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Here's a sample image of a printout of a spreadsheet from my Canon Pixma MG7150 printer:

enter image description here

Some lines of text are acceptable (e.g., Chalkhill Blue, Purple Emperor) whereas other lines are completely misaligned (Large Skipper, Brimstone). The horizontal grid lines are fine but the vertical ones are misaligned.

  1. Is this issue caused by print head misalignment?
  2. Does anyone know how to fix this so that the text and lines are sharp?

I tried aligning the print heads both automatically and manually but neither seemed to make a difference to the print quality. The ink head nozzles don't appear to be clogged even though I'm using non-Canon ink cartridges.

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  • (1) Is this Windows 10? (2) Did you in Printer properties > Maintenance try "Print Head Alignment"?
    – harrymc
    Commented Aug 25, 2019 at 11:57
  • Yes to both questions.
    – snark
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 16:57
  • Did you install the latest software?
    – harrymc
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 17:07
  • Yes - that's the one I'm using.
    – snark
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 17:13
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    You might try to take out the printer head and clean it (I used just hot water - link). If that doesn't help, a Canon repair-shop might do better, but buying a new printer might be a better idea.
    – harrymc
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 17:20

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
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Try another alignment process. If that does not solve the problem, then the print heads may be damaged. I have had print heads wear out showing the same symptom as above.

Using non-Canon ink may have contributed to the problem.

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  • A second manual alignment of the print head has slightly improved the quality of the output, but it's still pretty poor. So I might try @harrymc 's suggestion of washing it as well, before going to the trouble of buying another print head or even a new printer...
    – snark
    Commented Aug 28, 2019 at 19:31
  • It the second manual alignment did not help that much (been there myself), a new printer may now be in order. I found replacement print head to be expensive
    – anon
    Commented Aug 28, 2019 at 19:56
  • Thanks. Yes, I've since noticed that a genuine Canon print head costs the same as a new printer! I'll try to tolerate the issue for now. But if it gets unbearable I'll try @harrymc's suggestion of washing it, as I'll have nothing to lose by then. If that fails it's buy a new print head, or even a new printer, as you say. Maybe using non-Canon ink was a false economy.
    – snark
    Commented Aug 29, 2019 at 17:17
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The problem is, the print head (the PGBK part) is causing those lines, and the only solution is to replace the print head with a "new" one.

Don't waste time trying deep cleans, alignments and cleaning with water etc. It's irreparable.

You can find them on ebay or aliexpress for around 25 euros. Be aware that they may not always be selling them brand new, so be careful before buying one, check reviews etc.

The issue with the black lines and text ghosting was fixed 100% when I replaced mine on a Pixma MG7150.

Some further research may suggest that setting "Quite Mode" to on may help in reducing the wear and tear of the PGBK print head section and it makes sense since the heat used by PGBK ink may be causing this damage.

Another suggestion which may help reduce this damage assuming the ink heating is causing this damage, is to maybe avoiding large print jobs. eg. 50 or more pages of black and white at one go could be split in smaller chunks if possible.

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This is a common issue and already posted around here and other places, I suggest you take a look here because there is more information: (Canon misalignment - possible to fix?), it's caused by the PGBlack nozzles, as your printer and others alike have two black cartridges and two print head nozzle-packs for black. Read that other link information and you will find a workaround to continue printing high quality, nope there is still no official answer to this issue and there is no code error from Canon.

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  • Thanks for the workaround but I ended up buying another printer in the end (not Canon, because I'd had enough of them!).
    – snark
    Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 14:52
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I think you may have a dirty encoder film.

This is a strip of clear plastic that runs from left to right with markings that tell the carriage where it is. It's visible by moving the cartridges out of the way.

I just fixed my MX922 by wiping it with cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. The Canon document that tells how for my machine is found here.

Cleaning the film produced considerable improvement and following the cleaning with an auto head alignment made it perfect.

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  • Thanks very much for the tip! Unfortunately I can't test it because I replaced my Canon with a Brother laser printer some time ago (and never looked back!).
    – snark
    Commented Dec 26, 2020 at 12:32
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dirty encoder film TS3165 instructions here https://canoncanada.custhelp.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1036669/~/cleaning-the-encoder-film---ts3420%2F-ts3425-%2F-ts3429

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    While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - From Review
    – Ramhound
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 0:06

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