why does my Smart Tank print only on BW when printing documents, yet will print pics in full colour?

[Frustrated091]

when ever i try and print a document (excel / pdf for example) my printer will only print in black & white, with no option to change to colour, yet when i print a test page or a photo it works fine in colour - ANY THOUGHTS / SUGGESTIONS PLEASE

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @Frustrated091,

Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Thanks for reaching out!

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.

I understand your HP Smart Tank prints photos and test pages in full color, but documents like Excel or PDF only print in black & white with no option to change. Let’s go through a few steps to check what could be causing this.

Check the document print preferences
For documents, the printer driver uses a separate preset from photos. Open the print dialog, go into Printer Properties / Preferences, and confirm Grayscale or Black & White is not selected.

Verify the app-specific print settings
Excel, PDF readers, and browsers each store their own print defaults. Open the print settings inside the application and look for options like Print in grayscale, Black ink only, or Economy mode, then disable them.

Review the default printer preferences in Windows
Windows can force grayscale at the system level. Go to Devices and Printers, right-click the printer, select Printing preferences, and make sure Color is set as the default.

Check HP Smart / driver color policy
Some HP Smart Tank drivers treat documents as “text-only” unless color is explicitly enabled. In the driver settings, look under Advanced or Paper/Quality and confirm Color is enabled for plain paper documents.

Confirm the paper type setting
If the paper type is set to Plain – Draft or Economy, the driver may automatically switch to black-only printing. Change the paper type to Plain – Normal or Plain – Best.

Test printing a color-rich PDF
Try printing a PDF that clearly contains color graphics or text. This helps confirm whether the driver is forcing grayscale only for text-based documents.

Update or reinstall the full feature driver
An incomplete or generic driver may limit document color options. Reinstall the full HP Smart Tank driver package and recheck the document print settings afterward.

I hope this helps.

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Best regards,