>> Troubleshooting for Inkjet printers >>

Problem Possible cause
Prints garbage This usually happens because the wrong printer driver is installed.
No response from printer; computer gives error message Check that cables are properly connected and look for an Online or Select button to press on the printer. Many PC printers require an IEEE 1284 cable, which is different from the standard bidirectional parallel cable. Likewise, printers for older Macintoshes require either a serial cable or a LocalTalk cable. Consult your manual to find out what cabling you need.
Print head cannot travel its full horizontal distance Open the cover and make sure there is nothing obstructing the movement of the print head. Obstructions can result if you haven't removed some of the packaging, or if there is a paper jam. If this is a new printer, remember that you must remove the safety tape, which is put there to prevent the print head from slamming back and forth during shipping.
Acts like it is printing but puts no ink on the page There is no ink cartridge installed. In many cases, this is a separate item from the print head assembly, which is already installed in the printer from the factory.
Text has wrong print attributes (e.g., bold text not printed as bold) This usually happens because the wrong printer driver is installed. See information above about drivers.
Parts of characters missing, or characters not correct color The ink cartridge is either either clogged or running out of ink. Run the software cleaning utility (almost always accessible from the printer) in order to fix a clog. Replace the ink cartridge if the clog cannot be fixed or if the cartridge is almost empty.
Text is faded One or more of the inkwells in the print cartridge is almost empty. Unless your printer's ink cartridge can have individual colors replenished, this usually means you need to replace the whole cartridge.
Printout is smeared The paper is mismatched to the paper setting for the printer. For example, if you are using high-quality photo paper, set the printer's output for that paper; do not use the plain paper setting.
Paper jams often The feeder bin or tray may be overloaded; remove some paper. Excess humidity may be causing pages to stick together; in that case, remove all sheets and use only as much as needed. The paper may have already been through the printer; the feeding process tends to warp and thicken areas of the page by bunching it up. Try not to use paper that's already been fed through the printer.

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Troubleshooting for Inkjet printers