Canon printer test page

Nozzle check from the printer

Load one sheet of plain A4 or Letter paper. On models with a screen, Canon's manuals for the TS3300, TS5300 and TS6000 series and the MG5600 series put the pattern in the maintenance menu. On the TS5300 series, for example, the steps are:

1. Press OK and select Maintenance.
2. Select Nozzle Check, confirm with Yes and press OK.
3. When the pattern has printed, select Next and examine it.

Models without a screen start the pattern by holding a button until a light flashes a set number of times. The button and the count differ between models, so take them from the online manual for your series at Canon's manual site.

Canon warns that if an ink is low, the pattern may not print correctly. Check the ink first.

From Windows or a Mac

• Windows: recent Canon drivers include the Canon IJ Printer Assistant Tool, with Nozzle Check, Cleaning, Deep Cleaning and Print Head Alignment. Older drivers have the same functions on the Maintenance tab of printing preferences.
• macOS: maintenance is in the Canon IJ Printer Utility, installed with Canon's own driver; choose Cleaning from the pop-up menu and click Print Check Pattern to check the result.

A generic driver installed by the operating system usually does not include these tools.

Reading the pattern

• Lines missing in the colour patterns, or white streaks in the black block: those nozzles are not firing. Run a Cleaning and print the pattern again.
• Still missing after two cleanings: Canon advises a Deep Cleaning, which uses noticeably more ink.
• Still bad after deep cleaning: Canon's guides suggest leaving the printer switched off for 24 hours or more and trying deep cleaning again. If nothing improves, the cartridge or print head may be faulty.
• Lines complete but uneven or stepped: the head needs alignment, not cleaning.

Print head alignment

Alignment is in the same Maintenance menu on the printer, or under Print Head Alignment in the IJ Printer Assistant Tool on Windows. Many models align automatically by printing a sheet and, on some, scanning it on the glass. If the result is not good enough, the Windows tool offers manual alignment in its custom settings: you print numbered patterns and enter the number of the most even one in each column.

Canon recommends aligning straight after installing a print head. Alignment fixes misaligned lines and grainy or doubled text, not missing colours.

Do not over-clean

Every cleaning cycle uses ink, and Canon says cleaning should be done only when printing is faint or a colour is missing. Print the nozzle pattern between each step so you only do what the result asks for.

Then print a real page from your computer

A built-in Canon report proves that the printer, ink and print head work on their own. It does not prove that your computer, driver and connection can send a job. Once the report looks clean, print the printer test page or the colour test page from your browser: if the report is fine but the page from your computer is not, the problem is in the settings, the driver or the connection rather than the hardware.

Print at 100% / Actual size, on plain paper, with Background graphics turned on, so each result can be compared with the next. For general steps on Windows, macOS and phones, see how to print a test page; to check the edges and scale of the print, use the alignment test page.

About this guide

TestDock is an independent site and is not affiliated with Canon. Menu names are quoted from Canon's own support pages for the model families named above; they change between models and firmware, so check the manual for your printer.