step.

  6. Click Print to print a black horizontal alignment sheet. After it is printed, you see a window like this one:



  7. Look at the printout and select the pattern with no gap or line between the rectangles. Enter the number for that pattern in the box on the screen and click Next.

    8. If you cannot find an aligned pattern, choose the one that looks the best. Then click Realignment to print another alignment sheet and repeat this step.

  8. Click Print to print a color horizontal alignment sheet. After it is printed, you see a window like this one:



  9. Look at the printout and find the pattern with no gap or line between the rectangles and enter its number in the box on the screen.

    10. If you cannot find an aligned pattern, choose the one that looks the best. Then click Realignment to print another alignment sheet and repeat this step.

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