HP Printer Test Page
Print a full test sheet for your HP printer.
Print settings
Print this on the paper you normally use, then examine each section. What a healthy result looks like is described above each pattern on the sheet.
HP · RunTheTests HP Printer Test Page · print at 100% · plain paper
Colour bars
Grayscale — 0% to 100% in 10% steps
CMYK — solid ink blocks
Text sharpness — decreasing sizes (all should be crisp and readable)
12pt — The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 0123456789 iIlL1 oO0
9pt — The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 0123456789 iIlL1 oO0
7pt — The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 0123456789 iIlL1 oO0
5pt — The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 0123456789 iIlL1 oO0
4pt — The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 0123456789 iIlL1 oO0
Alignment — registration crosshairs (lines should meet cleanly)
How this test page works
A full diagnostic sheet sized for HP printers: colour bars, a grayscale wedge, solid CMYK blocks, multi-size text and alignment marks together on one page. HP spans two quite different technologies — thermal inkjet in the DeskJet, ENVY and OfficeJet lines, and laser in the LaserJet range — and this sheet is the same visual test for both, because what you are judging is the printed result rather than the mechanism that produced it. Print it, read each section against the guidance beside it, and the fault you can see narrows what to do next.
What the results mean
- On an HP inkjet
- Most consumer HP cartridges carry the printhead on the cartridge itself. A colour that will not recover after cleaning usually means a new cartridge rather than a dead printer.
- On a LaserJet
- There are no nozzles. Repeating marks, faded bands and vertical streaks point at toner distribution, the imaging drum or a dirty transfer path instead.
- Visual only
- This sheet cannot read your printer. It gives you a known pattern; the printer's own Print Quality Diagnostic is the authoritative reference when the two disagree.
Common problems and fixes
- A colour is missing and cleaning cycles are not fixing it
- On most consumer HP inkjets the printhead is integrated into the cartridge, which changes the calculation entirely — a clog that survives two cleaning cycles is usually a failing cartridge, and replacing it replaces the head at the same time. That is the opposite of the advice for a printer with a permanent head, where repeated cleaning is worth more.
- The printer reports a cartridge problem after I changed ink
- HP cartridges carry a chip, and a printer enrolled in Instant Ink will refuse cartridges outside the subscription — including ones you bought outright — if the plan lapses. Check the subscription state before assuming a hardware fault, since the symptom is a cartridge error rather than anything about print quality.
- Output from a LaserJet has marks that repeat down the page
- Measure the gap between them. A defect repeating at a fixed interval is a rotating component making one revolution — the drum or a roller — and the interval identifies which. Cleaning does nothing for this; the affected part needs replacing, and it is the one fault where the pattern tells you more than the appearance.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the built-in test on an HP printer?
On most current models it is the Print Quality Diagnostic Page, reachable from the HP Smart app, or from the printer's own embedded web server by typing its IP address into a browser on the same network. Many panel-equipped models also carry it under Setup, Tools or Reports. That print bypasses your browser's colour conversion, so use it as the reference when it disagrees with this sheet.
Does this work for both DeskJet and LaserJet?
Yes, because you are judging the printed page rather than the technology behind it. What changes is the interpretation: streaks and missing colours on an inkjet point at the printhead or cartridge, while on a laser the same symptoms point at toner, the drum or the transfer path. The guidance beside each section covers both readings.
What paper should I use?
Whatever you normally print on, so the result reflects real use. Plain office paper is right for diagnosing faults in colour, text and alignment. Only switch to photo paper if you are specifically judging photographic output, where plain stock cannot hold the ink load or the black density to give a meaningful answer.