Home›Test pages›Alignment
Printer Alignment Test Page
If lines that should be straight come out crooked, or text looks doubled, the printhead is out of alignment. This sheet measures it.
Set scaling to 100%. Choose Actual Size in the print dialog, never Fit to page — scaling distorts every measurement on this sheet. The Download PDF button hands you that same sheet as a ready-made file, so there is no scaling decision to get wrong.
How to print the Printer Alignment Test Page
- Print on plain paper at Actual Size / 100% — scaling invalidates every measurement here.
- Lay the sheet on a flat surface under good light.
- Check the corner crosshairs: the horizontal and vertical strokes must meet exactly at the circle centre.
- Run a straight edge along the grid lines; any wave or offset is visible immediately.
- Compare the circles on screen with the printed ones — oval output means scaling, not misalignment.
- If lines are doubled, run the printer's alignment utility and reprint this page to verify.
Reading the result
| Grid lines are square and sharp | Alignment is correct. If your output still looks wrong, the fault is in the driver scaling rather than the head position. |
| Horizontal lines are doubled | Carriage tracking is off — typical after a cartridge change or a paper jam. Run the printhead alignment utility from the printer software, then reprint. |
| Grid is skewed relative to the paper edge | Paper is feeding unevenly. Check the paper guides are against the stack, the tray is not overfilled, and the correct paper size is selected in the driver. |
| Circles are oval | The page was scaled. Switch the print dialog to Actual Size / 100%. This is by far the most common false positive. |
| Colours do not line up at the crosshairs | Colour registration is out. On laser printers run the registration correction from the device menu; on inkjet, run alignment and, if available, colour calibration. |
Also check
- Nozzle check — Doubling that survives alignment is often a partially blocked nozzle row rather than a tracking fault. Run the nozzle check before adjusting anything.
- Resolution chart — If the grid is square but edges are still soft, you are looking at an effective-resolution limit rather than misalignment.
- Gradient and banding page — Banding across otherwise correct lines points at ink delivery instead of head position, which no amount of alignment will correct.
- Colour test page — Colour bars printed below the grid show whether the registration fault also shifts colour, or whether the lines are square while the inks themselves sit out of balance.
Related test pages
- Colour printer test page — One sheet that exercises every colour channel at once: bars, a smooth gradient, a mixing grid and a type scale.
- DPI Chart printer test page — Printers advertise one resolution and deliver another. This chart measures what you actually get.
- Greyscale printer test page — A grey ramp with no colour in it makes tonal problems, colour casts and scaling errors impossible to miss.
Frequently asked questions
Why are my prints coming out crooked?
Most often a paper-feed problem: guides not against the stack, warped or damp paper, or a tray loaded past its fill line. Less often, printhead carriage tracking after a cartridge change.
Where is the alignment utility?
Windows: Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → your printer → Printer properties → Printing preferences → Maintenance. macOS: System Settings → Printers & scanners → Options & Supplies → Utility. Most Epson, Canon and HP models also expose it from the printer's own control panel.
Do laser printers need alignment?
Rarely, and never on cartridge change alone. Laser alignment issues are usually registration or fuser problems, corrected from the device maintenance menu.
Should I run alignment after every cartridge change?
Only if the output has visibly changed, or the manufacturer specifies it. Alignment is stored in the printer memory, and running it unnecessarily shifts the head away from a known-good position — a working printer can be made worse by routine realignment.
Why does alignment need a full sheet of paper?
The marks sit near the paper edges so the test can measure skew across the entire feed path. Printing it at reduced size, or on a scrap half-sheet, removes exactly the geometry it is trying to measure. Always print it at Actual Size on a full sheet.
Can skew come from the computer rather than the printer?
Sometimes. If a document prints crooked but the alignment page prints square, the driver or the application is adding the skew. Check for a page-scaling option, then reprint the same file through a different application to confirm where the fault sits.