HP Officejet 6600 -How do I bypass color ink and only use black ink?

[smfvap]

Help!  I have a new HP Officejet 6600 and I'm running out of ink constantly!!!  I use this printer for home use and only rarely would I want to print in color.  How do I make the settings to use black ink only?

[Bob_Headrick]

What operating system? In Windows 7 you would click Start, Devices and Printers, right-click on the Officejet 6600, Printing Preferences, Features, Color Options, Print in Grayscale, Black Ink Only, Apply

Note that some color ink will still be used to keep the nozzles clear, see the document here for information.

[print4me1]

please respond to bypassing color ink to use black ink in a document.

[neffer85]

I have the 6600 as well, and always run out of ink.  My color cartridges always run out, and then it won't let me print at all. The most frustrating park to me is that bypassing the color ink in the options won't work for me. Did bypassing the color ink work for you? 

[Bob_Headrick]

The Officejet 6600 has a permanant printhead, color ink will be required to print, even in black only.

HP and other printer manufacturers have different printer technologies for different needs.  For inkjet printers:

• Some have printheads built into the ink cartridges.  These printers can typically print with one or more of the colors completely empty, or even with color or black (but not both) cartridges removed. The Officejet 5740 is an example.

• Other printers have separate ink supplies and replaceable printheads.  An example would be the Officejet 7110 printer.  The printhead in these printers can be replaced if they are damaged by running the printhead with colors out.  Some of these printers will allow printing with a color out, other will not.  If the printer is run without ink in one or more colors the printer may be damaged, but the user may be able to recover without having to send the printer for service.

• Other printers have permanent printheads.  To run these without some ink in all the colors would risk causing damage to the printhead due to clogs, air ingested in the printhead or burned out printhead firing resistors. The Officejet 6600 is an example of this type of printer. For printers with fixed printheads this could require service to get the printer to print properly again when the ink is finally replaced.  

The document here describes how ink is used.  While the document is written for HP Inkjet printers the same principles apply to inkjet printers from other manufacturers. 

If you never print in color a laser printer would likely be a better choice.  If you occasionally print color but mostly black an IPH printer like those in the first category above may be a good choice.