Print Quality Problems

You see banding (light lines).

•	The print head nozzles may need cleaning.

•	Select a higher Quality Option or Print Quality and turn off High Speed mode. See Printing in Windows, or Printing with Macintosh OS X.

•	Make sure the paper Type or Media Type setting matches the paper you loaded; see Selecting the Correct Paper Type for guidelines.

•	Make sure the printable side of the paper is face up. It’s usually brighter or whiter.

•	The ink cartridges may need replacing.

•	If you have a Macintosh, try using Automatic mode. See Printing with Macintosh OS X for instructions.

•	Run the Print Head Alignment utility.

Your printout is blurry or smeared.

•	Make sure your paper isn’t damp or curled, or loaded face down (the printable side should be face up).

•	Use a support sheet with special paper, or try loading your paper one sheet at a time.

•	Make sure your paper meets the specifications listed in Paper.

•	Use Epson papers to ensure proper saturation and absorption of genuine Epson inks.

•	Align the print head.

•	Avoid handling printouts on glossy paper for a few hours to allow the ink to set.

•	If ink smears on the back of a printout, clean the inside of the printer.

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If you are using double-sided paper and printing heavily saturated or dark images on the front side of the paper, you may notice that smudges or marks appear on the front when you print the second side. If one side of the paper will contain a lighter image or text, print that side first to eliminate marks or smudging.

•	Load a new sheet of plain paper and press the  paper button to eject it. Do this several times. If you still have a problem, ink may have leaked inside the printer, and you need to clean it. See Cleaning the Printer for instructions.

Your printout is faint or has gaps.

•	The print head nozzles may need cleaning.

•	The ink cartridges may be old or low on ink. See Replacing an Ink Cartridge for details.

•	Make sure the paper Type or Media Type setting matches the paper you loaded. See Selecting the Correct Paper Type for guidelines.

•	Make sure your paper isn’t damaged, old, dirty, or loaded face down. If it is, reload a new stack of paper with the printable side up; it is usually brighter or whiter than the other side. For best results, use genuine Epson paper.

You see wrong or missing colors.

•	Make sure your printer software is not set to use black ink only.

•	The print head nozzles may need cleaning.

•	The ink cartridges may be old or low on ink. See Replacing an Ink Cartridge for details.

•	Try turning off PhotoEnhance.™

•	For Macintosh, try using Automatic mode.

•	Try changing the Gamma setting; see Customizing Windows Print Settings or Customizing Mac OS X Print Settings.

•	Your printed colors can never exactly match your on-screen colors. However, you can use a color management system to get as close as possible. Try using the ICM (Windows) or ColorSync (Macintosh) setting.

•	For best results, use genuine Epson ink and paper.

Your printout is grainy.

•	Make sure the printable side of the paper is face up. It’s usually brighter or whiter.

•	Try using a higher quality paper or select a higher Quality Option or Print Quality setting. See Printing in Windows or Printing with Macintosh OS X.

•	Select Photo RPM for Quality Type (Windows) or Print Quality (Macintosh). Remember that this setting increases print time.

•	Run the Print Head Alignment utility.

•	You may need to increase the image resolution or print it in a smaller size; see your software documentation.