Unable to print in colour.

[David995031]

I cannot get my AppleMacPro, 2021 to print in colour. The small preview pane on the print dialogue box is in B&W and I cannot find any option to change to colour - any ideas?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Read the following articles and see if it answers your question:

Printers & Scanners settings on Mac

On your Mac, set up printers and scanners, check ink levels, monitor print jobs, and more.

support.apple.com

Save frequently used print settings for routine printing on Mac

On your Mac, save your print settings as a preset so you can quickly use the same settings again.

support.apple.com

 

[pm-r]

I cannot get my AppleMacPro, 2021 to print in colour.

What printer Brand and Model and macOS version are you using???

Maybe post a screenshot of your print preview window including the printer settings options you are using.



- Patrick
=======

 

[David995031]

What printer Brand and Model and macOS version are you using???

Maybe post a screenshot of your print preview window including the printer settings options you are using.



- Patrick
=======

Thank you Patrick. It is a HP desk jet 4100. I think the OS is Monterey (does that sound right?). Here is the dialogue box - you can see the preview of the shot is B&W

 

[pm-r]

It is a HP desk jet 4100. I think the OS is Monterey (does that sound right?).

If you click the Apple icon top left corner > About this Mac, it should list what macOS version you are using, but printing is pretty well standard and I would go back over your print options and preference settings and you also might want to check out some basic information pages such as:

Sign in to your account

support.gmhec.org

HP Deskjet F4100 All-in-One Series - Color Image Prints in Black and White
Issue

HP Deskjet F4100 All-in-One Series - Color Image Prints in Black and White | HP® Customer Support

Color images print in black and white.

support.hp.com

I am assuming of course what you are printing is actually a colour image... ;-) it has happened...

What application are you using to open the image in??? Does it have any additional print options you can check???

Do you have another different color page or image you can try printing???




- Patrick
=======

 

[krs]

My question:
Did printing in colour ever work using this printer with this Mac and macOS?
Printing in colour seemed to be the default of every printer I have ever used with any Mac; I always have to make changes to the printer settings to print a colour doc in b/w.
But I also never had an HP printer, just Epson, Canon and Brother.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I cannot get my AppleMacPro, 2021 to print in colour. The small preview pane on the print dialogue box is in B&W and I cannot find any option to change to colour - any ideas?

Viewing this from afar, it looks to me as if the problem has nothing to do with your printer or your printer's software driver.

It looks to me as if what you are trying to print is a black and white photo. You haven't said what application you are attempting to print from, what format the photo has been saved in, etc. I would guess that is where you should be focusing.

The Mac's included Preview, or Photos, should be able to handle a color photo for you, and print it in color. Make sure that the photo is in color before you go to print it.

Photos User Guide (free)

Photos User Guide for Mac

Learn how to use Photos on your Mac to edit photos and videos, view memories, share photos, access photos across all your devices, and more.

support.apple.com

Preview User Guide (free)

View PDFs and images in Preview on Mac

In Preview on your Mac, use the table of contents or page thumbnails in the sidebar to navigate the document’s content.

support.apple.com

Preview User Guide for Mac

Learn how to use Preview on your Mac to work with and change image files and PDF documents.

support.apple.com

 

[Jimmysb]

I bought a HP Envoy 6020e to go with my new Mac, and thinking installation would be the same as Windows, I just found the driver, however that ended up just B&W. Going to the HP site and following the instructions for Mac installation, including HP Smart solved the problem. So I assume you have installed HP Smart, to manage your printer.

 

[David995031]

My question:
Did printing in colour ever work using this printer with this Mac and macOS?
Printing in colour seemed to be the default of every printer I have ever used with any Mac; I always have to make changes to the printer settings to print a colour doc in b/w.
But I also never had an HP printer, just Epson, Canon and Brother.

That has also been my experience with Windows but this is my first Mac. I would have expected a simple choice between colour and B&W but am unable to find any colour option.

 

[David995031]

Viewing this from afar, it looks to me as if the problem has nothing to do with your printer or your printer's software driver.

It looks to me as if what you are trying to print is a black and white photo. You haven't said what application you are attempting to print from, what format the photo has been saved in, etc. I would guess that is where you should be focusing.

The Mac's included Preview, or Photos, should be able to handle a color photo for you, and print it in color. Make sure that the photo is in color before you go to print it.

Photos User Guide (free)

Photos User Guide for Mac

Learn how to use Photos on your Mac to edit photos and videos, view memories, share photos, access photos across all your devices, and more.

support.apple.com

Preview User Guide (free)

View PDFs and images in Preview on Mac

In Preview on your Mac, use the table of contents or page thumbnails in the sidebar to navigate the document’s content.

support.apple.com

Preview User Guide for Mac

Learn how to use Preview on your Mac to work with and change image files and PDF documents.

support.apple.com

That really isn't the case. I have been trying to print a colour photo I took myself (Jpeg) but have since tried an assortment of colour images without success. In the "Photos" app there is a drop down box but it does not give the colour option - see here:

 

[Randy B. Singer]

That really isn't the case. I have been trying to print a colour photo I took myself (Jpeg) but have since tried an assortment of colour images without success. In the "Photos" app there is a drop down box but it does not give the colour option - see here:

I strongly suspect that it isn't offering a color option because the photo that you are trying to print is already in black and white. At least, that is the only logical reason I can think of for a color option not to be appearing in your Print dialog box.

However, if your JPEG is showing up in color in Photos prior to your issuing the Print command, I'm at a loss as to what the problem could be.

 

[IWT]

@David995031

I too have a HP Printer, but 4520. It's similar in its printing options, I think.

This is what I see:



Then if I click on the arrowheads adjacent to Black & White Draft, I get these options:



Are you saying they are absent in your case?

Ian

 

[krs]

I strongly suspect that it isn't offering a color option because the photo that you are trying to print is already in black and white. At least, that is the only logical reason I can think of for a color option not to be appearing in your Print dialog box.

How would the printer "know" if the photo to print is b/w or colour?
I would re-install the drivers and if that fails to rectify the situation, call HP support.

 

[ferrarr]

In Post # 10 OP added an image in color without the option for color.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

How would the printer "know" if the photo to print is b/w or colour?

That's just it, it wouldn't. Either the data being fed to it from the application includes instructions for printing in color, or it doesn't. If the original graphic was in color, the print driver would have to pre-process the photo to black and white for the printer to print it in black and white.

I would re-install the drivers and if that fails to rectify the situation, call HP support.

All good suggestions. The one possible problem is that HP support often doesn't have much of a clue as to how Macs work. This is one of the reasons that I strongly recommend that Macintosh users avoid HP products. But who knows, maybe the OP will contact HP support and get lucky and actually get a knowledgeable Macintosh user...?

 

[krs]

I would suggest the OP check out google.
I searched for:
HPprinter no color option
There are a lot of things to check to resolve that issue

 

[pm-r]

HPprinter no color option
There are a lot of things to check to resolve that issue

I mentioned a few of those in my #5 post of possible solutions to check or maybe use.

But one question still seems to remain... Is the image to be printed actually B&W, grayscale or color???

And was that HP printer ever able to print in color???




- Patrick
=======

 

[Slydude]

@David995031

This is going to sound a bit silly but do all the color ink cartridges/tanks have ink in them? IIRC I had a printer once (Canon I think) that exhibited some unusual behavior if one of the ink tanks was empty. Even if the color that was empty wasn't used in the document.

 

[krs]

@David995031

This is going to sound a bit silly but do all the color ink cartridges/tanks have ink in them?

That went through my mind as well.
But the printers I have had tell you when one of the cartridges are out of ink and don't just disable the colour option and print in b/w.
The other thing is that there is some tab that has to be removed from each cartridge for the ink to flow. I missed doing that once - but again that should not disable the colour option in the software.

 

[pm-r]

I still haven't seen any reply from the OP to let us know what results he got following the HP procedure I posted in my post #5:

HP Deskjet F4100 All-in-One Series - Color Image Prints in Black and White
Issue

HP Deskjet F4100 All-in-One Series - Color Image Prints in Black and White | HP® Customer Support

Color images print in black and white.

support.hp.com

It would also be interesting to know if the Opie's print window differs drastically from what Ian posted, as from what we can see the OP's print window seems to be short of any options as shown in Ian's screenshot, but maybe the drop-down triangle wasn't pressed to display such options.



- Patrick
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