How to use ink from just one cartridge?

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danielhaze

Guest
I know this should be a common question here, but i looked around for some time and did not find an answer. So I will appreciate if you can tell me how to print using only one cartridge in an epson printer (if it is possible).

Thanks in advance.
 
which color/ink are you considering ? Typically when you try to print a 'clean' color like cyan as RGB 0,255,255 you'll find that the driver is mixing the inks somewhat, the cyan is a little bit off and gets an adjustment with another color, so using just one ink is difficult. It is working easier with the black ink channel when you set the driver to B/W - grayscale printing, only then the black ink is used (in most cases). It is typical in the normal operation, without grayscale option, that some cyan is added to tune a brownish black into a more neutral black. But this is not a rule for all printers, not for all paper settings, it can differ between photo and office type printers, differ between 4, 5, 6 color printers, can differ between dye or pigment ink printers. If you really want to print with one ink only you rather should use refill cartridges with all the other color cartridges filled with a neutral cleaning liquid to avoid any mixing.
 
I've had some success in printing with only one cartridge and I hope you will find the following helpful. If you want to use only one of the color cartridges (C,Y,M) you first have to convert the image to use only that color. Here are the RGB values that correspond to these inks:

C: Keep G,B = 255 and vary R. 0,255,255 (full cyan) to 255,255,255 (white)

Y: Keep R,G = 255 and vary B. 255,255,0 (full yellow) to 255,255,255 (white)

M: Keep R,B = 255 and vary G. 255,0,255 (full magenta) to 255,255,255 (white)

I use Gimp to do this for photos. If you want to print with only a black cartridge you don't have to worry about doing any of the above conversions.

Next when you do the actual printing you need to worry about three settings: Paper type, Color or Black/Grayscale, and Color Adjustment. The color adjustment options can be found by clicking the "Advanced" button when color printing is selected on the printers I use.

Here are the settings for a couple different Epson printers as a guideline:

1. The WF-2630 has 4 cartridges, BK, Y, M, and C. For this printer:

-To print using BK only, set to Black/Grayscale and Plain Paper. If you use any other paper setting the color cartridges will also be used to make the blacks and grays.

-To print using C, Y, or M only, make sure you image has only one of those colors as explained above, then set to Color and "No Adjustment" for color adjustment/correction. Paper type doesn't matter.


2. The XP-520, 610, 620, and 800 have 5 cartridges labeled BK, C, Y, M, and PBK. BK is the larger black cartridge used for most black and white text printing. PBK is a smaller black used for photos and color printing. For this printer:

-To print using BK only, set to Black/Grayscale and Plain paper. Again if you use the other paper settings the printer will use more than the BK ink cartridge.

-To print using C, Y, or M only, make sure you image has only one of those colors as explained above, then set to Color and "No Adjustment" for color adjustment/correction, and any paper setting.

-You can print pure black (0,0,0) with PBK. Set paper to anything but plain. Color settings don’t matter. You can only print pure black with PBK only. If you try to print grays using only PBK, the printer uses the other color cartridges to make the grays.
 
I'm not really sure to understand what you want to acheive - printing CMY color separations in the resp colors ? or ?
If you really want to know what the driver is doing e.g. when printing black you should replace the black ink with a clear ink, cleaner etc , you then directly can see that and if the driver is adding some other color and mixing them.
Just to give an example - there are a few Epson models with 5 inks - CMY and 2 blacks - like in the the XP-900, if you select normal paper and gray scale or not - the driver is adding some of the photo black - a medium gray layer you cannot turn off, and something like this only becomes visible when you replace the matte/paper black pigment ink with clear ink. And you get the same when replacing one of the CMY inks with clear ink, the CMY inks do not exactly print these colors when you go and measure the colors with a spectrometer, the driver is doing some adjustments depending on the paper selection and assuming that you actually use Epson inks, and not another brand which might come with slightly different tones.
 
I agree that using a clear ink is invaluable when conducting these experiments and that's what I did too. I found the same things you did that the paper setting changes the driver behavior, along with the color/grayscale setting and the "No adjustment" option in the advanced menu for color adjustment and correction.

I haven't worked with the XP-900 and it sounds as if in your experience you can't get away from using some photo dye black. That's a change from the XP-520, 610, 620, 800 where I can prinnt with only the large pigment black (BK) with no photo dye black (PBK) when I select plain paper and grayscale. I know this works because I have printed with clear ink in the BK cartridge but regular Epson dyes in all the others (C,Y,M,PBK) and I get no color whatsoever. on the paper. I can verify that the paper was getting wet with the clear ink because there is some cockle (wrinkling) in large solid areas of pure black.

I'm not a photographer so I was just experimenting for purposes unrelated to color separations or gloss coatings.
 
It seems to me that the general approach to get black from only the pigment cartridge is to convince the Epson printer driver that what you are printing is not a photo. In your work with the XP-900 is the driver perhaps able to detect that what you are printing is a photo so it uses some photo ink?
 
drivers are not context sensitive - photo or text - there is not that level of AI. Drivers get pixels to print from that program you are printing from. The black only approach works with 4 color workforce models with pigment inks - black pigments on normal paper, envelopes and matte/inkjet papers and not on photo glossy/silk/semiglossy etc papers. That's different with the 5 color printers as I have tested that with clear ink in either one of the black ink tanks.
 
Which specific Epson 5-color models have you tested? I've tested the XP-520, XP-610, and XP-620. With a test page of black text and various degrees of shading/grayscale I can print with clear only in the BK tank. With the clear in the PBK tank I can only print clear only using images that are pure black and white (no shading or grayscale) without the driver using any other inks.
 
I was testing the ET-7750 with its Epson driver, and as well with a XP-900 driver via PrintFab - same results. Canon is doing similar
things - when you print black with/on normal paper it is adding some cyan to it to make the black darker and more neutral, if you use the grayscale option on normal paper it just uses the pigment black which has a more black/brownish tone, and Canon goes a step further - printing borderless on normal paper uses the photo black. There are always some details hidden in the drivers not directly visible to the user.
 
The only sure way I know of to get single carts to print single swaths is through a nozzle check. "Inputting" RGB color levels has to pass through the driver, which then can mix inks in a proprietary way.
 
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