How to Replace & Align Canon Ink Cartridges

Canon printer cartridges supply ink and toner to the print head, which places the ink and toner on paper. Although small businesses commonly use all-in-one scanners, copiers and printers on a shared network, the method used to align a print cartridge is the same for non-networked Canon printers. If you're aligning a print cartridge on a networked Canon printer, though, you must use the host computer to access the cartridge alignment function.

Power down your Canon printer and lift the scanning unit to access its cartridge carrier.

Press downward on the cartridge housing to access the cartridges. Remove the cartridges from their carrier by lifting them straight up. Do not lift at a left or right angle as they will not release.

Remove the orange film from the cartridges to expose their nozzles. Insert the cartridges straight down in the Canon’s cartridge carrier.

Power up your Canon printer. Load a single sheet of plain paper of the same type you will use for your day-to-day operations in the printer. Navigate through your printer’s menu by way of the control panel and select the “Align Cartridge” option if available. Consult your printer’s operating manual for detailed instructions on aligning the cartridge. If the option is not available, you can also align the cartridge through your computer.

Click the Start button and select “Devices and Printers.”

Right-click the printer containing the cartridge you want to align and select “Printer properties” from the pop-up menu to open the Properties menu.

Click the "Print Head Alignment” icon to open the Start Print Head Alignment window.

Click “Align Print Head” to print a printer alignment page. Your new print cartridge is aligned.