Hendrik, this happens to me with my older Epson 1520 as well. During the winter months, it's only a problem if I am printing for several hours on end. During the rest of the year, it happens after a few prints unless I keep the air conditioning such that the ambient temperature is below 70 degrees F. Regular, thorough cleaning, especially when this problem occurs helps a little, letting me run one or two clean prints, but the "smearies" soon return. While this older 1520 was still under warranty, I returned it to Epson for service on this issue, supplying sample prints. They tried... when the printer came back, it looked like it had been steam-cleaned, and they'd run several clean prints as their "proof." But as soon as our weather warmed up, the problem returned. Ultimately I think this is an atmospheric problem related to heat and possibly humidity, and that it might crop up especially with printers that get a ton of use. At least, it seems so in my case. Try cleaning your 1200 thoroughly (get out the cotton swabs and the windex!), and see if you can lower the temperature in the room... any improvements? Best regards, Deborah Campbell http://www.scratchpadstudio.com In a message dated 06/26/2000 12:42:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time, hfleming@pixie.co.za writes: << Help, my Epson 1200 has developed that habit of drawing lines on my prints. It seems as though the residual ink isn't swiped off the head at the end of each pass, and the ink just gets smeared over the print on the next pass of the head. Anyone had the same experience, or does anyone have advice?>> - * WIN a $500 Gift Certificate in our Father's Day Photo Contest! * * http://www.pcphotoreview.com/go.cfm?ref=lebenpr * * Shop smart! Read product reviews of photo printers and digital cameras *