Fix paper smears and ink stains on Epson ET-2950

1. Wait until feeding stops. Open the feeder guard and extend the rear support. Remove curled or damaged sheets, then load flat paper centrally, printable side up and short edge first.
2. Slide the edge guides against the stack without bowing it, keep plain paper below the fill mark and extend the output tray.
3. Use Change on the paper-setting prompt to register the actual size and type. If the prompt does not appear, open Settings → Printer Setup → Paper Source Settings → Paper Setting. Match those settings in the print job as well.

In the source’s Print Failure → Horizontal Smears help, paper registration is the first check. A4/plain paper is its example; use the paper you actually loaded.

Check the direction of the marks. Epson associates stains parallel to the paper’s travel with a dirty paper path, while horizontal marks or smearing at the leading/trailing edges also call for loading checks. These are troubleshooting clues, not a diagnosis of a damaged component.

Broken coloured lines or regular bands without rubbed ink may need a nozzle check or alignment instead. Use the related guides for those patterns rather than repeatedly running paper-path cleaning.

1. From Home, select Maintenance and confirm OK, then select Paper Guide Cleaning.
2. Follow the screen to load the requested paper and start the cleaning pass. The printer feeds paper through the path; this is not printhead cleaning.
3. Inspect the sheet. If it still picks up ink, repeat the paper-guide cleaning according to the screen until the sheet is no longer smeared.

The additional vertical-stain video reaches this operation through Print Failure → Vertical Paper Stains → Clean the Paper Path. The ET-2950 manual gives the Maintenance route above.

For manual two-sided printing, let the first side dry completely before reloading the sheet. For automatic two-sided printing with dense images or graphs, Epson recommends lowering print density and increasing drying time.

The source shows Print Failure → Horizontal Smears → Adjust Ink Drying Time, with Standard, Long and Longer choices. Increase the time when this automatic two-sided setting is relevant. It lengthens the wait between sides; it is not a general repair for every single-sided print.

Adjust print density in the automatic two-sided print settings offered by your Epson driver. Lower density changes the amount of ink used. It does not mean sending fewer jobs per minute, and a smear is not evidence that you need to buy a faster printer.

Print one page using the corrected paper and job settings. Check both sides when testing duplex output. If Paper Guide Cleaning now feeds a clean sheet but the print remains smeared, review the paper’s printable side, type and drying conditions.

If ink continues to rub onto the paper after the appropriate cleaning, use Epson’s illustrated maintenance guidance or support. The videos show troubleshooting controls, not proof that a leaking or damaged part was repaired.