Epson Stylus Photo R260
9/06 Epson Stylus Photo R260 - 11
4. Click Print or Next. The nozzle check pattern prints:
5. If there are no gaps or lines, click 
Finish.
If there are gaps or lines, or the test patterns are faint, click 
Clean. Then skip to step 3 below to clean the nozzles.
Running the Head Cleaning Utility
1. Make sure the printer is turned on but not printing, and the 
red H ink light is off. (If the H ink light is flashing or on, you 
need to replace a cartridge; see page 4 for details.)
2. Do one of the following:
❏ Windows: Right-click the   printer icon on your 
taskbar (in the lower right corner of your screen). Select 
Head Cleaning.
❏ Macintosh: Open the 
Applications folder and select 
EPSON Printer Utility2. Select SP R260 Series in the 
printer list, click 
OK, then select Head Cleaning.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to clean the print 
head.
Cleaning takes several seconds. The printer makes noise and 
the green P power light flashes.
Caution: Never turn off the printer while head cleaning is in 
progress; you may damage it. Do not insert the CD/DVD tray until 
cleaning has finished.
4. When the green P power light stops flashing, make sure 
paper is loaded in the printer, then do one of the following:
❏ Windows: Click 
Print nozzle check pattern, then click 
Print.
❏ Macintosh: Click 
Confirmation, then click Next.
The nozzle check pattern prints.
5. If the nozzle check pattern has no white lines or gaps (as 
shown below), click 
Finish.
If the pattern has white lines or gaps (as shown below), click 
Clean to clean the print head again.
If you don’t see any improvement after cleaning four times, 
you can also turn the printer off and wait overnight—this 
allows any dried ink to soften—and then try cleaning the 
print head again.
Aligning the Print Head
If your printouts look grainy or blurry, or you see light or dark 
lines, you may need to align the print head.
You may also see lines in your printouts if your cartridges are 
low on ink or you need to clean the print head.
Before you align the print head, make sure the CD/DVD tray 
is not inserted in the printer, and make sure the front tray is in 
the paper (lower) position. If it is not, lift the tray lever up to 
reposition the front tray.
1. Turn on the printer.
2. Make sure none of the lights are indicating errors. See 
“Control Panel” on page 4 for details.
3. Load several sheets of plain, letter-size paper.
4. Do one of the following:
Print head does 
not need to be 
cleaned:
Print head needs 
to be cleaned: