printer won't print email with black ink, how do I correct this?

Question

Level 1

8 points

printer won't print email with black ink, how do I correct this?

I am new here, and seek some help. My wife's i-Mac computer has a problem of not printing email with black ink. However, the printer will print email text in all colors, but not with black ink. The printer goes through all the motion/movements like it is printing in black, but only a blank sheet of paper is the result. However, it will print a black horizontal line (topic divider) across the paper in black ink, if that is shown in the email. Strangely, the printer will print using black ink when asked to print a word doc. The ink jet cartridge is new, so it is not an issue of being low on black ink.

I have changed printers, but still experience the very same strange problem. Is this a software problem, or a computer setting that needs to be adjusted? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

i-Mac, Mac OS X (10.0.x)

Posted on May 20, 2009 11:19 AM

Reply

Answer 1

May 20, 2009 11:32 AM in response to rooster2

What is the program being used to print? Since it is an email, it may be Apple's Mail, but there are other email programs. Does it print properly in all other programs?

This is a work-around, but the print dialog window usually has a setting to print in grayscale (instead of color). If you select that setting, it will only use the black ink to print. The location of that setting depends on the printer driver being used.

Reply

Answer 2

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

May 20, 2009 12:36 PM in response to rooster2

rooster2 wrote:
I am new here, and seek some help. My wife's i-Mac computer has a problem of not printing email with black ink. However, the printer will print email text in all colors, but not with black ink. The printer goes through all the motion/movements like it is printing in black, but only a blank sheet of paper is the result. However, it will print a black horizontal line (topic divider) across the paper in black ink, if that is shown in the email. Strangely, the printer will print using black ink when asked to print a word doc. The ink jet cartridge is new, so it is not an issue of being low on black ink.

I have changed printers, but still experience the very same strange problem. Is this a software problem, or a computer setting that needs to be adjusted? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Your profile indicates you are running 10.0.x
Without knowing your real OS, it's not easy to answer your question

Message was edited by: nerowolfe

Reply

Answer 3

rooster2 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 20, 2009 12:36 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

My email is with web based AOL, using Firefox as a browser. I tried the grayscale setting for printing, but could still not get anything to print in black ink. However, the computer continues to print word doc and pdf files in black with no problems. Thanks for the help, but still trying to solve the problem.

Reply

Answer 4

rooster2 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 25, 2009 7:09 PM in response to nerowolfe

I think I am running MAC OSX, however some programs open up in classic 9, guess that is MAC OS9. I am attempting to download the Safari browser, but am having trouble, but will keep after it. Thanks for any help.

Reply

Answer 5

May 25, 2009 7:18 PM in response to rooster2

HI,

Click the Apple logo top left in your screen then click: About this Mac. The Mac OS X version number is displayed there.

You could try re-installing the software that came with the iMac.

Carolyn 🙂

Reply

Answer 6

rooster2 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 26, 2009 6:48 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Took your advise, and found out it is Mac OSX, version 10.4.2. After more printing attempts, I am able to get some black ink printing now, but it appears it just might be a printer problem. How do I access printer utilities? When I go there, the printer utilities icon is not boldly displayed, so it can't be clicked on to give access to utilities. Any advise?? Thanks to everyone.

Reply

Answer 7

May 20, 2009 12:40 PM in response to rooster2

So is it the same when you print anything else in FireFox? If you used Safari or Camino to print the same thing AOL email, do you have the same issue?

Reply