I'm far from an expert, but as they don't have a white, I'm unsure how a purely black ink printer would do grey? Mine has 2 grey inks as well as black so I've answered it for me, but for CMYK printers, I thought it used the colours to make grey. Happy to be re-educated.Don't the cheaper Canon printers allow use of black ink only?
I think my ip3600 has both a pigmented and dye black ink and has a "grayscale" option in the driver. I have not tried it for b&w photos though.
If you think about the white issue, it is the same with a colour printer. ie none of the CMY colours combine to make white, only blackI'm far from an expert, but as they don't have a white, I'm unsure how a purely black ink printer would do grey? Mine has 2 grey inks as well as black so I've answered it for me, but for CMYK printers, I thought it used the colours to make grey. Happy to be re-educated.
I get that, but what about grey? Does it just spray a finer mist of black?White is the absence of ink on nearly all printers I think.
Most printers, especially inkjet printers, don't actually use dedicated grey ink. They achieve various shades of grey by using a combination of techniques:
1. Mixing colored inks:
Inkjet printers typically have cartridges containing cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink (CMYK).
By varying the proportions of these inks used, the printer can create a wide range of colors, including different shades of grey.
For example, mixing equal parts of cyan, magenta, and yellow creates a neutral grey, while varying the amount of black ink adjusts the darkness of the grey.
2. Dithering:
This technique involves strategically placing microscopic dots of different colors close together.
From a distance, our eyes perceive these dots as a blended shade of grey due to the way light interacts with them.
The size, spacing, and arrangement of these dots determine the specific shade of grey produced.
3. Black ink only (monochrome printing):
Some printers, especially laser printers, have only a black toner cartridge.
In this case, they simulate grey by using dithering techniques with varying dot sizes and densities to create the illusion of different shades.
Important points to remember:
While most inkjet printers use colored inks to create grey, some offer a "greyscale" printing option that primarily uses black ink with minimal color ink for finer adjustments.
Using the "monochrome" setting typically only uses black ink, saving on colored ink usage for purely black and white documents.
The quality of greyscale printing can vary depending on the printer's capabilities and settings.
So, while printers don't have dedicated grey ink cartridges, they achieve a wide range of greyscale using clever combinations of colored inks, dithering techniques, and sometimes just black ink alone.