Black only on R800

[veniero]

I recently got an Epson R800 and I am very pleased with the results.

I was hoping to experiment with blak ink only printing. Is there such

an option with this printer? I was not able to find such an option in

the driver window.

Thanks in advance,

 

Spyros.

[steven_clark]

Did you go into the advanced options mode? It should be in there along with all the other settings you'll need to get the most form this printer.

[frank_dzambic]

There is no black only printing with the R800. The printer always uses a little bit of every colour just to keep the nozzles from clogging and drying out. Doesn't mean you can't print black and white, it just means you can't print using only the black ink cartridge.

[maciek_eyman]

I'm having the same problem with the low end r200. It seems there is no black ink only setting. As it seems Epson are willing to accept drivers for other models, I'll be trying out 1290 and 2200 drivers shortly to see what happens. I'll post if any luck. Maciek

[maciek_eyman]

Spyros,

I think I've got a solution [at least for my r200]. As the guys at the Polish helpdesk were completely ignorant and laughed at the very idea of printing photos with black only, I contacted Epson US and asked them whether BO is possible on the machine. The answer was - sure, just pick "black ink only" in your driver. My driver [Euro version] didn't have such option, so I though - let's give a try to the U.S version and downloaded the latest from the Epson U.S. site. Guess what? The "black ink only" checkbox is there and it works. Hope it's the same with the r800. Maciek

[veniero]

Thanks for following up. I just downloaded the updated driver. Unfortunately, no black-only option. Too bad, I got quite excited there!

[veniero]

I wanted to post an update to this issue. I contacted Epson customer service, regarding black only option. Here is their reply:

 

To set up a black only print, please follow the steps as listed below:

 

1) Click on START, go to CONTROL PANELS and select on PRINTERS AND FAXES

or PRINTERS AND OTHER HARDWARE.

2) Click on VIEW INSTALLED PRINTERS (if applicable) and then RIGHT-CLICK

on your printer icon. Select PRINTING PREFERENCES.

3) On the MAIN tab, select PHOTO ENHANCE under COLOR MANAGEMENT.

4) Under the TONE setting, select MONOCHROME.

5) Click on OK, and then go ahead and print.

 

I tried that. Prints were quite nice on Enhanced Matte paper. On glossy paper, blacks were deeper, but there was a slight color cast.