The phenomenon of crosstalk is well known in the ink jet printing industry. The shared mechanical components and interconnected fluid channels of an ink jet printhead may cause jet crosstalk between adjacent channels. Crosstalk is well known for its negative impact on image quality because it causes drop velocity and volume variations. Excessive crosstalk may even lead to jet deaths. Crosstalk can vary significantly with different operating parameters, jetting frequencies, and printhead designs. To meet the image quality and reliability requirements of a high speed printhead for industrial printing applications, it is necessary to understand the nature of crosstalk problems. A printhead design should be optimized to minimize the crosstalk effects on its performance.This paper presents an analysis of crosstalk of ink jet printheads and the potential effects of crosstalk on image quality. It categorizes modes of crosstalk that arise out of fundamentally distinct physical phenomena, and describes how these effects conform to the principle of superposition. Included are coupled field finite element analyses which confirm potential sources of crosstalk. The results of these studies show how an understanding on the root causes of crosstalk can lead to improved printhead designs.