User profile for user: ttibsen
ttibsen Author
User level: Level 1
92 points

Inversion of B & W On Printer

I was printing a pdf that was a simple form on a white background - at least that is the way it showed on the Studio Display. When it printed, the black and white got inverted with the result that I have a totally black sheet. Aside from not being a useful form that I can file, it is also a tremendous waste of ink. Any ideas as to why this happened?

Mac mini (M4)

Posted on Feb 7, 2025 12:53 PM

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User profile for user: Tesserax
Tesserax
User level: Level 10
158,100 points

Posted on Feb 7, 2025 1:09 PM

Since you asked, the following could be the potential reasons for the "why:"

  • Some printer drivers or macOS print dialog options allow for color inversion. When printing, go to File > Print, then click Show Details (if available). Look under "Color Options" or "Advanced Settings" to see if there is an "Invert Colors" or "Negative" option enabled.
  • A corrupted or mismatched printer driver could be misinterpreting the color data. You can try deleting and re-adding the printer back. Alternately, if this printer supports Apple's AirPrint, you can set it up to use AirPrint instead. In this case, printer drivers are not needed.
  • Some PDF readers misinterpret colors, especially if the PDF contains transparency or is layered. Something you can try: Open the PDF in Preview, then select File > Export, choose PDF (without transparency), and print the new file.
  • Some printers handle black and white differently. In the print dialog, look for a "Print as Image" option under the Advanced section. This may bypass any misinterpretation by the printer.


A few more things that may help:

  • Check to see that both your Mac and your printer have the latest versions of macOS & firmware, respectively. The latter should be available at the printer's support website.
  • Try printing a simple text document from TextEdit to see if the issue is isolated to that PDF.
  • If you're using Adobe Acrobat, try printing from Preview and vice versa.
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9 replies
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User profile for user: Tesserax
Tesserax
User level: Level 10
158,100 points

Feb 7, 2025 1:09 PM in response to ttibsen

Since you asked, the following could be the potential reasons for the "why:"

  • Some printer drivers or macOS print dialog options allow for color inversion. When printing, go to File > Print, then click Show Details (if available). Look under "Color Options" or "Advanced Settings" to see if there is an "Invert Colors" or "Negative" option enabled.
  • A corrupted or mismatched printer driver could be misinterpreting the color data. You can try deleting and re-adding the printer back. Alternately, if this printer supports Apple's AirPrint, you can set it up to use AirPrint instead. In this case, printer drivers are not needed.
  • Some PDF readers misinterpret colors, especially if the PDF contains transparency or is layered. Something you can try: Open the PDF in Preview, then select File > Export, choose PDF (without transparency), and print the new file.
  • Some printers handle black and white differently. In the print dialog, look for a "Print as Image" option under the Advanced section. This may bypass any misinterpretation by the printer.


A few more things that may help:

  • Check to see that both your Mac and your printer have the latest versions of macOS & firmware, respectively. The latter should be available at the printer's support website.
  • Try printing a simple text document from TextEdit to see if the issue is isolated to that PDF.
  • If you're using Adobe Acrobat, try printing from Preview and vice versa.
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User profile for user: ttibsen
ttibsen Author
User level: Level 1
92 points

Feb 8, 2025 9:56 AM in response to lkrupp

I did the Test Print routine following the restart in Safe Mode. I printed a Pages document and the same document in the pdf version. Both prints turned out fine. I then restarted, as per your suggestion, in Normal Mode and did the 2 test prints as above. Again, both turned out fine so it would seem that your suggestion bore fruit. So thank you for that.

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User profile for user: ttibsen
ttibsen Author
User level: Level 1
92 points

Feb 8, 2025 8:08 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a detailed report on what the possible issues might be as regards to the entire page being printed solid black. If you don’t mind, rather than addressing all the points in this reply, I think it would be better if I went through the issues point by point.

Printer Driver - I have attached a screenshot of the window that comes up when I want to print a document. I believed that this is Apple’s Air Print - yes? While on the subject of printer drivers, do I even have a choice of which driver (Air Print or Canon TR8620a) comes up when I choose to print? Is there an advantage to one driver over the other? In the attachment, there isn’t a Show Details, nor Color Options, nor Advanced Settings so I’m unable to check on the Invert Colors or Negative options. Is it possible that these options are available on the Canon print driver and maybe I should be using that instead of Air Print?

One thing that I can rule out is outdated firmware on the printer and the OS on the Mac. Both have the latest versions.

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Inversion of B & W On Printer

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