Printing

[Allipat]

So basically hp holds you hostage when trying to print black and white only (even with those cartridges filled ) if any of your other colors are low - it will not allow you to print . What a loser of a printer ! Total waste ! 

[Bob_Headrick]

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 Envy printers are an example.

• Other printers have separate ink supplies and replaceable printheads.  An example would be the Officejet Pro 8600.  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 6700 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.  Printers with permanent printheads (whether HP or other manufacturers) typically do not allow printing with any supply empty to reduce the probability of damaging the printhead.

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.