[d.steeley]

Hi all, I have had a Canon Pixma iP4300 for a couple of years and have yet to work out how to print using black ink only. The printer has 3 colour ink cartridges & 2 black cartridges, one the same size as the colours and another larger one. I understand that the larger black cartridge is for use when printing in black only. On previous printers (Epson) from the print menu click Preferences>Print Options and change from colour to black only. But the Canon only has the choice of colour or greyscale. I have changed all my cartridges several times except for the larger black one which is still as full as it was when first installed a couple of years ago.
Any ideas welcome.

Dave

[Catherine3678]

Originally Posted by d.steeley

Hi all, I have had a Canon Pixma iP4300 for a couple of years and have yet to work out how to print using black ink only. The printer has 3 colour ink cartridges & 2 black cartridges, one the same size as the colours and another larger one. I understand that the larger black cartridge is for use when printing in black only. On previous printers (Epson) from the print menu click Preferences>Print Options and change from colour to black only. But the Canon only has the choice of colour or greyscale. I have changed all my cartridges several times except for the larger black one which is still as full as it was when first installed a couple of years ago.
Any ideas welcome.

Dave

1. After a couple of years? I'd replace the large black one anyhow because the little sponge has probably dried out and therefore no ink can exit the inkwell.

2. Grayscale is its version of "black and white" HOWEVER the large black inkwell is for "text" only. If you're printing out pictures (of any extension type) then only the colour inkwells are being used. The only way to extend the life of the ink supply is to use the "fast" printing mode which, if your Canon is anything like my Canon, is perfectly acceptable for most printing jobs. If you want "draft" copies of your pictures; input them into a program like Word so you can print them out in "fast" mode on normal paper.

Hope this helps.

[d.steeley]

Thanks for the repy Catherine3678. Just to clarify; should I select greyscale then to use the larger black ink cartridge? I cannot find a 'Text' option anywhere? Most of my printing is just text.

Thanks

Dave

[Catherine3678]

Originally Posted by d.steeley

Thanks for the repy Catherine3678. Just to clarify; should I select greyscale then to use the larger black ink cartridge? I cannot find a 'Text' option anywhere? Most of my printing is just text.

Thanks

Dave

Yes, you would choose grayscale to use mostly black ink. I have no idea how they compose the inks for various shades of gray however if your text is all black then so would the ink be.

IF what you are printing is truly 'text', i.e. you could edit it at will like in a Word program, and that is the page you are printing; then that is text and the computer/printer settings should be recognizing it as such.

IF however what you have is a "picture of text", i.e. you cannot edit it, it's "fixed" ... then it is a picture and it will print using the ink from the small cartridges including the small black cartridge.

The other factor that affects how the printer will use its ink is the paper you choose. It must be 'regular' papers to use the 'fast' option ... as soon as you choose 'photo paper' or 'matte paper' it goes into 'photo printing' mode and there goes the ink!

[d.steeley]

Thank you for your information Catherine3678. Much appreciated.

Dave

[Catherine3678]

Originally Posted by d.steeley

Thank you for your information Catherine3678. Much appreciated.

Dave

You're quite welcome.

[hawkyou]

-had to register to the site using slow dial-up
-had to login to my web mail using slow dial-up to verify registration
-had to login to site after verification
-had to find post that I was going to reply to as it was long gone

so finally

You cartridges are fine even if they are five years old because the printer spits ink from all the jets before printing to prevent clogs.

Goto meritline.com or abcink.com for cheap cartridge replacements; you do have to follow directions with product. (flipping the chips)

To use only black pigmented ink: select "grayscale printing" in the driver, set print quality to "custom", beside custom select "set", in custom menu set halftoning to "dither". <== this is the big one

Note that using anything other than plain paper, selecting duplex or borderless printing will cause black to be created from the color inks.

[Catherine3678]

Originally Posted by hawkyou

-had to register to the site using slow dial-up
-had to login to my web mail using slow dial-up to verify registration
-had to login to site after verification
-had to find post that I was going to reply to as it was long gone

so finally

You cartridges are fine even if they are five years old because the printer spits ink from all the jets before printing to prevent clogs.

Goto meritline.com or abcink.com for cheap cartridge replacements; you do have to follow directions with product. (flipping the chips)

To use only black pigmented ink: select "grayscale printing" in the driver, set print quality to "custom", beside custom select "set", in custom menu set halftoning to "dither". <== this is the big one

Note that using anything other than plain paper, selecting duplex or borderless printing will cause black to be created from the color inks.

Yes, it can be a tad slow at times even with broadband!

All said and done; Welcome to Bird Forum!

Catherine

[d.steeley]

Yes, thanks to you both. I eventually had a reply from the Canon website giving me the same info.

Thanks

Dave

[lucyrssll]

Stinkyink now offer ink cartridges for the Canon Pixma IP4300 ink. Oh and it's free delivery too!