Wondering why your printer asks for cyan or magenta ink when printing in black and white? Discover the reasons behind this common issue and how to print using only black ink. Some printer cartridges use a formulation of black ink that isn't perfectly dark, and so the cyan/magenta/yellow are also used to help make a darker black print. So depending on your printer's manufacturer and settings, the black page or text you usually print is most likely consuming or using black, cyan, magenta, and yellow ink.
If your printer prints magenta instead of black after replacing the black ink cartridge, first verify the cartridge is properly seated. Run a nozzle check and print head cleaning cycle to clear clogs. Ensure print settings are set to black and white or grayscale.
Check for firmware updates that might affect color management. If issues persist, inspect the print head for damage or consider. This is very hard to correct - I have tried on a similar printer (ET-3830).
If you want to try, you can dial down the magenta in the driver under advanced settings. Basically you have the wrong printer for printing good black and white prints on gloss paper (or any RC photo paper), unfortunately. It currently refuses to print, even on Grayscale.
My grandparents know that monochrome printing can require color cartridges too (duplicate question), but loathe to buy a monochrome printer or color ink cartridges. So how can they compel the printer to print, regardless of the print quality? A comprehensive guide on how to fix a printer that only prints black and white. Provides detailed steps to help you get your printer back to printing in full color.
When I print anything, even the Status Report or Print Quality Diagnostic page, what should be magenta is black. The magenta cartridge is full and full of magenta ink, it is however not an official HP cartridge. Copy and paste here: Most if not all printers do a tiny code using the lightest colors possible (usually yellow, sometimes cyan, and apparently sometimes magenta, makes sense) that is used to identify the type of printer, the serial number of the printer, and sometimes other info like the PC that printed it.
Black text and images are printing magenta. Tried printing in b/w and grayscale. Replaced the black ink cartridge.
Still get magenta. It's like the colors are mapped incorrectly. Could this be from a faulty update or malware on the printer? The printer screen said that it needed an update, which it.