How do I bypass empty color cartridges on my HP Officepro 8600 to only print in black

[Colleen4]

I'm wanting to print in grayscale / black only, yet will not allow me to print because I have empty colour cartridges.

How do I bypass this?

I have tried to change settings

Many thanks

[REO51ST]

Colleen.

Use black ink only?

The cartridges listed in the message are very low on ink.

Solutions: To print in color, replace the empty cartridges. For information about how to install new

cartridges, see Replace the ink cartridges.

To temporarily print using Black ink only, click Use Black Only. The printer will replace color with

grayscale.

The empty cartridges will need to be replaced soon.

CAUTION: Do not remove the empty cartridge to print in black-ink only mode.

The manual is a little vague but it should help.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03026243

REO

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

While printing in black only is an option when the color is low, it is blocked once a cartridge is depleted.  You will need to replace the depleted cartridge. Page 94 of the manual here says:

Printing with black or color ink only

For regular usage, this product is not designed to print using only the black cartridge when the color cartridges are out of ink. However, your printer is designed to let you print as long as possible when your cartridges start to run out of ink.

When there is sufficient ink in the printhead, the printer will offer you the use of black ink only when one or more of the color cartridges are out of ink, and the use of color ink only when the black cartridge is out of ink.

➡️The amount that you can print using black or color ink only is limited, so have replacement ink cartridges available when you are printing with black or color ink only.

➡️ When there is no longer sufficient ink to print, you will get a message that one or more cartridges are depleted, and you will need to replace the depleted cartridges before you resume printing. 

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 8040a is an example. 

✔️Other printers have separate ink supplies and replaceable printheads.  An example would be the Officejet Pro 8600 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 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.  

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.

[msolympica]

HP is just trying to make more money. I have had this pritner a while now and have always been able to print in black when one cartridge is empty now i can't. I just wanted to print 1 pages that have no color in them at all. My yellow just depledted yesterday. this is very furstrating. I buy cartidges and should be able to use them in the way I want. I do appreciate this from HP when I was able to do it before when my Cyan when out.

[Bob_Headrick]

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@msolympica wrote:

HP is just trying to make more money. I have had this printer a while now and have always been able to print in black when one cartridge is empty now i can't. [snip]

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The Officejet Pro 8600 series never allowed printing with one or more colors depleted.  When a color or black is low (nearly depleted) the printer will give a warning and for a limited time may allow printing in black or color only.  Once a cartridge is completely depleted further printing will be blocked to prevent damage to the printhead as described in my prior post.

[msolympica]

I have had this printer for a few years now. I just recently ran out of Cyan and when I went to print something I noticed it didn't print. I checked the printer and it gave an option to print black only to select yes or okay and it printed in black. I've done it before on this very printer. When I did some updates now it will no longer give me this option although what I'm printing is a black and white document.