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

  • Check the following:
    • Make sure your paper is dry and the printable side is facing up in the rear sheet feeder and facing down in the front paper cassette. The printable side is usually brighter or whiter.
    • Make sure your paper meets the specifications. Also, it is important to select the correct paper type.
    • Use Epson papers to ensure proper saturation and absorption of genuine Epson inks. Also, make sure you're using genuine Epson ink cartridges.
    • If the paper is curled toward the printable side, flatten it or curl it slightly in the opposite direction.
    • Align the print head.
    • Remove each sheet from the front tray as it is printed.
    • The printer won't operate properly if it's tilted or at an angle. Place it on a flat, stable surface that extends beyond the printer base in all directions.
    • Select a higher Quality Option or Print Quality in the printer software.
    • If ink smears when you print on envelopes or other thick paper, select Thick paper and envelopes in your printer settings.
    • 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 prevent marks or smudging. Use the Print Density Adjustment (Windows, Macintosh OS X 10.5 or Macintosh OS X 10.3 and 10.4) to reduce the print density and increase the ink drying time.
    • Press the OK button to eject a sheet of paper. Do this several times. If the paper is still not clean, ink may have leaked inside the printer, and you need to clean the printer.
    • You may need to uninstall your printer software and then reinstall it.
Published:  8-Jul-2008 Was this helpful? Thank you for the feedback!
Was this helpful?
Please tell us why this was not helpful.