doug Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 For the majority of my printing requirements I prefer to print in Draft B & W. Things like bank statements and shopping list don't have to be presentable - just readable. I've discovered why I'm always having to install new colour printer cartridges. Apparently many website pages don't use Black for text but composite black so although I'm minimising on ink consumption I'm still using colour unnecessarily. I've just downloaded the latest available driver for the printer and still get the same results. Any suggestions to help me with my green credentials and save money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 For the majority of my printing requirements I prefer to print in Draft B & W. Things like bank statements and shopping list don't have to be presentable - just readable. I've discovered why I'm always having to install new colour printer cartridges. Apparently many website pages don't use Black for text but composite black so although I'm minimising on ink consumption I'm still using colour unnecessarily. I've just downloaded the latest available driver for the printer and still get the same results. Any suggestions to help me with my green credentials and save money!Tick the box for black and white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted September 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 This is what I do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 So I see, sorry I missed the B&W. I have an 895 and if set to B&W it prints pictures in grey scale, so if this doesn't work or yours I don't know the answer. Do you use any black ink? the reason for this question is that in some photo printers you can replace the black for a photo cartridge and was thinking it may not be working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted September 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 Yes black ink cart in the black slot. Some pages definitely print black in some section which are obviously black but the more I pear at the screen what, on the face of it seems black isn't - if you follow my meaning. I want to set up a printer default which only uses the black cartridge. Not interested in the colour picture at all. If I was interested I can always select the normal printer. Off upstairs now - bit bushed after a hectic week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 Try taking the colour cartridge out and see what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Remember that some printers (notably Lexmark) don't have black cartridge at all and rely on composite black (YMC) to form it. Many other printers "tone" the black using colours for reasons I've never quite been able to make out.Anyway, that's not the point of this. For a long time now I've used a low cost B/W laser printer for all of my "dogs-body" printing, reserving colour printers for just that - printing in colour.You can get a B/W laser printer for less than £50 (just), cartridges cost about £35 and will print 3,500 - 5,000 pages each. You can refill the cartridges fairly easily and then the costs are extremely low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Try taking the colour cartridge out and see what happensLots of printers refuse to work if you do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Thanks all for the replies. Looks as though I'stuck with it. Can't afford a Laser printer as I'll possibly have to get a new PC anyway (or M/B). It will all have tp wait 'till after we get back from our next holiday starting next Wednesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted September 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2007 >pops would you elaborate on reducing printing costs please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 18, 2007 Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 ebuyer are doing a HP B/W laser printer for £44-99 at the moment click here.I bought one of these about 6 - 9 months ago to replace a Samsung which worked so hard during its life here, I wore it out. No complaint about it, you understand, it certainly gave value for money. I used to refill the Samsung from bottles of powder toner which I obtained for about £15 for three (each bottle gave one and a half fills) and I could print almost two boxes of paper with that (box of paper = 5 reams = 2,500 sheets). Toner from click here.I don't print so much now and I haven't had to refill my HP machine yet but, I'm ready to do so.No need to refill if you don't want to. You can get new cartridges for about £35 or refurbished ones for about £20. Even at that price, it's cheaper than inkjets and for B/W printing I don't think it can be beaten.I still use inkjets for colour and I have an Epson R200 and a HP Officejet for that. I don't think that low cost laser printers are very good and that, coupled with the poor availability of laser photo-paper doesn't encourage me to change to a colour laser yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted September 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 Dascinating pops, will look into that on return from hol and have got my M/B replaced. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted September 18, 2007 Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 Is it possible the printer is going through a cleaning or alignment cycle during the print? A friend of mine has an inkjet which constantly uses the colour cartridges, even when he only prints back. Turning the printer off when not in use has helped, but it still goes through a cleaning cycle before every print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted September 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 No it's a sure giveaway when the so-called black text is printed out in a pink hue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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