Grayscale printer test page

What this grayscale test page is

This is a one-page grayscale printer test. It prints a 21-step gray wedge, two neutral-gray comparison rows, smooth gradients, three large gray blocks and text on gray backgrounds. It works on inkjet, laser and monochrome printers. Our black and white test page covers contrast, text and solid black; this page goes deeper on gray itself.

When to use it

Print it when black-and-white photos look tinted, when grays look warm or cool, when gradients show bands, or when large gray areas look blotchy. It is also a good check after you swap an ink or toner cartridge, or change the grayscale setting in the driver.

What good looks like

The wedge steps get steadily darker with no jumps. Both gray rows look neutral. The gradients fade smoothly. The three large blocks look flat from edge to edge. Text stays readable on every strip.

What bad looks like

A brown or green cast in the bottom row usually means the CMY mix is unbalanced, which matters because many inkjets build gray from colored ink. Horizontal light lines through the big blocks suggest a blocked nozzle; see streaks or lines. Steps that merge or jump point to banding or a quality setting that is too low. If all the grays look faded, read about faded print.

What to do next

Scan the QR code on the sheet, or open Read your result, to match what you see to a likely cause. For a closer look at each ink, use the CMYK test page or the nozzle check. Compare two prints by changing only one thing between them, such as the paper or the quality setting. Do not run repeated cleaning cycles after one bad print: reprint once, check again, then clean.