Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography

To achieve optimum results with an ink-

jet printer, use the printer’s utility to check

the nozzles and print head alignment.

This can usually be done from either the

printer menu itself or a utility located in

the driver. If the nozzles are not  ring

properly, you will see broken lines in the

pattern created during the test. Select

Head Cleaning to clear the nozzles. It

may take several cleaning cycles in a row

to  x the problem. If the heads are  ring

correctly and you see small horizontal

lines on your prints, you could have a

problem with head alignment. You can

print out a di erent target pattern and

see if the alignment is o . If it is, then it

can be adjusted from either the printer

menus or the print driver utility. Check

the alignment whenever you install a

new printer or move the printer to a new

location.

Dye sublimation (dye sub) printer

calibration is usually software driven.

Some of these printers require you to

print out a series of patches, select the

most neutral patch (which is numbered)

in the software, and type in the patch

number in the window provided.

Most higher-end color laser printers

have a means of calibrating themselves;

however, lower-cost laser printers do not

o er any means of calibration.

Some ink-jet printers on the market

today give you the option to perform

both print head alignment and nozzle

cleaning automatically.

Some ink-jet pr