HP ENVY Inspire 7920e photo alignment off

[ED1313]

I tried printing photos for the first time today, using HP's photo paper that is provided when buying the printer (HP Advanced Photo Paper Glossy 5x5in and HP Matte Photo Paper 4x6in).

For both papers, the pictures printed out of alignment/at an angle/slightly diagonally, borderless on/off didn't matter. Every document I print is perfectly straight, but the moment I try to print a picture, its like I'm asking it to do a handstand. The tray doesn't matter, photo or main tray both print crooked when its photos...

There were no error messages at all. I'm printing wirelessly from a Win11 Desktop. I am not aware of any recent software or driver changes since I only brought the printer recently and was trying this for the first time. I did the print head alignment, it worked perfectly fine.

Does anybody know how to fix this? I'm a little bummed about both the waste of paper and ink, and the fact that I specifically brought this printer to print pictures and it apparently can't even manage to do that right.

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @ED1313,

Welcome to the HP Support Community! 

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding your printer's alignment!

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.

Try these steps:

Check the Paper Settings

Load the Correct Paper:

• Ensure that you are loading HP Advanced Photo Paper Glossy 5x5in or HP Matte Photo Paper 4x6in correctly.
• The paper should be loaded print-side down in the photo tray.

Adjust Paper Guides:

• Make sure the paper guides in the photo tray are snug against the edges of the paper. Loose guides can cause alignment issues.

Select the Paper Size and Type:

• Before printing, ensure you have selected the correct paper size and type in the printer driver settings (e.g., 5x5in Glossy Photo Paper or 4x6in Matte Photo Paper).

Set Borderless Printing:

• If you want borderless prints, select the borderless option in the print settings. Ensure the photo paper is capable of borderless printing.

Align and Clean the Printhead

Align the Printhead:

• Open the HP Smart app on your computer or mobile device.
• Select your printer, then go to Print Quality Tools.
• Select Align Printheads or Align Cartridges and follow the on-screen instructions.

Clean the Printhead (if necessary):

• If alignment alone does not solve the issue, you may need to clean the printhead to ensure proper ink flow and print quality.
• Access the Print Quality Tools again and select Clean Printheads.

Check and Update Printer Firmware

1. Check for Firmware Updates:
   • Open the HP Smart app.
   • Select your printer, then go to Printer Settings.
   • Check for and install any available firmware updates to ensure your printer has the latest features and fixes.

Recalibrate the Printer

1. Recalibrate the Paper Handling:
   • Power off the printer and power it back on.
   • Print a test photo to check if the alignment issue persists.
   • Attempt to recalibrate the paper handling by following any specific instructions in the HP Smart app or user manual.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad I could help! 😊 If this resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" Your feedback not only keeps us going but also helps others find the solution faster! 👍✨

Take care and have an amazing day ahead! 🚀

Best regards,

[ED1313]

Dear @Kuroi_Kenshi,

Thank you for your suggestions. I had done all of these before writing my question here.

Check the Paper Settings: I loaded the paper correctly and adjusted the guides, not that there is much to adjust with 5x5in since that is also as far as the guides will go. Borderless was also out of alignment/crooked, it was simply less visible than with border.

Align and Clean the Printhead: I aligned the print head 3 times. It prints regular documents fine, but not pictures. I tried to clean the printhead but it'd just sit there and do nothing for 10 minutes straight so I gave up on that.

Check and Update Printer Firmware: Done. Didn't change anything unfortunately.

Recalibrate the Printer: My printer is always unplugged when not in use, so I can confirm that this did not do anything. Unfortunately, I did not receive a user manual with the printer, only a reference guide and setup guide.

As it is, I still have the issues, and they don't seem to be going away. I will not be attaching a picture of the actual photos I printed to illustrate the issue as I was attempting to print personal pictures, but I have attempted to illustrate using 2 sheets of paper:

If white is the printer paper, then blue is how the photo is printed on it. As you can see, this would be extremely annoying, as it would have white triangles on some corners, and swallow up parts of the picture. The issue was visible with borderless printing as well. It only happens with photos/images.

Best regards,

ED1313

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @ED1313,

Thank you for the response.

Since those steps didn't help, try these advanced steps:

Reinstall the Printer Driver

Sometimes, the issue might be due to corrupted driver settings specifically for photo formats.

Uninstall the printer from Control Panel > Devices and Printers.

Go to Programs and Features and uninstall HP Smart and HP Printer Driver Software.

Restart the PC.

Reinstall the latest full-feature driver from: https://support.hp.com

Set up the printer again via HP Smart.

Manually Set Image Dimensions Before Printing

HP Smart sometimes auto-crops or scales oddly.

Open the image using Photoshop, Paint, or Windows Photo Viewer.

Manually resize the canvas to exactly match the photo paper size (e.g., 5x5" or 4x6") before printing.

Ensure scaling is set to 100% and "Fit to Page" is unchecked.

Try Printing from different software.

Use a different photo printing app like

Windows Photo App

IrfanView

Adobe Lightroom

HP Smart (Mobile App)

Sometimes, HP Smart on desktop applies inconsistent margins.

Print in landscape vs. portrait.

In the printer dialog box, switch between Portrait and Landscape.

On certain HP printers, this affects how borderless printing aligns.

This has worked for many users with the same issue.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad I could help! 😊 If this resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" Your feedback not only keeps us going but also helps others find the solution faster! 👍✨

Take care and have an amazing day ahead! 🚀

Best regards,