Home›Test pages›Printer reference›Colour chart guide
Printer Colour Chart Explained
A colour chart is a set of known values printed so you can compare them against what you expected. It measures lay-down and balance, not accuracy — accuracy needs a target you can measure against.
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 Colour Chart Explained
- Print the colour chart at Best quality with colour mode on.
- View under neutral daylight or a daylight-balanced lamp.
- Check the solid bars first for streaks and gaps.
- Look at the tint steps: they should descend evenly without jumps.
- Inspect greys for any colour cast.
- Do not adjust anything until you can name the specific fault.
Reading the result
| Bars are solid with no streaking | Ink delivery across the head is even. Coverage is not your problem. |
| A bar is lighter at one end | Coverage varies along the sweep. Check media type and, on inkjets, whether the sheet is cockled. |
| Cyan, magenta or yellow look dull | That channel is starving. A nozzle check will show whether it is a clog or a low cartridge. |
| Greys take a colour cast | The mix between colour and black is wrong for this media. Switch profile before changing hardware. |
| Colour is even but wrong overall | The chart is telling you the printer is consistent. Look upstream at the file or the application. |
Also check
- Colour test page — The printable chart this guide reads. Print it first so every patch discussed here is one you have actually seen.
- CMYK separation page — Separates process inks so you can attribute a colour fault to a channel rather than to the whole sheet.
- Greyscale ramp — The fastest balance check available: a cast in neutral tells you more about profile than any saturated patch.
Related test pages
- DPI Chart printer test page — Printers advertise one resolution and deliver another. This chart measures what you actually get.
- Alignment printer 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.
Frequently asked questions
What does a colour chart actually measure?
Consistency of lay-down: whether each channel puts down an even, predictable amount of ink across the sheet. It cannot tell you whether your red matches a reference red, because that requires a spectrophotometer reading against a target. What it can tell you quickly is that one channel is failing or that coverage is uneven, which is what stops most print jobs.
Why do greys matter more than primaries?
Because the eye is far more sensitive to a colour cast in a neutral than in a saturated patch. A slight magenta bias in a bright red goes unnoticed; the same bias in a pale grey is immediately obvious. Always read the grey ramp first — it is the fastest honest check on balance.
Can I use a chart to calibrate my printer?
Not really. Calibration needs measurements, not eyeballing. A chart will tell you that something is wrong and roughly where, which is enough to justify cleaning, a profile change or a cartridge replacement. For actual colour work, use a hardware probe and a measured profile.
Does paper brightness affect what I see?
It shifts everything. Bright white stock makes colours appear more vivid and greys cleaner; warm or cream stock pulls them the other way. Compare prints made on the same stock only, and never judge a chart printed on recycled paper against one on bright bond.
Should I print the chart after changing cartridges?
Yes, and before you print anything that matters. Fresh ink often behaves differently from the cartridge it replaced, and a chart run immediately afterwards tells you whether the swap fixed the problem or exposed a new one. Two charts — before and after — give you the comparison.