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.
  • Do not load more than the recommended number of sheets. For plain paper, do not load above the line indicated by the triangle symbol on the edge guide.
  • Make sure the paper type setting in your product software matches the type of paper you loaded.
  • 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.)
  • When manually printing 2-sided, make sure the ink is completely dry before loading the paper.
  • 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.
  • Do not stack printouts immediately after printing.
  • 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 density and/or 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 using the Print Quality Adjustment setting.
  • Adjust the print quality in the product software.
  • Clean the paper path.

  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 Nozzle Check
  Print Head Cleaning
  Related tasks
  Selecting Extended Settings - Windows
  Selecting Printing Preferences - Mac
  Selecting Basic Print Settings - Windows
  Selecting Basic Print Settings - Mac
  Loading Paper in the Cassette
  Aligning the Print Head Using the Product Control Panel
  Adjusting the Print Quality Using the Product Control Panel
  Selecting Double-sided Printing Settings - Windows
  Selecting Additional Layout and Print Options - Windows
  Related references
  Environmental Specifications
  Paper Specifications