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General discussion

Black Ink Version of the Canon Pixma MP530?

Jan 6, 2007 4:25AM PST

I like the features, cost (and the reviews) of the Canon Pixma MP530, but I would prefer to stay in the black ink mode. Some would say "Buy a laser printer." I have limited usage requirements so it doesn't seem to be the economical choice. I only print one or two pages of text per week and I do my color pictures at WalMart. My HP DeskJet 500 is failing after a good 10-year run so it time to upgrade!

Is there an inkjet printer out there that has the capabilities of the Canon Pixma MP 530 but only operates in the black ink mode?

Discussion is locked

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Why Not Just Use the MP530 In Black Mode?
Jan 11, 2007 3:37AM PST

In case you didn't know, for what it's worth, the Canon Pixmas use individual cartridges for each ink color, so if you only use black, that's the only thing you'll have to replace. At least you'll have color available for that once in a long while you want to use it. Note though, that the machine will not operate if any one of the cartridges are depleted.

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Why Not Just Use the MP530 In Black Mode?
Jan 11, 2007 4:29AM PST

Thanks.

Is there a software or hardware option to only print in black mode?

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Hardware
Jan 11, 2007 5:00AM PST

We only just set ours up last night, and haven't had much chance to experiment with it yet, but so far I see that for copying or for receiving faxes (at least in manual fax receipt mode), you press separate buttons if you want to print/receive in either black and white vs. color. As far as printing, I imagine that would always be controlled through your software.

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Black Only by Default
Mar 20, 2007 1:12PM PDT

The original poster may have already figured this out, my being late to the party, but the printer can be set to print grayscale by default by setting the preference in the printer set-up.

Go to Printers and Faxes, right-click on the MP530, and select Properties. On the General tab, select Printing Preferences toward the bottom of the page, and check the Grayscale Printing box. Click OK and OK, and there you go! You will have to specifically select to print in color for each color doc you want, but it's a good reversal for color ink savings.

As for the unit, I'm loving it. I bought it sight-unseen based on the editor's review here. It's bigger than I thought and I had to rearrange my meager home office space to fit it in, but not only was it worth it for the printer, I don't know why I didn't arrange the space like this in the first place!

FYI, many people are going to VOIP phones, of which I am one. Some VOIP providers cannot accommodate faxing, some can within limitations. My provider, SunRocket, can as long as it's not G3. This unit is a G3 fax, however you can cap the faxing speed in the user setup. I haven't had any problems.

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Black Only by Default
Mar 22, 2007 7:23AM PDT

Thanks for the tip.

I ended up getting a MP160 from a buddy.

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Unethical business practices
Feb 1, 2011 7:31AM PST

Canon is engaging in unethical business practices, plain and simple. They force consumers to purchase the ultra-expensive color set in order to print in black. I just purchased black, and found this out the hard way, after purchasing black ink for $15.75, which I will never use because I WILL NEVER PURCHASE THEIR RIP OFF INK!

BE AWARE! Do not purchase Canon printers if you don't want to be a victim of their poor judgment in making profits off of ink.

I'm selling my Canon SLR Rebel now, and plan never to purchase another Canon product as long as I live, and will issue a directive to my company never to purchase any Canon products also.

Thanks Canon, for nothing!

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SOLUTIONS FOUND
Feb 1, 2011 11:30AM PST

There are two viable solutions to get around the profit greedy corporate mindset when it comes to printer ink. 1)Watch tutorials on YouTube how to replace the ink yourself, for a fraction of the cost, 2) Purchase a machine that Costco photo lab can refill for you, not all qualify, so find out from Costco, then purchase that model.

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Limited printing - edited.
Mar 21, 2007 7:12AM PDT

"Limited printing - New!
by hawk9997 - 3/21/07 2:10 PM
In reply to: Black Ink Version of the Canon Pixma MP530? by buyer1

Since you are not printing that much, there is a small chance of the print head drying out.

You need to remember about laser printers is that they will not dry out, if you don't use them for time. And for long term, they will be cheaper to keep. Even if you do not use the Canon color cartridges, when you run a cleaning cycle, it will use some color."

Commercial link removed.

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I feel this is Canon Misrepresentation
Jun 19, 2007 7:46AM PDT

I have a Pixma MP530. Yes it does drink up the color inks even though the machine is set to "only use the pigmented ink tank" as stated on their website support for the question "How do I print using only the black ink and not the other colors?" As a result in five months I used up my $70 color cartriges and used my pigmented cartrige hardly at all even though I print exclusively in B/W FAST mode. So because Canon's website states how to only use pigmented ink and the machine doesnt work as stated by this support webpage, I feel that Canon misrepresented their machine ink useage. I have made multiple complaints to Canon and they mostly dont seem to know what I am talking about and the call back Canon representative just keeps on repeating that "This is the way it is supposed to work." Well I said then change your website to reflect this but they wont answer to this.
I guess back to ANY other printer. Every printer I had in the past allowed me to spare my color cartiges and use only the b/w cartiges.

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Canon MP530 drinking color ink tanks in grayscale
Aug 16, 2007 3:29AM PDT

I also have the MP530. The printer itself is great. We've printed a lot of our wedding photos with this machine and made albums for family members that look very professional, couldn't tell the difference between ours and the photographers. But I too have been experiencing the color tank drain under grayscale. In fact for the last 4 Months we have been specifically set to grayscale and it is only using the color cartridges. The black tanks are completely full!! There has got to be a fix out there for this. I am about to change the color cartridge for the 3rd time, I have only replaced the black ones once! Anybody know how to modify the driver/software to fix this???????

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Uses Composite (Colour) Ink in Duplex Mode
Aug 21, 2007 8:12AM PDT

Are you printing in duplex mode, try simplex.
Apparently the printer uses the colour inks in duplex mode and pigment black in simplex.
This according to another user who confirmed this with Canon reps.

Browsing around the net it seems to be a common problem for these Canon units ? using colour ink in black text mode. Keep us posted on what works, I'll be buying myself one of these and I too want to conserve my colour ink.

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Yes--it uses color ink even if printing grayscale
Nov 17, 2008 4:37AM PST

I will verify on my printer, even using only grayscale, even in simplex mode (not duplex), my color tanks are empty after some months (maybe 4-6 months).

NOTE: I press-and-held the Ok button a few seconds and it dismissed the error and let me keep printing! Don't know how long I can get away with this--it's something I read somewhere and at least for now worked...

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Why Doesn't Canon MP530 Make an All Black Printer the Same?
Apr 3, 2008 3:18PM PDT

I have been looking on the market for the same thing! I love the printer but the ink is so expensive I rarely use it because if one single colour cartridge is empty the thing won't work for copying or faxing or anything. I hate the way the black sucks the colours out of the other cartridges as well.

Canon ink jets used to be the best deal on the market when you could refill cartridges, but since they chipped them I will never buy another inkjet.

Why get a printer that prints about 270 pages for $100 when I can buy a laser that will give me about 2000 pages for $100? Colour is just a luxury anyway.

Unfortunately this printer is of BEAUTIFUL quality compared to low end LASER PRINTERS (especially Samsung). What a pity to have to chuck such fine engineering in the garbage simply because the ink is far too costly to be of much use to the average person. Canon really needs to lower their ink prices! Fine company as they are, the cost of running this printer leaves their customers feeling as though they have been cheated.

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VERY VERY frustrating problem - class action lawsuit anyone?
Jun 11, 2008 1:05AM PDT

seriously, at this point, how can we not feel that this is a deliberate way for Canon to make us buy more ink. I don't have a problem buying ink but not color ink when I'm only printing in black and white!!!!!!!!!!!! Canon is being very deceptive and I think it sucks - to the point that I won't buy Canon again. What a ripoff!!! (and yes, I agree with above poster that its a shame because its great hardware)

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I AGREE 100 percent!!!
Jul 18, 2008 2:04PM PDT

This is a total scam! According to the manual even on gray scale the printer uses color ink to enhance the blacks. ***! How do you enhance the GRAY SCALE with color. Its called the gray scale because it contains no COLORS! Why would you want to enhance it anyways? Ok, maybe when you set it for photo printing it would be one thing. But when you set it up for document printing it still enhances the gray scale by draining your color tanks. I use my printer VERY little. I might print 10 pages a week at max and have to buy $60 ink cartridges every 4 months. I WANT A HACK FOR MY PRINTER

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Just checking.
Jul 18, 2008 9:25PM PDT

I've been printing since over 3 decades ago when we paid about a grand for a dot matrix printer.

Isn't printing at home the cheapest its ever been? Even with your complaint?
Bob

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Not sure....
Jul 19, 2008 5:05PM PDT

Hmmmm well just because you paid $1,000 on a printer 30 years ago I still think that we should be able to print our documents using only black ink in the year 2008. Especially when they say gray scale printing is available. I'm pretty sure the technology is available to do that. And actually ink seemed cheaper to me in the late 90's early 2000's before printer companies realized the huge profits that can be made just off ink alone for the rest of the printer's life. ITS INK! Inks not that expensive. You can buy huge jars of it for cheap. So just because "printing" is cheaper now then 3 decades ago doesn't mean its ok for them to trick us into using 5 ink tanks instead of 1.

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Then you need to stop printing at home.
Jul 19, 2008 9:13PM PDT

Sorry to be so blunt but as you can see there is no such printer today with no sign there will ever be one. While I can note the mono laser printer I hope you looked that over.

-> I've run into a few that get a little uppity over ink but the truth is easy to find out and they will never be happy except to write how there is a conspiracy or that they "should be."

Will explaining how things work help? I've found it best to just be blunt so they'll catch up to how things are.
Bob

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Re: The Use of Black Ink Only.....Possible Litigation???
Feb 9, 2009 4:51PM PST

I had a two Cannon Printers in the mid to late nintys. I forget which model, but it had 4 color cartridges. If I click on black ink only it used black in only. The other colors would last forever. If the other colors ran out, it was because I used them. And if the color ran out, I could still use my black ink only. MY Cannon printer would not shut down. The only reason why Cannon, Epson, HP and all the rest of them went to this other method; Use black ink only, but still uses a tiny bit of other colors; for what ever the reason, is to ripp of the consumer and make billions of dollars for the industry. Just think about this folks. Most people use black ink, but yet the printer makers are forcing us to use all the colors of ink even when we want to use black ink only. The excuse I have heard is from the print heads drying out to it enhances the black ink. I say BS. When I use a black ink pen I dont use other colors to enhance what I have have jut writen. Lets get some ***** and file a law suit against the printer makers. I say its time !!! If you want to contact me I can be reached at nopaper7 at Aol dot com.

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No more canon
Oct 20, 2008 4:37AM PDT

I am not gonna buy anymore Canon products. Please tell everybody you know that he should not buy these crappy stuff.
They even didn't sent my .... Rebate. I put every single .... paper in the .... envelope and I kept the .... copies so that they will not say that I didn't send. But they did it. I sent it again and no answer. It's been 6-7 months.

Now I can not even copy ...... b&w. NO CANON!........U CANON.

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Oct 20, 2008 6:39AM PDT

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