Many Canon Pixma printer users might notice that their printers seem to use color ink even when printing in black and white or grayscale. This is because most inkjet printers, including many in the Pixma series, utilize dye-based inks in addition to pigment black ink to enhance print quality, even for seemingly simple tasks like printing text documents. Understanding why this happens and how to control it can significantly impact your ink consumption and printing costs, especially when using ink for your Canon Pixma printer.
Understanding Ink Types in Canon Pixma Printers: Pigment Black vs. Dye-Based
Canon Pixma printers often employ a combination of pigment black ink and dye-based inks (cyan, magenta, yellow, and sometimes black dye ink). Pigment black ink is known for its sharp, dark text and resistance to smudging, making it ideal for documents. However, when used alone for grayscale printing, pigment black can sometimes produce grainy results.
Dye-based inks, on the other hand, are better at producing smooth gradients and vibrant colors. Even in grayscale printing, printers may use small amounts of dye inks to create smoother shades of grey and to fill in the edges of text characters, similar to how ClearType technology improves font appearance on screens. This blending of dye inks into grayscale prints is designed to improve overall print appearance but can lead to faster consumption of your color ink cartridges, even when you primarily print black and white documents.
Why Your Pixma Printer Uses Dye Ink Even for Black & White
The primary reason Canon Pixma printers use dye inks for grayscale and text is to improve the perceived print quality. By incorporating dye inks, printers can:
- Reduce Graininess: Pigment black ink alone can create a grainy look in grayscale images due to the larger ink droplets required. Dye inks allow for finer dots, resulting in smoother transitions and less visible grain.
- Enhance Text Sharpness: Using dye-based grey to refine the edges of text characters makes them appear sharper and more defined, especially for intricate fonts.
- Improve Grey Tones: Dye inks allow for a wider range of grey shades and smoother gradations compared to relying solely on pigment black.
While these enhancements are beneficial for print quality, they also mean your color ink cartridges deplete even when you’re mainly printing in black and white. This can be frustrating if your primary need is for black text documents and you want to maximize the use of your black pigment ink.
How to Set Your Canon Pixma Printer to Use Only Pigment Black Ink
If you want to conserve your color inks and primarily use pigment black ink for text and grayscale printing, especially when using ink for your Canon Pixma printer for everyday documents, you can adjust your printer settings. Here’s how to configure your printer to use only the pigment black cartridge, based on instructions originally for a Canon PIXMA MG5320, but applicable to many Pixma models.
For Single-Sided Printing
To print single-sided documents using only pigment black ink, follow these steps within your print settings dialog (accessible via “Properties” or “Preferences” in the print menu of most applications like Adobe Reader or Word):
- Select “Standard” Profile: In the “Commonly Used Profiles” section, choose the “Standard” profile. While other profiles might work, “Standard” is a reliable starting point.
- Disable Duplex Printing: Ensure that the “Duplex” or “Two-sided Printing” option is NOT selected.
- Choose Grayscale Printing: Select the “Grayscale” option to specify black and white printing.
- Set Media Type to “Plain Paper”: Under “Media Type,” choose “Plain Paper,” regardless of the actual paper you are using. This setting is crucial for forcing pigment black ink usage.
- Set Print Quality to “High”: In “Print Quality,” select “High” to maintain good text and line sharpness even when using only pigment black ink.
After applying these settings, click “OK” and then “Print.” Your Canon Pixma printer should now print using only the pigment black ink cartridge for single-sided documents.
For Double-Sided Printing (Manual Duplexing)
Printing double-sided while forcing pigment black ink requires manual duplexing because automatic duplexing needs to be disabled for the printer to use only pigment black. Here’s how to achieve this:
- Configure Initial Print Settings: First, set the printer properties as described for single-sided printing (Standard profile, Duplex OFF, Grayscale, Plain Paper, High Quality) and click “OK.”
- Print Odd Pages Only (Reversed): In your application’s print dialog, under “Pages to Print” or “More Options,” select “Odd Pages Only” and enable “Reverse pages.” Then, click “Print.”
- Re-insert Printed Pages: After the odd pages are printed, carefully re-insert the printed sheets into your printer’s paper tray:
- Face Up: Place the printed side facing upwards.
- Same Page Order: Do not reorder the pages; keep them in the order they came out of the printer.
- Top to the Back: Orient the pages so that the top edge goes into the printer first.
- Print Even Pages Only (Not Reversed): Go back to the print dialog (File > Print). Select “Even Pages Only” and disable “Reverse pages.”
- Verify Settings: Before printing, double-check the printer properties again (click “Properties”) to ensure “Grayscale,” “Duplex” (deselected), “Print Quality” (“High”), and “Media Type” (“Plain Paper”) are still correctly set.
- Print Even Pages: Click “OK” and then “Print.”
By following these manual duplexing steps, you can print on both sides of the paper using only pigment black ink on your Canon Pixma printer.
Conclusion
By understanding how your Canon Pixma printer uses ink and by adjusting your print settings as described, you can effectively control ink consumption and prioritize the use of your pigment black ink when printing documents. This not only helps in conserving your color ink cartridges but also ensures you get the most out of your ink for your Canon Pixma printer, especially for everyday black and white printing needs. Experiment with these settings to find the balance between print quality and ink efficiency that best suits your requirements.
