Having trouble printing???

Solution There are several reasons why the HP All-in-One may fail to align the cartridges. The most common reason is an ink cartridge that has one of the following problems:

• One of the ink cartridges is low or out of ink. Black and all three colors must be available.
• The paper has already been printed on or is colored paper.
• Protective tape on a new ink cartridge has not been removed.
• Contacts on the ink cartridge are not meeting the contacts in the carriage correctly.
• Cartridge is remanufactured or refilled. Refilled or remanufactured ink cartridges may have been damaged during the refilling process or have clogged ink nozzles.
• The ink cartridge is defective.

Follow the steps below to resolve the problem Step one: Examine the paper the alignment page was printed on The alignment page must be printed on clean plain paper of either letter or A4-size and that has a brightness level (as printed on the paper package) of at least 85. Colored papers or paper that already has printing on it will cause the alignment to fail. Back to top Step two: Does the alignment page print correctly For the HP PSC 900 series, if the page ejects immediately or a Paper mismatch or Paper too narrow message is displayed, the 4 x 6 paper tray selector located on the paper output tray is pushed forward. Move the selector all the way toward the front of the product. Look at the alignment pages that the product printed. Compare the alignment page to those that are included in the "Examples of alignment pages" section in this document. If any of the colors or the black is missing from your alignment page, a cartridge-related problem exists. Click here for information about troubleshooting ink- and cartridge-related problems (buu02176) (in English). Back to top Step three: Perform an print cartridge cleaning procedure The product can perform an print cartridge cleaning procedure even after the alignment message has displayed. Follow these steps to perform an print cartridge cleaning procedure at the front panel:

1. On the front panel, press the Menu or Setup button (depending on the model).
2. Press the right arrow button (>) until Maintenance or Tools is displayed, and then press the OK or Enter button (depending on the model).
3. The Clean Print Cartridges message should display on the front panel. Press Enter or OK to begin the cartridge cleaning process.

A page will be printed during the cleaning process with all of the colors on it. If any of the colors (including black) are missing, faded, or streaked on the alignment page, there is a ink cartridge problem. Back to top Step four: Try to align the page again HP products have two methods for aligning the ink cartridges, fully-automatic and semi-automatic. The steps are different for each type. Refer to the information below to determine which alignment method your product uses.

• Automatic - these products use a sensor to check the alignment page as it is printed. You are not required to take any action to complete the alignment process. Click here if your model does not print an instruction page.
• Semi-automatic - these products print the alignment page and instructions for scanning the alignment page using the scanner assembly. Click here if your model prints an instruction page.

Automatic cartridge alignment Perform the following steps to align the ink cartridges:

1. Disconnect the power cord from the unit, wait five seconds, and then plug it back in. This will reinitialize the unit.
2. Print another alignment test page. If the Press Enter to align message is not currently on the front panel display, complete the following steps to print an alignment page:
   1. Press Setup or Menu on the front panel (depending on the model).
   2. Press the right arrow button (>) until Maintenance or Tools is displayed, and then press Enter or OK (depending on the model).
   3. Press the right arrow button (>) until Align Print Cartridges is displayed, and then press Enter or OK (depending on the model).
3. To determine if the automatic alignment is functioning correctly, look into the output tray as the alignment page is printing; a blue light should be visible periodically on the page as the cartridges move back and forth. If this light is not visible, the product will not be able to align the cartridges and will require service. Service the product.
4. If the blue light is visible and the alignment pages are printing correctly, but the alignment pages still fails, there still may be a hardware problem with the unit.
   

Here's a support article taken from the HP website regarding alignment of print cartridges. Hope this helps.
Introduction This document provides steps to align print cartridges using the All-in-One control panel or the computer. The appearance of the product varies by model. Aligning print cartridges Follow one of these methods to align print cartridges. NOTE: If the same print cartridge is removed and reinstalled, the product will not prompt to align the print cartridges. The product remembers the alignment values for that print cartridge, so there is no need to realign the print cartridges. Method one: Print an alignment page using the All-in-One control panel When a new cartridge is installed, the product aligns the cartridge. The cartridges can also be aligned any time after you install the software. Aligning the cartridges helps ensure high quality output. Follow the steps to align newly installed cartridges.

1. When prompted, make sure plain white letter or A4 paper is loaded in the input tray.
2. Press the button next to OK on the control panel display. The product prints an alignment page. Figure 1: Alignment page
3. Place the alignment page print-side down on the right front corner of the glass. Figure 2: Position the alignment page
4. Press the button next to OK on the control panel display. When the On button stops flashing, the alignment is complete. Remove the page and recycle or discard it.

Method two: Print an alignment page using the computer Follow these steps to align the cartridges from the HP Photosmart software.

1. Double-click the HP Digital Imaging Monitor icon ( ) on the lower right side of the Windows taskbar. The HP Solution Center displays.
2. In the HP Solution Center, click Settings . Then click Printer Toolbox . The printer Toolbox displays.
3. Click the Device Services tab.
4. Click Align the Print Cartridges .
5. When prompted, make sure plain white letter or A4 paper is loaded in the input tray.
6. Press the button next to OK on the control panel display. The product prints an alignment page. Figure 3: Printing an alignment page
7. Place the alignment page print-side down on the right front corner of the glass. Figure 4: Positioning the alignment page
8. Press the button next to OK on the control panel display. When the On button stops flashing, the alignment is complete. Remove the page and recycle or discard it.

I request you to perform the steps below to align the cartridge:
1. Load letter or A4 unused plain white paper into the input tray.
2. Press Setup.
3. Press 6, then press 2.

This selects Tools and then selects Align Print Cartridge. The HP all-in-one prints a print cartridge alignment sheet and aligns the print cartridges. Recycle or discard the page.

Bypass the alignment :

Press and hold the Enter button, and then press Menu

To align catridges:-

1. Load plain paper.
2. Press the Menu button, and scroll to Align Cartridges.
3. Press Select. An alignment page prints. Once this page prints, your automatic alignment is complete

To do it from your computer:-

1. Load plain paper.
2. Open the lexmark Series Utility.
3. From the catridges tab, click align catridges.
4. Click OK to print alignment page.
5. This will be make the alignment successful. If not successful, it should be done manually.

To align the print cartridges from the HP Photosmart Software
1. Load letter or A4 unused plain white paper into the input tray.
NOTE: If you have colored paper loaded in the input tray when you align the print
cartridges, the alignment will fail. Load unused plain white paper into the input
tray, and then try the alignment again.
2. In the HP Solution Center, click Settings.
3. In the Print Settings area, click Printer Toolbox.
NOTE: You can also open the Printer Toolbox from the Print Properties dialog
box. In the Print Properties dialog box, click the Features tab, and then click
Printer Services.
NOTE: You can also open the Printer Toolbox from the Print Properties dialog
box. In the Print Properties dialog box, click the Features tab, and then click the
Printer Services button.
The Printer Toolbox appears.
4. Click the Device Services tab.
5. Click Align the Print Cartridges.
When prompted, ensure plain white letter or A4 paper is loaded in the input tray, then
press the button next to OK.
NOTE: If you have colored paper loaded in the input tray when you align the print
cartridges, the alignment will fail. Load unused plain white paper into the input
tray, and then try the alignment again.
The product prints a print cartridge alignment sheet.
7. Load the page print side down on the right front corner of the glass, and then press
the button next to OK to scan the page.
When the On button stops flashing, the alignment is complete and the page can be
removed. Recycle or discard the page.

from user manual::
To align newly installed print cartridges
1. Make sure you have letter or A4 unused plain white paper loaded in the input tray.
The HP All-in-One prints a print cartridge alignment sheet.
NOTE: If you have colored paper loaded in the input tray when you align the print cartridges, the alignment will fail. Load unused plain white paper into the input tray, and then try the alignment again.
If the alignment fails again, you might have a defective sensor or print cartridge.
Contact HP Support. Go to www.hp.com/support. ....
2. Load the print cartridge alignment sheet print side down on the left front corner of the glass with the top of the page to the left.
3. Press the Scan button.
The HP All-in-One aligns the print cartridges. Recycle or discard the print cartridge alignment sheet
Score the solution and download the manual if you need it

Hello,

You may want to run the alignment program again. Below are the steps as found on page 84 of the manual found here.

To align the print cartridges from the HP Photosmart Software
1. In the HP Solution Center, click Settings, point to Print Settings, and then click
Printer Toolbox.
NOTE: You can also open the Printer Toolbox from the Print Properties dialog
box. In the Print Properties dialog box, click the Services tab, and then click
Service this device.
The Printer Toolbox appears.
2. Click the Device Services tab.
3. Click Align the Print Cartridges.
The HP All-in-One prints a print cartridge alignment sheet.
4. When prompted, ensure plain white letter or A4 paper is loaded in the input tray, then
press the button next to OK.
NOTE: If you have colored paper loaded in the input tray when you align the print
cartridges, the alignment will fail. Load unused plain white paper into the input
tray, and then try the alignment again.
The HP All-in-One prints a test page, aligns the print head, and calibrates the printer.
5. Load the page print side down on the right front corner of the glass, and then press
the button next to OK to scan the page.
When the On button stops flashing, the alignment is complete and the page can be
removed. Recycle or discard the page.

Hi,

You need to load the PRINTED ALIGNMENT PAGE on the scanner glass, then press on "OK" button. It should start scanning the alignment page. That way, you are completing the PROCESS of ALIGNMENT.

Thank you so much.

adonscott

I have an OfficeJet 5780 and I have to do the alignment also. The allignment page it prints should have instructions on it. Just put it in the scanner and press "Enter". It needs to scan it to align the print heads.

This is from the manual on their website:

The HP Officejet prompts you to align cartridges every time you install or
replace a print cartridge. Aligning the cartridges ensures high-quality output.
To align the print cartridges when prompted:
1 Press Enter on the front panel.
An align cartridges (test pattern) page prints.
2 Load the align cartridges page face down in the ADF between the paperwidth
guides and press the Enter button again.
3 Recycle or discard the page.

Geno