Check the paper and the kind of mark
Use the paper type selected in the printer and job settings, and allow inkjet prints to dry before handling. If the issue is missing colors, faint bands or alignment, use the print-quality diagnostic process instead of treating every defect as a smear.
Step 1:Start Clean Smear from the touchscreen
Load plain paper in the bottom tray. On the source touchscreen, choose Menu → Tools → Troubleshooting → Clean Smear. Read the prompt and start the routine.
The printer feeds a sheet backward and forward during the routine. Let it move the paper itself; do not pull the sheet or open the printer while it is working.
Step 2:Wait for the completion message
Wait until the cleaning-page-smear-completed message appears and the printer finishes feeding the sheet. The source shows this completed routine; its sheet is already fairly clean because the presenter had run it before.
The routine’s name does not establish that it cleans every internal ink contact or solves every source of a mark. Do not add manual wiping of the printhead to this procedure.
Step 3:Print again and compare
Print a small sample on suitable fresh paper with matching settings. Compare the new sheet for the original smears. A completed maintenance message is not enough by itself to show that the fault has gone.
If marks remain, use HP’s applicable print-quality troubleshooting and preserve a sample showing the defect. Avoid continually cycling maintenance without identifying whether paper, settings or the ink system is responsible.
