Epson Stylus Photo R260

4. Click Print or Next. The nozzle check pattern prints:

Print head does not need to be cleaned:

Print head needs to be cleaned:

5.If there are no gaps or lines, click Finish.

If there are gaps or lines, or the test patterns are faint, click Clean. Then skip to step 3 below to clean the nozzles.

Running the Head Cleaning Utility

1.Make sure the printer is turned on but not printing, and the red H ink light is off. (If the H ink light is flashing or on, you need to replace a cartridge; see page 4 for details.)

2.Do one of the following:

❏Windows: Right-click the printer icon on your taskbar (in the lower right corner of your screen). Select

Head Cleaning.

❏Macintosh: Open the Applications folder and select

EPSON Printer Utility2. Select SP R260 Series in the printer list, click OK, then select Head Cleaning.

3.Follow the instructions on the screen to clean the print head.

Cleaning takes several seconds. The printer makes noise and the green P power light flashes.

Caution: Never turn off the printer while head cleaning is in progress; you may damage it. Do not insert the CD/DVD tray until cleaning has finished.

4.When the green P power light stops flashing, make sure paper is loaded in the printer, then do one of the following:

❏Windows: Click Print nozzle check pattern, then click Print.

❏Macintosh: Click Confirmation, then click Next. The nozzle check pattern prints.

5.If the nozzle check pattern has no white lines or gaps (as shown below), click Finish.

If the pattern has white lines or gaps (as shown below), click Clean to clean the print head again.

If you don’t see any improvement after cleaning four times, you can also turn the printer off and wait overnight—this allows any dried ink to soften—and then try cleaning the print head again.

Aligning the Print Head

If your printouts look grainy or blurry, or you see light or dark lines, you may need to align the print head.

You may also see lines in your printouts if your cartridges are low on ink or you need to clean the print head.

Before you align the print head, make sure the CD/DVD tray is not inserted in the printer, and make sure the front tray is in the paper (lower) position. If it is not, lift the tray lever up to reposition the front tray.

1.Turn on the printer.

2.Make sure none of the lights are indicating errors. See “Control Panel” on page 4 for details.

3.Load several sheets of plain, letter-size paper.

4.Do one of the following:

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