HP 8450, NO B&W printing in mac?

[hotchicken]

has anyone ever used 8450 under OSX?

I tried to print a b&w image only using the gray cartridge, it works fine under windows, and giving nice results, but it doesn't work under OS(I use the same settings, same computer which runs both system) When I choose grayscale, I could only use mixed cartridges, the "gray cartridge only" is unselectable.

I've also contacted the HP support, which gave me some strange explanation.

" To use only the gray cartridge is not an option on the mac only the
option to print greyscale and that requires the color or black cartridge
with the gray. I am not sure about windows and borderless printing, but
with the mac the grey only is not an available option with or without
borders."

and I asked again why it's impossible in OS but the opposite in XP

" Mac OS X users can select Grayscale option from Color
section of Print dialog box. Grayscale includes two options:
High Quality - Uses the tri-color print cartridge to print in shades of
gray; if the HP gray photo cartridge is installed, the printer uses a
combination of inks from the gray and color cartridges.

Black Print Cartridge Only - Uses the black print cartridge to print in
shades of gray; if the HP gray photo cartridge is installed, the printer
uses inks from the gray photo cartridge only.

There is no option for using only the grey or black cartridge to do B&W
printing on a mac. The grayscale option uses ink from both cartridges to
give you the best possible print job."


it seems like they just copy & paste what there is on there website, and doesn't answer of my questions. And they're trying to persuade me that using mixed cartridge produces even better results than a dedicated gray one, which is the reason I bought this printer.

If anyone has a solution, please tell me. Thank you very much!

[jo-1]

"off topic - the operatin system on an actual MAC is called OS X instead of OS - meaning operating system ten - pronounced >>O.S. ten<<"

back to your question
Normally the driver has the option "application managed" color. When you print from Photoshop 7 (and up) you have the option to choose the printer ICC profiles shich should give a neutral B&W

That should be the best option - if you do not have good profiles get custom made or search in the Inet for othres that might have good ones - normally HP also offers appropriate profiles (mostly extreemely good compare to tailor made ones)

hope this helps

jp-1

P.S. Try to use OS X instad of XXP (or wahtever this crazy Redmond guys call their thing) oftopic of coursse

[snapperlondon]

These stories about poor HP customer support are really off putting .... I've been waiting for over a month for a response to a question about the B9180 .... I know they got my request as I received an email confirmation.

After all my problems with Epson I never thought I'd find myself saying it, but Epson appear to have more of an idea about customer service (once you get past the standard cut and paste answers)!

[hotchicken]

jo-1

thanks for you suggestions.
but my problem is not a profile problem
you see this picture and you'll know what i mean


i've had the grey cartridge properly installed

[hotchicken]

seems that i've found the cause

if i choose "hp premium plus" as paper source, it doesn't work. If i leave it "automatic", it works...

so wierd that it doesn't support the paper of HP themselves...