HP Printer only prints Black & White

[Matchman1]

Hello,
I bought this Deskjet 2632 printer new and it will only print black and white from my Apple MacBook Pro.
I've tried changing settings in my Mac software (Acrobat Acrobat / Preview, etc) print dialogues and page/printer setup - such as deselecting any black & white / greyscale options - and that doesn't make any difference. I've also installed HP Smart for my computer and tried printing documents from there, but it has the same result - just black and white. Nothing that I can see in the options provides me with any further choice of solving the problem.
Please can somebody help with this.
Thank you,
John

[DavidSMP]

@Matchman1,

Thanks for stopping by the HP community. A very good day to you. Excellent observations and great diagnosis of the issue It is amply appreciated.

Let me gather some information for better clarity to assist you correctly:

• Does it make photocopies in color?
• Did you replace ink cartridges and check again?

I will be providing a roadmap with some troubleshooting steps to resolve the issue. Let us try these steps:

• First make 2 photocopies in color of any document directly from the printer without any communication from the computer.
• If it fails to copy in color, then the issue could be with the ink cartridges or the printer’s hardware.

Meanwhile, I will be doing some research on the issue and get back to you as quickly as possible.

Good luck and keep me posted about the developments. 

Take care and have a blessed week ahead.

[DavidSMP · Accepted solution]

@Matchman1,

I have done some research and getting back to you regarding this.

Make copies in color directly from the printer as stated earlier.

If it copies correctly then I would require more information regarding this.

• Please perform a hard reset on the printer from this link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-deskjet-2600-all-in-one-printer-series/12319824/model/167792... by following instructions from the section “Step 1: Reset the printer
• Then remove the printer and add it again by following directions from this link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-deskjet-2600-all-in-one-printer-series/12319824/model/167792...
• Perform step 3 and step 4.to remove and add the printer.
• Don’t add it as an HP printer. Add it exclusively as Apple AirPrint or Secure AirPrint.
• Now check if the issue gets fixed.
• If it persists, print from multiple applications like MS Word and other apps and check if it prints in color.
• If it prints from other apps, then uninstall and reinstall the latest version of Adobe Reader.
• Also, make sure that all the latest MAC OS updates are installed on the MacBookPro.
• Update the printer’s firmware if it is available by following instructions from this link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_1776648-1643972-16 and use a USB cable to do it.

Now check if it gets fixed. This should nail it for you. If it continues, let me know if it works and prints correctly with another device like a Windows-based computer or a tablet or phone.

Good luck and keep me posted about the developments. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution” as it will help several others with the same issue and give the post a Kudos for my efforts to help. Thank you and have a great week ahead. 🙂

[Matchman1]

Hi David,

Thanks for the replies and advice.

I had scanned and copied and printed alignment pages - all in colour and correct, which showed that the colour cartidges were installed and operating as normal.

I updated the firmware for the printer and installed HP Smart for Mac and tried printing jobs from there - but the result was still the same.

i noticed that the presets were defaulting to 'print black and white' and regardless of how many times I unchecked those boxes in any program I was testing from I still got the same result. Looking at the attributes of the presets confirmed that it was set for printing black and white - and there was no option to change this.

So I went ahead and did what you were also suggesting and removed the printer and all the software I could and started again. I re-installed the printer through the Mac OS printer installation process and this time the presets looked different.

The printer now currently prints in colour 🙂 phew,

If I were to guess at what the issue was, I would say it was something that happened during the HP installation process from when I first tried to use the printer - somehow the presets were locked into 'Print Black & White'.
Don't know why.

Many thanks again for your help and advice.
All the best,
John

[DavidSMP]

@Matchman1,

It has been a fabulous experience working with you. 🙂 I thank you greatly for accepting this as a solution.  

I hope the unit works great and stays healthy for a long time.

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help.  

Please take care, stay healthy, keep smiling big and do have a blessed year ahead. 🙂

[bjafry1]

Hi. I had exactly the same problem with my brand new HP 2632, which only printed in black and white. At first I could not find out what was the problem. But after searching and finding this post I was able to solve the problem as you did:

- Delete all HP software from my Mac
-  Hard reset of the printer

- Open Mac OS Printer settings, Find printer on Network, Add printer.
Now I can print in color and the checkbox for black-and-white in the Printer settings is no more checked by default.

Thank you so much for your description on how to solve the problem