Text is not printed neatly by my printer – How to repair it?

Two years ago I bought a Canon PIXMA MG5550 which never had a problem until recently, when the printed text started to appear "blurry".

I printed the nozzle check pattern and this is the result:

It is supposed to be a perfect grid with straight lines. As you can see, it's not (what's printed is blurred, the picture is not out of focus). If you click the image to view it not scaled down, you will notice that certain lines on the grid even split in two and then merge back together. On the left, where it says "PGBK", you can see what I mean by blurry text. All the other cartridges (C, M, Y and BK) do not have this problem.

So far I tried:

• Executing the printer's built-in nozzle cleaning (several times)
• Executing the printer's built-in deep nozzle cleaning (several times)
• Replacing the PGBK cartridge with a brand new one
• Replacing all cartridges with new ones

Nothing has worked, and I will have to buy a new printer if I can't solve this.

Any advice?

From page 174 in the User manual, here's how to perform a printhead alignment:

1. Load 2 sheets of A4/Letter paper
2. Go to Printer Properties. Click the Maintenance tab and the Custom Settings
3. Tick "align heads manually" and click OK
4. Click Start Print Head Alignment and then click Align Print Head
5. Enter the numbers of the patterns with the least noticeable vertical streaks and click OK
6. Another pattern is printed. This time enter the numbers with the least noticeable horizontal streaks and click OK.

They also have a video that shows how to do it.

InkJet printers generally don't last too long, if cleaning the printing head's with new cartridges doesn't work, there's not really too much to do.

You can try asking the manufacturer, but if it's old you don't have much chance getting a replacement, I'm not sure any warranty would cover the print heads after a certain amount of time.

Laser printers are a lot more expensive, but if you print often they can save you a fortune in ink (toner) and also don't dry out anywhere near as quickly. I have a Brother Mono Laser Printer and the last time I went to print something I hadn't used it for over a year and it printed fine on the first page with no problem. Much better suited for Office scenarios too.