Color (Colour) Option not available for brand new Envy 6400 printer.

[BrockyD]

I have a new HP Envy 6400 series printer.  

This is a new printer, it has a full colour cartridge and the printer heads do not need cleaning.

When I try to print say a pdf, there is no option to select "Colour" in the pop-up dialogue box and so it always defaults to printing in black & white.  

Please note that the printer will print in colour if I use a newly created shortcut which I have named "Print the F'ing thing in Colour", but it won't print in colour direct from a program.

I have also tried to print both an email and pdf document in colour from a Windows PC and the result is the same.  There is no option in the dialogue box to select colour.

Any clues?

[Irfan_06]

Hi @BrockyD,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query. I will be glad to assist you.

I see that you are facing an issue with printing in color on your printer.

Do you have the same issue when you make a color copy on the printer standalone? (Place an original color document on the scanner glass and make a copy to confirm hardware is working fine)

To understand the issue and help you, please share the details listed below:

- May I know which application are you using to print?

- When was the last time you were able to print in color from the above applications or working fine?

- Were there any changes made to your printer recently?

- May I know which devices are you using to print eg: Windows PC, Mac, or Smartphone (Android or iPhone)?

Note: Do not share any of your personal information such as serial, phone number, email ID, etc.

Take care and have a great day ahead!

Irwin6

HP Support

[BrockyD]

Irwin6,

Thank you for taking an interest.

1) The printer is brand spanking new, straight out of the box, unmodified and has performed this way since Day 1 which was last Friday 18th October.  It was purchased new and direct from HP in the UK, so not an Amazon refurb.

2) The printer will print, scan and copy in colour in some applications, but not in others.

3) I have created a work around by creating a Shortcut within the HP Smart Program which will overcome the printer's reluctance to print in colour.

In other words it's sort of ok.

However, when I attempt to print in colour from an email or from a pdf, the colour option is not shown in the popup dialogue box.  It only offers greyscale or black & white.  This is true even if the print preview icon is showing colour. Ironically the same dialogue box shows ink levels for both black and coloured ink.

I have looked at the settings on the Mac and the printer is described as "HP Envy 6400 Series (02768F)".  The driver is version 4.0.  There are no other settings available to tweak.

I accept that this is a First World problem and I do a least get it to print, but it is a tad disappointing on a new printer.

Thank you in advance.

[Irfan_06]

Hi @BrockyD,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

I understand you're experiencing an issue with your printer that does not print in color from a few applications.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, I'm here to help you today.

Please follow the steps below to fix the issue.

A) Perform a power drain.

1) Take out the cartridges

2) Unplug the power cord from the printer & wall.

3) Press and hold the power button down for 15 seconds and release the power button, wait for about 30 seconds.

4) Plug the power cord back into the printer and wall, ensure the printer is plugged into the wall & not into a surge protector.

5) Insert the cartridges back into the printer.

Remove the cartridges > Unplug the power cord > Wait for 30 seconds > Plug the power cord back in > Insert the cartridges

B) Kindly refer to the steps on this link to update the printer firmware and let me know if that resolves the issue.

C) If the issue still persists, uninstall the printer software by following the steps from this link and restart the devices.

D) Install the printer software by clicking on the link again and let me know if that resolves the issue.

Note: Enable Bluetooth for an HP Smart app setup: Enable Bluetooth on your computer or mobile device so that HP Smart can detect the printer during the setup.

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day

Irwin6

HP Support

[BrockyD]

Well thanks, I tried that and sadly it's not made any difference.

See attached screenshot and you can see that your email is displaying as greyscale and not blue.  You can also see that the various options do not include colour.

I will have a go at re-installing the software, perhaps tomorrow. 

[Irfan_06]

Hi @BrockyD,

I am sorry to hear that the above steps did not help much but i do appreciate your efforts in performing the troubleshooting steps.

Have you tried clicking on the presets menu from the image shared to change the default settings?

Take care and have a great day ahead!

Irwin6

HP Support

[BrockyD]

The Default Presets menu does not include Colour as an option.

[BrockyD]

Buying the HP6400 probably wasn't the worst decision of my life but it's up there.

[Irfan_06]

Hi @BrockyD,

I am sorry to hear that the above steps did not help much but i do appreciate your efforts in performing the troubleshooting steps.

As you have exhausted all the possible troubleshooting steps to fix it and the issue still persists. We appreciate your understanding and patience.

I've sent you a private message with the instructions to get in touch with the HP phone support to assist you further. In order to access your private messages, Click the Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link

Take care and have a great day ahead!

Irwin6

HP Support

[koala1944]

I also have an HP Envy 6020e purchased in February of this year.

All working fine until a few days ago, when the colour option disappeared from the print dialogue menu.

Tried all of the suggested work arounds with absolutely no success, until i followed the instructions on your suggetion on pulling the cord & taking out the printer ink cartridges.

Eventually the menu appeared in a very different layout with a much reduced list of options.

However the colour was now there.

A test print showed that the picture was still in greyscale.. Tried several times & my patience was now out.

So I tried a colour scan& this also came out as greyscale.

Any suggestions PLEASE