My printout is blurry or smeared. What should I do?

• If your printouts are blurry or smeared, try these solutions:

  • Make sure your paper is not damp, curled, old, or loaded incorrectly in your product.
  • Use a support sheet with special paper, or load special paper one sheet at a time.
  • Make sure your paper meets the specifications for your product.
  • Use Epson papers to ensure proper saturation and absorption of genuine Epson inks.
  • Make sure the paper type setting in your product software matches the type of paper you loaded.
  • Make sure you loaded the printable side of the paper correctly for your product.
  • If you are printing on thick paper or envelopes, make sure you select the appropriate settings. In Windows, you can also try selecting Short Grain Paper in Extended Settings.
  • Remove each sheet from the output tray as it is printed.
  • Avoid handling printouts on glossy paper right after printing to allow the ink to set.
  • If you print on both sides of a sheet of paper, smudges may appear on the reverse side of heavily saturated or dark images. If one side of a sheet will contain a lighter image or text, print that side first. Adjust the Print Density and/or Increase Ink Drying Time settings.
  • Run a nozzle check to see if any of the print head nozzles are clogged. Then clean the print head, if necessary.
  • Align the print head.
  • Clean the paper path.
  • If you have not used the product for a long time, run the Power Ink Flushing utility.

    Note: Flushing the ink tubes replaces all the ink inside the tubes, so flush the ink only if you cannot improve print quality by other means.

  Note: Your product will not operate properly while tilted at an angle. Place it on a flat, stable surface that extends beyond the base of the product in all directions.

  Related concepts
  Print Head Alignment
  Print Head Cleaning
  Related tasks
  Selecting Basic Print Settings - Windows
  Selecting Double-sided Printing Settings - Windows
  Selecting Additional Layout and Print Options - Windows
  Selecting Basic Print Settings - Mac
  Selecting Double-sided Printing Settings - Mac
  Selecting Printing Preferences - Mac
  Cleaning the Paper Guide
  Related references
  Available Epson Papers
  Paper Specifications
  Related information
  Loading Paper