Printouts Are Blank/Blurry or Fuzzy/Inaccurate or Bleeding Colors/Streaks or Lines

Check1 Make sure joint button is not lifted up.

Push the print head locking cover (A) to make sure the print head is installed properly.

Next, push the joint buttons (B) firmly to the end.

Important
- Make sure that the orange label and the protective tape have been removed, when installing the print head.
- Do not open the print head locking cover (A) carelessly. The ink may leak out.
- Check Installation of Print Head
Check2 Check paper and print quality settings.
- Printout (Copy) Results Are Unsatisfactory
Check3 Are the print head nozzles clogged?

Print the nozzle check pattern and make sure that the ink is coming out normally.

For details on printing the nozzle check pattern, print head cleaning, and print head deep cleaning, see If Printing Is Faint or Uneven.
1. Step1 Print the nozzle check pattern.
  
  After printing the nozzle check pattern, examine the pattern.
  
  If the pattern is not printed correctly, go to the next step.
  - From the printer
    - Printing the Nozzle Check Pattern
  - From the computer
    - For Windows:
      - Printing a Nozzle Check Pattern
    - For macOS:
      - Printing a Nozzle Check Pattern
2. Step2 Clean the print head.
  
  After cleaning the print head, print the nozzle check pattern and check the result.
  - From the printer
    - Cleaning the Print Head
  - From the computer
    - For Windows:
      - Clean the print head
    - For macOS:
      - Clean the print head
  If it still does not improve, go to the next step.
3. Step3 Clean the print head again.
  
  After cleaning the print head again, print the nozzle check pattern and check the result.
  
  If it still does not improve, go to the next step.
4. Step4 Clean the print head deeply.
  
  After cleaning the print head deeply, print the nozzle check pattern and check the result.
  - From the printer
    - Deep Print Head Cleaning
  - From the computer
    - For Windows:
      - Clean the print head deeply
    - For macOS:
      - Clean the print head deeply
  If it does not improve, turn off the printer, wait for more than 24 hours, and go to the next step.
5. Step5 Clean the print head deeply again.
  
  After cleaning the print head deeply again, print the nozzle check pattern and check the result.
  
  If it still does not improve, go to the next step.
6. Step6 Perform ink flush.
  
  After performing ink flush, print the nozzle check pattern and check the result.
  
  Ink flush consumes a great amount of ink. Frequent ink flush can rapidly consume ink, so perform it only when necessary.
  - How to Perform Ink Flush
  Important
  - Performing ink flush when the remaining ink level is not enough may damage the printer.
    
    Before performing ink flush, check the remaining ink level of all colors.
    - How to Perform Ink Flush
If the nozzle check pattern is not printed correctly even after performing ink flush, check the installing condition of the print head.
- Check Installation of Print Head
Check4 When an ink tank runs out of ink, refill the ink tank.

If the remaining ink level is below the lower limit line (A), refill the ink tank with the corresponding color of ink.

If you use the printer until the ink tank becomes empty, perform ink flush after refilling the ink tank.
- Refilling Ink Tanks
- How to Perform Ink Flush
Note
- The color of the printed image may differ from the color on the screen due to different coloration methods between the display and the printer. Also, colors may vary depending on the environment in which you are viewing the display and the color adjustment. For these reasons, the print result may not be the same color.
Check5 Perform print head alignment.

If printed lines are misaligned/distorted or print results are otherwise unsatisfactory, adjust the print head position.
- Aligning the Print Head
Note
- If the problem is not resolved after performing the print head alignment, perform print head alignment manually from your computer.
  - For Windows:
    - Adjusting Print Head Position Manually
Check6 When using paper with one printable surface, check the correct printable side of the paper.

Printing on the wrong side of such paper may cause unclear prints or prints with reduced quality.

When you load paper on the rear tray, load paper with the printable side facing up.

Refer to the instruction manual supplied with the paper for detailed information on the printable side.

When copying, see also the sections below:

Check7 Is platen glass dirty?

Clean the platen glass.
- Cleaning Platen and Document Cover
Check8 Make sure original is properly loaded on platen.

When you load the original on the platen, load it with the side to be copied facing down.
- Loading Originals
Check9 Is copy source a printed paper by printer?

If you use a printout done by this printer as the original, print quality may be reduced depending on the condition of the original.

Reprint from the computer if you can reprint from it.

Note

Although some air may enter the ink tube, it is not a malfunction. No problem if the nozzle check pattern is printed correctly.