Methods and systems for detecting alignment of a substrate during a printing process are described. In an embodiment, a printing apparatus may comprise an apparatus polarization area. A substrate may be configured with a substrate polarization area. The substrate may be arranged on the printing apparatus during printing such that the substrate polarization area overlaps the apparatus polarization area to form an alignment area. During printing, light may be radiated onto the alignment area to generate polarized light. The polarized light may be received by a polarized light receiving device. Characteristics of the light received by the polarized light receiving device may be monitored for variations. The variations may indicate that the substrate is not properly aligned for printing on the printing apparatus.