Abstract. This paper shows the theoretical predictions of the outer-shell ionization effect on the positions of K 1,2 , K 1,3 , and K 2 X-ray lines for some 4d-transition metals (molybdenum and palladium) and 4f rare-earth elements (dysprosium and ytterbium). The ionization energy shifts have been evaluated using the multiconfi guration Dirac-Fock method, containing Breit interaction and quantum electrodynamic (QED) corrections. The presented results are important for obtaining the information about some parameters of plasma generated by different sources, especially by pulsed power machine and short-pulse lasers.