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- How to use Black catridges only when color toners are empty

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11-23-2015 10:04 AM
Hello HP Team,
I recently bought an HP Color Laserjet MFP M277n printer. I user black & white prints only and really don't need color prints. How do I set the printer options to print only black&white? How can I replace only the black catridge when the color catridges are empty? How much prints (approximate) we can take per toner?
Regards,
Nidhin
Solved! Go to Solution.
Accepted Solutions
11-24-2015 11:07 AM - edited 11-24-2015 11:09 AM
Hi @Pavumba,
Welcome to the HP Support Forums!
I understand that you're wondering how to use black ink only on your HP Color Laserjet MFP M277n Printer. I would be happy to help and please remember to return to this thread and mark 'Accept as Solution', if I have successfully helped you resolve the issue. If you wish to say 'thanks' for my effort to help, click the 'thumbs up' to give me a Kudos.
I see that you're wondering if you have to replace the colour cartridge when it gets low. This printer is a AIO printer, therefore you would have to replace the ink cartridge when it gets too low, to be able to resume printing. However, if you primarily print in black you can setup a black only preset to print in greyscale. This would help reduce the use of the colour cartridges.
NOTE: Composite black - For black and white images and photos, a blend of colors called "composite black" may be used to achieve significantly better image quality and smoother gray tones than can be accomplished with black toner alone. For users who wish to print images using just black toner, many HP color printers offer customer configurable options enabling the customer to print using only black toner. For example, by selecting "print in grayscale" in the printer driver specifies printing using only black toner. For more information regarding use of toner cartridges, please see this article: How Toner is Used.
- Print in Grayscale: Print with black ink only (no color ink is used in printouts). This setting is best used when printing text.
- On your computer, open the document or photo you want to print, click File, and then click Print.
- From the print dialog window, click Properties.
NOTE: Depending on your software application, this button might be called Properties, Options, Printer Setup, Printer Properties, Printer, or Preferences.
- Select the Colour tab.
- Select On to Print in Grayscale,, click OK, and then click Print.
Source, HP Printers - Printing and Changing Print Settings (Windows).
Here's the approximate page yields per cartridge:
Standard Yield
- HP 201A Black Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF400A) - 1500 pages.
- HP 201A Cyan Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF401A) - 1400 pages.
- HP 201A Magenta Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF403A) -1400 pages.
- HP 201A Yellow Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF402A) - 1400 pages.
High Yield
- HP 201X High Yield Black Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF400X) - 2800 pages.
- HP 201X High Yield Cyan Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF401X) - 2300 pages.
- HP 201X High Yield Magenta Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge(CF403X) - 2300 pages.
- HP 201X High Yield Yellow Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF402X) - 2300 pages.
Hope this answers your questions. Please respond to this post with the result of your troubleshooting. I look forward to hearing from you. Good Luck! 🙂
Drakster
I work on behalf of HP
If you found this post helpful, you can let others know by clicking the “Accept as Solution” button. You can also show your appreciation, with a kudos, by clicking the “thumbs up" button!
11-24-2015 11:07 AM - edited 11-24-2015 11:09 AM
Hi @Pavumba,
Welcome to the HP Support Forums!
I understand that you're wondering how to use black ink only on your HP Color Laserjet MFP M277n Printer. I would be happy to help and please remember to return to this thread and mark 'Accept as Solution', if I have successfully helped you resolve the issue. If you wish to say 'thanks' for my effort to help, click the 'thumbs up' to give me a Kudos.
I see that you're wondering if you have to replace the colour cartridge when it gets low. This printer is a AIO printer, therefore you would have to replace the ink cartridge when it gets too low, to be able to resume printing. However, if you primarily print in black you can setup a black only preset to print in greyscale. This would help reduce the use of the colour cartridges.
NOTE: Composite black - For black and white images and photos, a blend of colors called "composite black" may be used to achieve significantly better image quality and smoother gray tones than can be accomplished with black toner alone. For users who wish to print images using just black toner, many HP color printers offer customer configurable options enabling the customer to print using only black toner. For example, by selecting "print in grayscale" in the printer driver specifies printing using only black toner. For more information regarding use of toner cartridges, please see this article: How Toner is Used.
- Print in Grayscale: Print with black ink only (no color ink is used in printouts). This setting is best used when printing text.
- On your computer, open the document or photo you want to print, click File, and then click Print.
- From the print dialog window, click Properties.
NOTE: Depending on your software application, this button might be called Properties, Options, Printer Setup, Printer Properties, Printer, or Preferences.
- Select the Colour tab.
- Select On to Print in Grayscale,, click OK, and then click Print.
Source, HP Printers - Printing and Changing Print Settings (Windows).
Here's the approximate page yields per cartridge:
Standard Yield
- HP 201A Black Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF400A) - 1500 pages.
- HP 201A Cyan Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF401A) - 1400 pages.
- HP 201A Magenta Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF403A) -1400 pages.
- HP 201A Yellow Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF402A) - 1400 pages.
High Yield
- HP 201X High Yield Black Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF400X) - 2800 pages.
- HP 201X High Yield Cyan Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF401X) - 2300 pages.
- HP 201X High Yield Magenta Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge(CF403X) - 2300 pages.
- HP 201X High Yield Yellow Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge (CF402X) - 2300 pages.
Hope this answers your questions. Please respond to this post with the result of your troubleshooting. I look forward to hearing from you. Good Luck! 🙂
Drakster
I work on behalf of HP
If you found this post helpful, you can let others know by clicking the “Accept as Solution” button. You can also show your appreciation, with a kudos, by clicking the “thumbs up" button!

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