Printing B&W photo

[Vinylmixer]

Hi,

I'm printing a B&W photo on my old but trusty HP 840c, it prints
colour photos fine, when i tried to print the B&W photo in best mode
nothing happened, but printing text and a photo in normal mode worked
ok. Then I checked the ink carts (the 840 doesnt monitor them) and the
colour one is empty yet the black still has some left in tank.

So the real Q is, does a B&W photo still need some colour inks to
print? is there anything else im missing?

I'm using Photoshop 7 on Windows XP.

Thanks

B

 

[xNokia_3390x]

So the real Q is, does a B&W photo still need some colour inks to
print? is there anything else im missing?

Yes, it needs color ink to print B/W photos in "best" mode. It helps make
the overall picture look better. A search on Google should help explain
this to you.

 

[CWatters]

So the real Q is, does a B&W photo still need some colour inks to
print?

On the "best" setting yes. To improve resolution they make shades of grey
using the colours (as well as modifying the dot pitch of the black). As a
result B/W photos sometimes have a slight colour tint to them. The latest
top of the range printers now have a "light black" (grey!) cart so that the
colours don't have to be used (or used as much) to help make B/W prints more
neutral.