Misaligned printing usually shows up as vertical lines that look broken or stair-stepped, letters with ragged edges, or colored fringes around black text. This is different from a crooked page, where the whole image is rotated. On inkjets, the printhead's passes typically no longer line up with each other. On color lasers, the four toner colors may have drifted apart. Jagged edges can also come from low-resolution settings or font substitution. This guide covers each cause in turn.
What you might be seeing
- Vertical lines and table borders look broken or staggered
- Letters have rough, stair-stepped edges
- Colored outlines appear around black text
- Some lines of text sit slightly offset from the lines above
Common causes
- Printhead out of alignment
- Replacing or reseating cartridges can shift where an inkjet's nozzles land.
- Color registration drift
- A color laser places each color separately, and they can slip out of line.
- Low resolution or rasterized text
- Draft output and text sent as low-resolution images look jagged.
- Font substitution
- If the driver swaps a font for one built into the printer, spacing and shapes change.
- Dirty encoder strip
- Ink or dust on the strip that tracks the carriage makes the head place dots unevenly.
How to fix it, step by step
Work through these in order and test a print after each one. Most people are done within the first few steps.
Unplug the printer before reaching into the carriage area, and never force the carriage or bend the encoder strip.
Print a test page to see the pattern
Print a page with straight vertical lines and small text, such as a table, or the printer's internal test page. Staggered vertical lines point to inkjet alignment or bidirectional printing. Colored halos around black text on a color laser point to registration. Jagged letters on otherwise straight lines suggest a resolution or font issue. Identifying the pattern first saves time.
Align the inkjet printhead
Choose the alignment option in the control panel's maintenance menu or the manufacturer's app. Load fresh plain paper of the requested size, since curled or rough paper gives a poor pattern. If your printer scans the result, place the printed sheet face down on the scanner glass when prompted. Repeat alignment after any cartridge or printhead change, because reseating can move the nozzles slightly.
Turn off bidirectional printing
When an inkjet prints in both directions, the passes moving left must line up exactly with those moving right. If alignment alone does not fix staggered lines, look in the driver's advanced, quality or maintenance settings for Bidirectional Printing or High Speed and turn it off. Every pass then prints in the same direction, which removes the stagger at the cost of some speed.
Run color registration on color lasers
If black text has colored edges, or colors do not line up on a color laser printer, find color registration or auto registration in the print quality or maintenance section of the control panel and run it. The printer prints and reads a pattern to correct each color's position. If it fails or does not help, run color calibration too, then print a test page.
Increase the resolution
Jagged laser text often improves when you switch from 600 dpi to 1200 dpi, or to a fine quality mode, in Printing Preferences. On inkjets, choose High or Best for small fonts. If text is jagged only from a PDF viewer, check its advanced print settings for a print as image option and make sure it is off, since rasterized text prints rougher than text sent as fonts.
Check font handling in the driver
Some laser drivers include a TrueType font option in their advanced settings that decides whether a font is downloaded to the printer, printed as a graphic, or substituted with a similar built-in font. Substitution changes letter shapes and spacing. If only certain fonts look wrong, set the option to download the font as a soft font or outline instead of substituting, then reprint.
Clean the encoder strip
If lines still wander after alignment, the printer may be misreading the carriage position. Unplug the printer, open the access cover and find the thin, clear plastic strip running behind the carriage. Look for ink smears or dust on it. Pinch a dry lint-free cloth lightly around the strip and slide it slowly along the length. Do not unhook or crease the strip, and do not oil the carriage rail.
How to keep it from happening again
- Align the printhead after every cartridge or printhead change
- Run color registration after replacing toner on a color laser
- Use a higher resolution for small fonts and fine lines
- Avoid moving the printer while it is switched on
Common questions
Why does automatic alignment keep failing?
Automatic alignment depends on the printer reading its own printed pattern. Clogged nozzles, low ink or a dirty scanner glass can make that pattern unreadable. Run a nozzle check and clean first, use fresh plain paper, and wipe the scanner glass if your model scans the sheet. If automatic alignment still fails, use the manual option if one is available.
Why is text jagged only in some PDFs?
Some PDFs contain text as images, such as scanned pages, which print as pixels rather than smooth letter outlines. Zoom in on the PDF; if the letters turn blocky, they are part of an image, and higher print resolution will not fully fix them. Rescanning at a higher resolution, or using a version with real text, gives sharper output.
Can moving the printer cause misalignment?
Yes. Carrying a printer tilted, or with the carriage unlocked, can shift cartridges in their holders and nudge the printhead. Reseat the cartridges and run alignment after any move. Color lasers can also shift slightly in transit, which a registration cycle corrects.
This guide is general information written for common home and office printers. Menus and button names vary between models, so check your printer’s manual where a step differs. Printer Problems Solved is independent and not affiliated with any printer manufacturer. See our disclaimer.