Streaks, pale colors, or horizontal banding on an HP Smart Tank almost always trace back to ink level, clogged nozzles, or alignment — not a dying printhead on day one.
Quick checks
- Confirm every tank is filled above the minimum line
- Use paper that matches the driver setting (plain vs photo)
- Switch from Draft to Normal and reprint a sample page
Nozzle check and cleaning
- Print a nozzle check from HP Smart or the printer menu
- Missing colors or broken lines → run Clean Printhead once
- Reprint the check; if improved but not perfect, wait 10 minutes and clean once more
- If one color never returns after two cleans, refill that tank and check for air after a recent refill — see ink refill guide
Align the printer
Crooked text or color fringing often needs Printhead Alignment. Load plain paper, run Align from HP Smart or the tools menu, and scan or load the alignment sheet when asked.
Color looks wrong
- Disable grayscale / black-only if you expect color
- Calibrate color in HP Smart when available
- Replace third-party ink once with HP bottles to rule out pigment mismatch
Blank instead of streaky?
Use Smart Tank blank pages for empty output.
Quality still poor?
We can read your nozzle check and walk through cleans for your exact model. Call (888) 423-7757 — available 24/7.