canon ip4200 b/w still uses color?

[Boco Merci]

I use the printer almost only with gray scale printing active. Still it
seems that my color cartridges are used intensively; I have to replace them
so often. Whereas the black cartrige lives quite long. And b/w pictures
seem to be not quite black. A little bluish I woud say. Is "gray printing"
using color some way? And can I force b/w?
TIA

 

[Burt]

I use the printer almost only with gray scale printing active. Still it
seems that my color cartridges are used intensively; I have to replace
them
so often. Whereas the black cartrige lives quite long. And b/w pictures
seem to be not quite black. A little bluish I woud say. Is "gray printing"
using color some way? And can I force b/w?
TIA

Boco - the large black cartridge (pigmented ink) is used when you select
the "plain paper" setting and NOT duplex printing. Duplex printing or paper
selection other than plain paper uses the dye-based inks to print colors
and/or black. Gray scale printing uses a combination of colors to come as
close as it can to black. Dye-based black inkjet inks just aren't jet-black.
If you mix a bit of black dye-based ink with some water you will see a blue
or purple tinge. I've also heard that some of these "black" inks also tend
toward a slight greenish hue.

All inkjet printers runs periodic automatic cleaning cycles to keep the
printhead nozzles clear of clogs. These cleaning cycles use ink from all
the cartridges even though you don't print color documents or photos. The
inkjet printer manufacturers expect you to use their own brand inks and
still run these cleaning cycles as they know that there is the potential for
the printhead nozzles to clog up with dried ink if you don't print fairly
frequently.

 

[BR549]

Boco - the large black cartridge (pigmented ink) is used when you select
the "plain paper" setting and NOT duplex printing. Duplex printing or
paper selection other than plain paper uses the dye-based inks to print
colors and/or black. Gray scale printing uses a combination of colors to
come as close as it can to black. Dye-based black inkjet inks just aren't
jet-black. If you mix a bit of black dye-based ink with some water you
will see a blue or purple tinge. I've also heard that some of these
"black" inks also tend toward a slight greenish hue.

All inkjet printers runs periodic automatic cleaning cycles to keep the
printhead nozzles clear of clogs. These cleaning cycles use ink from all
the cartridges even though you don't print color documents or photos. The
inkjet printer manufacturers expect you to use their own brand inks and
still run these cleaning cycles as they know that there is the potential
for the printhead nozzles to clog up with dried ink if you don't print
fairly frequently.

I am curious about your comment about "grayscale" printing using color. I
have an S520 and in printing preferences with grayscale checked, if I look
in Manual, Color Adjustments settings, all Color Balance settings are
grayed out and only black intensity is a choice to change. If I uncheck
grayscale and look at Manual, Color Adjustment settings, then all 3 colors
and black settings for Color Balance are available to be changed. This to
me would make it appear that when grayscale is checked that only the black
ink is used.

 

[Boco Merci]

Boco - the large black cartridge (pigmented ink) is used when you

select the "plain paper" setting and NOT duplex printing. Duplex
printing or paper selection other than plain paper uses the dye-based
inks to print colors and/or black.

I could not find this info in the help files, I tried your tip out and You
Are So Right! I used te set my printer to duplex printing to be more
economic. Ironic, isn't it?

 

[measekite]

I could not find this info in the help files, I tried your tip out and You
Are So Right! I used te set my printer to duplex printing to be more
economic. Ironic, isn't it?

No it is not. It still may be more econcomic. If you have a mailing
you may save an extra 40 cent stamp. Or you may use half the amount the
paper and save half the space so you do not have to buy more file
cabinets. You still pay for the ink but use different colors. So the
savings are not what you think.

 

[Burt]

(snip)

I am curious about your comment about "grayscale" printing using color. I
have an S520 and in printing preferences with grayscale checked, if I look
in Manual, Color Adjustments settings, all Color Balance settings are
grayed out and only black intensity is a choice to change. If I uncheck
grayscale and look at Manual, Color Adjustment settings, then all 3 colors
and black settings for Color Balance are available to be changed. This to
me would make it appear that when grayscale is checked that only the black
ink is used.

I may be mistaken about grayscale printing using any but the dye-based
black. I am pretty certain, however, that when anything other than plain
paper is selected and an all black/gray tone image is printed you will use
some of the color carts as well as the black dye-based cart. I've also read
that when printing black images like text with plain paper and duplex
selected you get black made up of the black dye-based ink plus some of the
color cart inks. Has something to do with drying time and possibly
bleed-through on the paper as I recall. I can also tell you, from my
experience with the i960 printer six color printer, that I have had better
success printing black and white photos by leaving color selected and not
selecting grayscale!

 

[Tony]

I am curious about your comment about "grayscale" printing using color. I
have an S520 and in printing preferences with grayscale checked, if I look
in Manual, Color Adjustments settings, all Color Balance settings are
grayed out and only black intensity is a choice to change. If I uncheck
grayscale and look at Manual, Color Adjustment settings, then all 3 colors
and black settings for Color Balance are available to be changed. This to
me would make it appear that when grayscale is checked that only the black
ink is used.

The printer uses only the 5BK cartridge when printing grayscale on plain paper
or envelopes.
When duplexing with plain paper it uses a combination of 5BK, 8C, 8Y and 8M and
when duplexing with "Photo Paper Plus Double Sided" it uses 8BK, 8C, 8Y and 8M
inks.
This results in a slight deterioration in black quality when duplexing, this is
true of most if not all of the pixma range with duplexing capability.
In all cases the number of passes of the printhead increases with the
definition required.
As Burt has explained, all of the inks are used in the printers automatic head
cleaning routine. This cannot be turned off and if it could it would result in
premature printhead failure.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Burt]

(snip)

The printer uses only the 5BK cartridge when printing grayscale on plain
paper
or envelopes.
When duplexing with plain paper it uses a combination of 5BK, 8C, 8Y and
8M and
when duplexing with "Photo Paper Plus Double Sided" it uses 8BK, 8C, 8Y
and 8M
inks.
This results in a slight deterioration in black quality when duplexing,
this is
true of most if not all of the pixma range with duplexing capability.
In all cases the number of passes of the printhead increases with the
definition required.
As Burt has explained, all of the inks are used in the printers automatic
head
cleaning routine. This cannot be turned off and if it could it would
result in
premature printhead failure.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Tony - thanks for clarifying my muddled, gray-scale explanation!

Burt

 

[Tony]

(snip)

Tony - thanks for clarifying my muddled, gray-scale explanation!

Burt

Burt
You are never "muddled".
Tony

 

[Gernot Hassenpflug]

Hi
Thanks for clarifying that the Canon uses colour inks when duplex
printing. I'm finding it an extremely expensive printer to run as a
result and would not recommend it. I was sold it on the grounds that it
would be economical with its big black ink tank and separate colour
tanks so they would only have to be replaced if used. Now I'm finding
that I have to run to the cartridge re-fillers all the time because -
even though I'm not printing in colour - my colour cartridges are being
run down. My previous printer had a separate colour tank with all the
colours in and a black tank, and was much more economical - so this idea
that separate colour tanks is cheaper seems to be a myth. In fact - you
just have more cartridges to keep refilling - and its seems from your
other posts that even if I printed single sided (which wasn't the point
of getting a duplex printer) my colour cartridges would get emptied by
all the cleaning cycles.
Thank you for actually informing of the facts - do you actually know of
a cheap ink jet that does duplex?

Hi,
If I may jump in:
Yes, Canon uses color inks in duplexing, as is pointed out below. The
reason, I believe, is to reduce the 5BK amount since it is slower-drying
than color, and also to avoid ink being too visible from the other side
of the page.

I don't know any other Canon printer that can do duplex with only black
ink. But I will look through my list of printjob analyses for about 30
Canon devices to see if there are exceptions.

Regards,
Gernot Hassenpflug

PS regarding the duplexing with photo paper---that is news to me, I did
not realize there was a duplexing function available for photo
media (or envelopes for that matter). Thanks for that info. I should
check more carefully the driver options from now on!