Alignment of nozzles within a printhead and between interlaced printheads is implemented with software. The z-profile design of the printhead enables compact arrays. Actuators (Silicon MEMS die with drop ejectors) are positioned within a printhead so that an overlapping region with a vernier scale guarantees 2 nozzles will be aligned inside the overlapping region to within 1 μm. The rows of nozzles in each actuator have three different regions: the normal 1200 npi pitch region (21.166 μm nozzle spacing) in the center, the lower pitch region at one end, and the higher pitch region at the other end. Two consecutive actuators (either inside a printhead or in adjacent printheads) are placed such that the lower pitch region of one of them overlaps with the higher pitch region of the other. By jetting with appropriate nozzles in the overlap region, a smooth transition in the printed pixels is achieved and expensive, time-consuming mechanical alignment is eliminated.