Methods of producing printed microarray

The application relates to a method for manufacturing a microarray and verifying the quality of said microarray and it comprises: providing at least one reagent, loading said at least one reagent in a dispensing print head, in a predetermined arrangement, moving the print head with respect to a substrate e.g. nitrocellulose film and dispensing said at least one reagent on the substrate, during a print pass, to obtain a microarray. The substrate is then illuminated and an image of the printed microarray on the substrate obtained using a camera which is then processed to verify the quality of the microarray. The illumination means and the camera are connected to and move together with the print head with respect to the substrate, the illumination means and the camera being adapted to move behind the print head. Additionally an optimal time interval may be determined, dependent on the reagent, between printing and illumination to optimize the contrast of the image obtained. The distance between print head and camera may be determined to adjust the speed of the print head to allow the image to be captured after the determined time interval. The substrate may be provided with a reflective surface positioned from the camera's perspective behind the substrate and the illumination may be pulsed light.