Abstract: An ink-jet printer includes a cartridge having a presser foot thereon for adjusting the gap distance between the ink-ejecting nozzles of a cartridge carried by the carrier and the surface of a sheet of paper which receives the ejected ink. The presser foot is spring biased and slidably mounted on the carrier for movement in a direction generally normal to the plane of the paper. Cartridges are provided with surface features which vary according to the optimum nozzle-to-paper gap distance for best print quality. When a cartridge is mounted on the carrier, the surface feature on the cartridge moves the presser foot toward the paper feed path to automatically adjust the nozzle-to-paper gap distance to the optimum distance for the mounted cartridge. The surface features on the cartridges may be recesses of varying depths or projections of varying heights.