A method of identifying at least one malfunctioning nozzle in a digital printing press, said digital printing press including a plurality of nozzles, the method comprising the procedures of: printing a design on a substrate, said design being printed by said plurality of nozzles depositing ink on said substrate; acquiring at least one image of the printed design; identifying at least one artifact (118, 120) in the image of said printed design; printing a combined pattern when said at least one artifact is identified, said combined pattern including a respective combined color pattern for each color being printed, each said combined color pattern including a plurality of K rows (302 1, 302 2,..., 302 n) printed 15 across said substrate, each row of said plurality of rows including a respective plurality of nozzle mark groups (304, 306, 308) and at least one nozzle locator (316 1, 316 2, 316 3,..., 316 n), each said nozzle mark group including nozzle marks associated with a first plurality of adjacent nozzles, each adjacent pair of said nozzle mark groups spaced apart by a spacing corresponding to a second plurality of nozzles, said first plurality of nozzles is defined by a sample width 2J, wherein J is a positive integer, the first plurality of nozzles corresponding to 2J + 1, and said second plurality of nozzles is defined by a nozzle sampling period K, wherein the second plurality of nozzles corresponds to K - 2J nozzles, said sample width and said nozzle sampling period are defined in units of nozzles, said second plurality of nozzles do not eject ink at the respective row thereof, nozzles ejecting ink in one row are offset by one nozzle relative to the nozzles ejecting ink in an adjacent row; acquiring an image of said combined pattern; detecting nozzle mark groups in each of said plurality of rows of the respective combined color pattern for each color being printed in said image of said combined pattern; and identifying said at least one malfunctioning nozzle according to at least a portion of said combined pattern, said nozzle sampling period, said sample width, said at least one nozzle locator, and a relative density of a color printed by each nozzle. printing a design on a substrate, said design being printed by said plurality of nozzles depositing ink on said substrate; acquiring at least one image of the printed design; identifying at least one artifact (118, 120) in the image of said printed design; printing a combined pattern when said at least one artifact is identified, said combined pattern including a respective combined color pattern for each color being printed, each said combined color pattern including a plurality of K rows (302 1, 302 2,..., 302 n) printed 15 across said substrate, each row of said plurality of rows including a respective plurality of nozzle mark groups (304, 306, 308) and at least one nozzle locator (316 1, 316 2, 316 3,..., 316 n), each said nozzle mark group including nozzle marks associated with a first plurality of adjacent nozzles, each adjacent pair of said nozzle mark groups spaced apart by a spacing corresponding to a second plurality of nozzles, said first plurality of nozzles is defined by a sample width 2J, wherein J is a positive integer, the first plurality of nozzles corresponding to 2J + 1, and said second plurality of nozzles is defined by a nozzle sampling period K, wherein the second plurality of nozzles corresponds to K - 2J nozzles, said sample width and said nozzle sampling period are defined in units of nozzles, said second plurality of nozzles do not eject ink at the respective row thereof, nozzles ejecting ink in one row are offset by one nozzle relative to the nozzles ejecting ink in an adjacent row; acquiring an image of said combined pattern; detecting nozzle mark groups in each of said plurality of rows of the respective combined color pattern for each color being printed in said image of said combined pattern; and identifying said at least one malfunctioning nozzle according to at least a portion of said combined pattern, said nozzle sampling period, said sample width, said at least one nozzle locator, and a relative density of a color printed by each nozzle. acquiring an image of said combined pattern; detecting nozzle mark groups in each of said plurality of rows of the respective combined color pattern for each color being printed in said image of said combined pattern; and identifying said at least one malfunctioning nozzle according to at least a portion of said combined pattern, said nozzle sampling period, said sample width, said at least one nozzle locator, and a relative density of a color printed by each nozzle.