Your Canon PIXMA TS6420a was printing clean pages last week, and now you are pulling out photos with faded colors, text with white gaps running through it, or a page that is missing one color entirely. Print-quality problems on this all-in-one almost always trace back to a small set of causes, such as low ink in the FINE cartridges, a clogged print head, a mismatch between your paper and your settings, or rollers that need a quick clean. The good news is that the TS6420a gives you a full maintenance toolkit right on its operation panel, and you can work through it without any special equipment.
The fixes below are ordered from the quickest and gentlest to the more involved, with cartridge replacement, a settings reset, and Canon service saved for last. Start at the top and stop as soon as your prints look right again, because deeper steps such as Deep Cleaning use more ink than you need to spend on a problem a simpler fix would solve.
Confirm the FINE cartridges still have ink and sit properly
Low or empty ink is the most common reason for faint, streaky, or missing-color output, and it will also make a nozzle-check pattern print incomplete. The TS6420a uses two FINE cartridges, the PG-260 Pigment Black and the CL-261 Color, with XL versions available for higher yield. Before you run any cleaning cycle, rule out an empty cartridge.
Check the ink status and replace any cartridge that is empty. When you install a cartridge, confirm the orange protective tape has been removed, then press the cartridge down until it locks firmly into place. A cartridge that is not fully seated can produce the same symptoms as a clog.
Match your paper and print-quality settings to what you loaded
If your page size and media type settings do not match the size and type of paper you actually loaded, Canon states it is not possible to obtain the proper result. This is a frequent and easily overlooked cause of poor output, especially for photos and illustrations where an incorrect paper-type setting reduces color quality.
Open the print dialog on your computer or in the Canon PRINT app and verify the media type matches the paper in the tray. If you notice blurs or uneven colors, increase the print quality setting and retry the printing before you assume the hardware is at fault.
Load the paper with the correct side facing up
Printing on the wrong side of the sheet quietly ruins quality, and the orientation differs depending on which feeder you use. Canon's guidance is specific. When you load paper on the rear tray, load it with the printable side facing up. When you load paper in the cassette, load it with the printable side facing down.
Printing on the wrong side may cause unclear prints or prints with reduced quality. If a particular tray always gives you weak results, flip the stack and try again, since this single change resolves a surprising number of complaints.
Print a nozzle check to see exactly what is wrong
The nozzle check is your diagnostic. It prints a test pattern that shows whether ink is reaching the paper evenly, so you can tell a clog apart from a settings problem. Put A4 or Letter plain paper in the cassette first.
- 1.Press OK.
- 2.Select Maintenance.
- 3.Select Nozzle Check.
- 4.Choose Yes, then press OK.
Examine the printed pattern. If lines are missing or horizontal white streaks appear, the print head needs cleaning. If the pattern itself prints incompletely, your ink is likely low, so replace the affected cartridges before going further.
Clean the print head to clear the nozzles
Cleaning unclogs the nozzles and is the right next move when the nozzle check shows gaps or streaks. From the operation panel:
- 1.Press OK.
- 2.Select Maintenance.
- 3.Select Cleaning.
- 4.Choose Yes.
The cleaning cycle takes about 2 minutes, and afterward you can choose to print another nozzle check so you can confirm the improvement. Canon advises that if the problem is not resolved after cleaning the print head twice, you should clean the print head deeply. You can also run this same cleaning from your computer using the Canon IJ Printer Assistant Tool.
Step up to Deep Cleaning when standard cleaning falls short
Deep Cleaning is more thorough than a standard Cleaning, and it uses more ink, so reserve it for when two regular cleanings have not fixed the issue. From the operation panel:
- 1.Press OK.
- 2.Select Maintenance.
- 3.Select Deep Cleaning.
- 4.Choose Yes, then press OK to print a nozzle check.
If the results still have not improved, Canon's instruction is to turn off the power and clean the print head deeply again after 24 hours. Letting the printer rest gives stubborn dried ink time to soften, which often makes the second deep cleaning succeed where the first did not.
Align the print head if lines look crooked
If ruled lines appear misaligned, or your results are otherwise unsatisfactory even though ink is flowing, the print head likely needs alignment. Load TWO sheets of A4 or Letter plain paper in the cassette, then:
- 1.Press OK.
- 2.Select Maintenance.
- 3.Select Print Head Alignment - Auto.
- 4.Choose Yes, then press OK.
Automatic alignment takes about 4 to 5 minutes and adjusts the head position so text and lines come out sharp. Run it whenever ruled lines look off or your results are unsatisfactory after the head is otherwise printing cleanly.
Clean the paper feed rollers to stop smudges and misfeeds
Dirt or paper powder on the feed rollers can cause smudges on your prints or paper that misfeeds. Roller cleaning runs the rollers against blank sheets to wipe them clean. From the operation panel:
- 1.Press OK.
- 2.Select Maintenance.
- 3.Select Roller cleaning.
- 4.Choose Yes, then pick Rear tray or Cassette.
- 5.Let it spin once while empty.
- 6.Load THREE sheets of A4 or Letter plain paper and run it again.
Only do this when you actually need it, since repeated roller cleaning wears the rollers over time.
Replace the cartridge, reset to defaults, or contact Canon
If quality is still poor after repeated deep cleaning, the next move is to replace the FINE cartridge outright, since a failing cartridge cannot be cleaned back to health. After replacing it, run one more nozzle check to confirm.
If problems still persist, you can restore the printer's defaults from the operation panel and then reconfigure. Be aware this is a destructive step, as it returns your settings to the factory defaults, including your network configuration, so you will need to set everything up again afterward. Press OK > Device settings > Reset setting, then choose Reset all, which sets all settings you made to the printer back to the default. The LCD language and the print-head position are not reset by this. If you prefer a narrower reset, the same menu also offers Web service setup only, LAN settings only, and Settings only.
If the printer still cannot print properly after all of this, contact Canon support for service, since a persistent hardware fault may need professional repair.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many times should I clean the print head before trying Deep Cleaning?
Canon advises that if the problem is not resolved after cleaning the print head twice, you should clean the print head deeply. Run a nozzle check after each cleaning so you can see whether the streaks or gaps are improving before moving to the more ink-intensive Deep Cleaning.
Why does my nozzle-check pattern print incomplete or incorrectly?
An incomplete or incorrect nozzle-check pattern is often a sign of low ink. Check the levels in both FINE cartridges, the PG-260 black and the CL-261 color, replace any that are low or empty, and then print the pattern again before assuming the print head is clogged.
Which cartridges does the PIXMA TS6420a use?
The TS6420a uses two FINE cartridges, the PG-260 Pigment Black and the CL-261 Color. XL versions are available for both if you want higher page yield. When you install one, make sure the orange protective tape is removed and press it down until it locks into place.
My text and lines look crooked, not faded. Which fix applies?
That points to alignment rather than a clog. Load two sheets of plain A4 or Letter paper in the cassette and run OK > Maintenance > Print Head Alignment - Auto > Yes > OK. The automatic alignment takes about 4 to 5 minutes and adjusts the head position so text and lines come out sharp.
Will resetting the printer erase my Wi-Fi and other settings?
Choosing OK > Device settings > Reset setting > Reset all sets all settings you made back to the default, so you will need to reconfigure them, including your network. If you only want to clear network configuration, choose LAN settings only instead. The LCD language and the print-head position are not reset by either option.
