Difference between "Greyscale OFF" and "Black ink only"

[ljimemad]

I wrote this question before and got an answer explaining what greyscale is.  That is not the question.  I would like to know the difference between "Greyscale OFF" and "black ink only".  If the greyscale is OFF, doesn't that mean that only black ink is being used?  So why do they have both these  options?

[DavidSMP]

@ljimemad,

Thanks for stopping by the HP community. A very good day to you. I reviewed the post regarding assistance with knowing the difference between grayscale being off and printing in black only. I will be delighted to assist you here.

Superb description and stupendous diagnosis of the issue before posting. Kudos to you for that. 🙂

For better clarity and to assist you better I would require information regarding this:

• Did you check information in this regard from the printer settings document?

For now, let me keep you posted about a few things:

• HP Ink cartridges are designed in such a way that color mixing of cartridges occurs during printing by selecting the correct combination to print the actual output of the original image or document.
• If you select to print only in black, even then a very tiny portion of the color cartridge is mixed with the black ink cartridge to give you true black colors.
• If you select grayscale, then the color cartridge mixes colors in tandem with the black ink cartridge to achieve this grayscale effect.
• Besides, if grayscale is turned off and only printing in black is selected, then it uses a large portion of the black ink cartridge to print only in black.
• Also, it must be observed here that there are several million colors to an original image that need to be reproduced by the printer to look almost exactly like the original image on the screen.
• The color enhancements and mixing occur in the right proportions along with the black cartridge to achieve the desired effect during printing.

To further answer your question check this link: http://hp.care/2pfyX6F (HP Printers - Print Driver Settings Guide (Windows)

Look up the section under “Color and black & white settings” and all your questions will be answered.

Settings and options                                                                                                                                     

• Selecting color or black and white:
• Color: Uses ink from all cartridges for full color prints
• Black & White, Black Ink Only, or Monochrome: Uses the black ink cartridge only for normal or lower quality black and white prints
• Grayscale: Uses ink from both the color and black cartridges to produce a wider range of black and grey tones for high quality black and white prints
• Print all text as black: All contents of the document, regardless of color, print in black

Locations

• Select Color or Black & White on the Paper/Quality tab
• On the Color or Features tab, or in Advanced Options, click the menu next to Print in Grayscale and select Off for color prints, High-Quality Grayscale, or Black Ink Only
• Under Printer Features on the Advanced tab

Please check all these steps patiently as it is critical to resolving the issue. Going by your technical expertise and competence I am sure you will be able to perform these steps without breaking a sweat.

Hope this helps. Let me know how this goes. I genuinely hope the issue gets resolved without hassles and the unit works great.

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution” as it will help several others with the same issue to get it resolved without hassles.

Take care now and have a terrific week ahead. 🙂