My Canon printer is always out of colored ink and I only print B&W

[metspitzer]

I have a Canon MP 780 and it is always asking for one of the color
cartridges to be replaced. I am thinking of changing all of them to
black. (last resort as I do use color rarely)

The black seems to last longer than the color, but I have bought so
many color ones that I really can't keep up.

 

[IntergalacticExpandingPanda]

I have a Canon MP 780 and it is always asking for one of the color
cartridges to be replaced. I am thinking of changing all of them to
black. (last resort as I do use color rarely)

The black seems to last longer than the color, but I have bought so
many color ones that I really can't keep up.

Do you mean B&W or greyscale?

Canons as a rule use the black cartridge when black is greater than
60% IIRC. Softer greys use a mix of the color cartridges. There is
little you can do about this. You "could" put black in place of the
color but odds are this would muck up the printer's greys making them
darker than usual. If you're using OEM ink, there really wouldn't be
a cost savings, at least not that I'm aware.

I'm not even aware of an aftermarket grey inkset for the Canons.

 

[reply]

|I have a Canon MP 780 and it is always asking for one of the color
|cartridges to be replaced. I am thinking of changing all of them to
|black. (last resort as I do use color rarely)
|
|The black seems to last longer than the color, but I have bought so
|many color ones that I really can't keep up.

On my Cannon MP160 you can set it to use just the black or just the
color cartridge. Go into printers, right click, chose
properties/maintentance and there is an option called cartridge setting.
That way the color cartridge won't be used to try to fill in on the
greys.

 

[Burt]

I have a Canon MP 780 and it is always asking for one of the color
cartridges to be replaced. I am thinking of changing all of them to
black. (last resort as I do use color rarely)

The black seems to last longer than the color, but I have bought so
many color ones that I really can't keep up.

If you are printing only black text you can set the printer to plain paper
and you will only use the bci-3ebk large black cartridge. If you set the
paper type to any other type you will use color inks plus the black bci-6
cartridge. In addition, setting the printer to duplex mode will use a mix
of color plus black even with the plain paper selected. All inkjet printers
automatically run cleaning utilities to keep the printhead clear of dried
ink, and this also uses color and black inks regardless of what color you
print with. If you are printing only text you should consider refilling
your own cartridges with aftermarket inks which will cost around $1 per
cart. With this reduced cost it won't matter that the printer uses color
ink for cleaning and mixing to make black. You can also consider buying
prefilled aftermarket carts online, but you should only buy from vendors
that have been recommended by people on this NG or on the nifty-stuff forum.

 

[metspitzer]

Do you mean B&W or greyscale?

I actually meant both. I have my printer set to print in grayscale. I
thought that meant without color.

So you are saying grayscale should be off?

 

[IntergalacticExpandingPanda]

I actually meant both. I have my printer set to print in grayscale. I
thought that meant without color.

So you are saying grayscale should be off?

Greyscale is not black and white. Black & white is monochrome, as in
two colors, black or white. Greyscale is many levels of grey. AFAIK
the printer recognizes and renders 256 levels of grey. If the grey is
below like 60% black (153/255) color kicks in and mixes to become
greyish, though a slight color shift is not unusual.

Newer canon printers will include a grey cartridge. Near as I'm aware
these models don't support monochrome printing. I don't see the same
option listed for the Cannon MP160, being able to use the black
cartridge only. The only way to do this is to end a monochrome image
to the printer, but even that is troublesome.

 

[measekite]

I have a Canon MP 780 and it is always asking for one of the color
cartridges to be replaced. I am thinking of changing all of them to
black. (last resort as I do use color rarely)

The black seems to last longer than the color, but I have bought so
many color ones that I really can't keep up.

Then you should use a BW laser printer.