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.
• Slide the edge guides to the edges of the paper.
• 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, turn on the Thick Paper setting from the control panel or select Thick Paper and Envelopes in the Extended Settings of the printer software. (Turning this setting on will decrease print speed.)
• If you are printing on thick paper, select a thick paper Paper Type setting on the control panel.
• 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.
• Turn off any high speed settings in your product software.
• 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. Make sure the ink has dried before reloading the paper to print on the other side.Adjust the Print Density and/or Increase Ink Drying Time settings.
• If printed copies are smeared, lower the copy density setting on the product control panel.
• 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.
• Adjust the print quality in the product software.
• Clean the paper path.
• Do not press too hard on the original or the document cover when you are scanning originals on the scanner glass.
• Clean the scanner glass.
• Clean the ADF.

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