Printer Color Test Page

One sheet that tests every ink, the grays, fine lines and small text.

Prints one sheet on Letter or A4. To get a PDF, save it from the print window.

What to look for on the paper

  1. Pale stripes across a color block On an inkjet, blocked nozzles. Run the printer’s own nozzle check, then a head clean.
  2. A block in the wrong color, or missing One ink has run out or is not reaching the paper. Check that cartridge first.
  3. A green, pink or blue tint in the gray steps The color inks are out of balance, or one of them is weak.
  4. Stripes across the smooth fades Banding. Print again in the best quality mode and with the right paper type.
  5. The 100 mm ruler measures short The print window shrank the page. Set Scale to 100% and print again.

What each part of the sheet shows

Printer color test pageWhat the faults mean: reactionrally.com/printer-color-test-page/010203040506070809010001234100 mm and 4 inch rulersPrint at 100% scale, then measure these with a real ruler.Top: 100 mm. Bottom: 4 inches.Cyan blockMagenta blockYellow blockBlack blockRed blockGreen blockBlue blockCyan ramp, 10 steps102030405060708090100Magenta ramp, 10 steps102030405060708090100Yellow ramp, 10 steps102030405060708090100Red ramp, 10 steps102030405060708090100Green ramp, 10 steps102030405060708090100Blue ramp, 10 steps102030405060708090100Gray step wedge, 11 steps0102030405060708090100Spectrum sweepSmooth gray gradientHighlight patches: 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%Shadow patches: 92%, 94%, 96%, 98%Neutral gray panels: 25%, 50%, 75%Skin-tone strip, 6 swatchesFamiliar color swatchesSky blueLeaf greenOrange peelBrick redSandDenimBlack hairlines: 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 pt0.25 pt0.5 pt0.75 pt1 pt0.25 pt0.5 pt0.75 pt1 ptColored hairlines0.5 pt1 ptConverging line fanText ladder, 4 pt to 12 pt4 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.5 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.6 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my box with five dozen7 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my box with8 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my10 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my12 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judgeReversed text ladder4 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.5 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.6 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my box with five dozen7 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my box with8 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. Pack my10 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judge my12 pt Sphinx of black quartz, judgeRegistration crossesMargin frame and corner marks: all four sides of the frame should print.DatePrinterPaperQuality

Next step Put color bars on the screen too

What each part of the sheet shows

Scale and margins 2

  • 100 mm and 4 inch rulers Measure them with a real ruler. If the 100 mm line comes up short, the print window shrank the page to fit. Set Scale to 100% or Actual size and print again, because every other size on the sheet depends on it.
  • Margin frame and corner marks A thin frame round the whole sheet with a tick in each corner. All four sides should print. A clipped edge means the page was shifted or scaled, or the paper in the tray is smaller than the size chosen in the print window. Letter is about 18 mm shorter than A4 and about 6 mm wider.
Show all 29 parts of the sheet (27 more)

Ink blocks: cyan, magenta, yellow and black 4

  • Cyan block Should print as one flat, even field. Pale horizontal stripes on an inkjet mean cyan nozzles are blocked, so run the printer's own nozzle check before you change any setting.
  • Magenta block Judge evenness first and hue second. A web page can only name this patch as red plus blue light, and the driver picks the ink mix, so the printed patch may not be magenta ink alone.
  • Yellow block Yellow faults hide on white paper. Yellow ink absorbs blue light, so under a blue light the block turns dark and any missing stripes stand out.
  • Black block The darkest patch on the sheet, with sharp edges. A brown or green black may be built from the three color inks, which together give only an imperfect black.

Two-ink blocks: red, green and blue 3

  • Red block Red is magenta plus yellow. If it prints magenta, yellow is missing. If it prints orange or yellow, magenta is weak.
  • Green block Green is cyan plus yellow. A green that prints cyan has lost yellow, and one that prints yellow has lost cyan. Expect it duller than on screen: some screen colors are outside the range inks can reach, and the driver swaps in the nearest color it can print.
  • Blue block Blue is cyan plus magenta. A blue that prints magenta has lost cyan, and one that prints cyan has lost magenta.

Color ramps 7

  • Cyan ramp, 10 steps Ten steps from 10% to 100%. You should be able to count all ten. A missing 10% step means light tints are being dropped. If 90% and 100% look the same, the paper setting is laying down too much ink.
  • Magenta ramp, 10 steps A pale tint is printed as widely spaced dots, so grain shows first in the 10% to 30% steps. Speckle there is common in draft mode, so print at best quality before you judge it.
  • Yellow ramp, 10 steps The pale end sits close to paper white. Write the lightest step you can still see on the sheet. If that number is higher next time, yellow is fading or clogging.
  • Red ramp, 10 steps Two inks have to fade together here. A ramp that leans orange at one end and pink at the other shows magenta and yellow not tracking each other: a paper-type or profile setting, not a blocked nozzle.
  • Green ramp, 10 steps On a color laser, look down the edge of each step for a thin fringe of cyan or yellow. That is a registration error: two toner layers landing slightly apart.
  • Blue ramp, 10 steps The darkest steps of the red, green and blue ramps ask for two full inks, the heaviest load on the sheet. If the paper ripples or ink pools there, use a heavier paper or pick the paper type that matches it.
  • Spectrum sweep One continuous band through every hue. It should flow without hard edges. A sudden jump usually marks hues where the screen color is outside the printer's range and the driver swapped in the nearest printable one.

Grays, highlights and shadows 5

  • Gray step wedge, 11 steps Paper white to full black in steps of 10%. Every step should be neutral. Many printers mix color inks into their grays, so a green, pink or blue tint here is the most sensitive sign that one color is weak.
  • Smooth gray gradient A continuous fade from white to black. Stripes across it are banding: try the best quality mode first. On a laser, broad soft-edged stripes running down the page point to the toner cartridge.
  • Highlight patches: 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% Four near-white grays. The lowest one you can tell from bare paper is this printer's highlight limit on this paper. Pale skies and white clothing lose detail below it.
  • Shadow patches: 92%, 94%, 96%, 98% Four near-black grays set against full black. If they all merge, shadow detail in photos will block up. Choosing the correct paper type in the driver changes how much ink goes down.
  • Neutral gray panels: 25%, 50%, 75% Large flat areas show what small patches hide: mottling, roller marks and, on a laser, a fainter repeat of the blocks printed above them, which points to the drum's charge roller.

Skin tones and familiar colors 2

  • Skin-tone strip, 6 swatches Six flat skin tones from light to deep, drawn as plain color so the sheet needs no photo. Eyes are fussy about skin: a slight green or magenta cast that passes in a sky is obvious here.
  • Familiar color swatches Sky blue, leaf green, orange peel, brick red, sand and denim. You know how these should look without a reference, so they are the quickest check that a print will look right to other people.

Fine lines, small text and registration 6

  • Black hairlines: 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 pt The thinnest line is 0.25 pt, which is 0.09 mm. Lines run across and down the page. If one direction is crisp and the other ragged, the fault follows the travel of the print head or the paper.
  • Colored hairlines Cyan, magenta, yellow, red, green and blue lines at 0.5 and 1 pt. A colored hairline is built from dots, so it breaks up sooner than a black one of the same width.
  • Converging line fan Lines that draw closer together toward one end. Mark the point where they merge into gray: that is the finest spacing this printer holds on this paper. Ink spreads into uncoated paper, so plain paper merges sooner.
  • Text ladder, 4 pt to 12 pt One sentence set at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 pt. Type at 4 pt has a body 1.4 mm tall. Write down the smallest size at which the hollows of e and a stay open.
  • Reversed text ladder The same sizes as white letters on a black bar. Ink and toner spread into the letters, so reversed text fills in at a larger size than black text does. The gap between the two ladders shows how far ink spreads on this paper.
  • Registration crosses Each cross is half black and half one color, meeting end to end. A colored half that steps sideways from the black half is out of line with it: run head alignment on an inkjet or color registration on a laser.

How this sheet was made: The sheet and every note on it were made for this page. The skin-tone and familiar-color swatches are this page's own choices and follow no published chart. Facts were checked on 19 September 2026. Checked against: Wikipedia: Subtractive color, Wikipedia: CMYK color model, Wikipedia: Gamut, Wikipedia: Inkjet printing, Wikipedia: Laser printing, Wikipedia: Paper size, MDN: print-color-adjust.

How it works

This printer color test is one sheet: each ink alone and in pairs, ten-step ramps, a gray wedge, fine lines and text down to 4 pt.

Read the full guide

Color test printer settings: 100% scale

Press Print test page. In the print window choose Letter or A4, portrait, and set Scale to 100% or Actual size, never Fit to page. Then measure the 100 mm and 4 inch rulers on the paper.

Read the paper

The list by the sheet names five faults to look for. The two-ink blocks show which ink is missing: a Red block that prints magenta has lost yellow. No web page can fire one cartridge alone, so confirm a fault with the printer's own nozzle check.

Print from a saved PDF

A saved printer color test pdf prints from any PDF viewer. Choose Actual size there, because Fit and Shrink change the rulers.

  • Fill in the blanks at the foot of a good print and keep it. The next sheet is easier to judge beside it.
  • Judge the sheet in daylight by a window. A warm lamp adds a yellow cast of its own and hides a weak yellow ink.
  • Cleaning cycles use ink. After each, print the printer's own nozzle check, not this inkjet color test page, to see whether the gaps have closed.

Questions and answers

Why did the color blocks print pale or white?

The sheet is drawn as filled shapes, so it prints without the Background graphics box. Pale blocks point to draft quality, the wrong paper type or low ink. A white block means that ink is not reaching the paper.

Is there a color test page PDF to download?

Not as a file. Press Print test page. On a computer or Android, choose Save as PDF as the printer. On an iPhone, tap the share arrow on the print screen, then Save to Files. The color test pdf holds the same sheet.

Why do the printed colors not match my screen?

A screen adds red, green and blue light. Paper takes light away with cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink. The ranges differ, so some screen colors print as the nearest ink color. Use this sheet to compare one print with the last.

Does it work with a laser printer?

Yes, with any printer a browser can print to, Brother, Canon, Epson and HP included. A laser has no nozzles. Colored fringes mean the toner layers are out of register, and toner that rubs off means the fuser is too cool.

Can I use it as a sublimation color test print?

Yes. This page does not flip the sheet, so turn on Mirror image in the printer's own settings. Print on transfer paper and press onto polyester or a coated blank at roughly 195 to 215 °C. Judge the colors on the pressed blank.

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