Printing in Black & White on Lexmark Color Printer

Summary: Color pages cost more than black-and-white pages on your service agreement. A page can be billed as color even when it looks black and white, because one small logo, link or shaded area uses color toner. Setting your Lexmark printer or computer to print in black and white keeps those jobs at the lower black-and-white rate and helps you avoid surprise charges on your bill. This article shows three ways to do that, plus how to make black-and-white copies.

Why black-and-white pages get billed as color

To be billed for black-and-white only, the job must be sent as black and white from your computer, or the printer must be set to print black only. Your Lexmark color printer counts a page as color whenever any color toner is used on it, even if the page looks black and white to you.

Common causes of "hidden" color pages:

• A small color element, such as a logo, a blue hyperlink, a highlighted cell or a signature line
• Gray text or shading that the printer builds from a mix of color toners instead of black toner alone
• The print driver left on its default setting, which is usually Color.

The fix is to choose one of the options below. Options 1 and 2 are done on each computer. Option 3 is done once on the printer and applies to everyone who prints to it.

Option 1: Print one job in black and white

Use this when you print mostly in color but want a single job billed as black and white.

Windows (Lexmark Universal Print Driver or model driver)

1. In your application, select File > Print.
2. Select your Lexmark printer, then click Printer Properties (or Preferences).
3. Open the Quality tab.
4. Under Color Output, select Print in black and white.
5. Click OK, then Print.

Mac

1. In your application, select File > Print.
2. Select your Lexmark printer. If you see only a few options, click Show Details.
3. Turn on Black & White if your macOS version shows that option. Otherwise, open the Printer Features (or Printer Options) section and set the color mode to Black and White / Black Only.
4. Click Print.

The Print text as black option is not the same thing. It changes only text, so pages with color images or logos are still billed as color.

Option 2: Make black and white your default

Use this when you rarely need color. Every job prints in black and white unless you change it for that job.

Windows

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners (Windows 11) or Control Panel > Devices and Printers (Windows 10).
2. Select your Lexmark printer, then select Printing preferences. In Control Panel, right-click the printer and choose Printing preferences.
3. Open the Quality tab.
4. Under Color Output, select Print in black and white.
5. Click Apply, then OK.

To print a color job later, change the setting for that one job in File > Print > Printer Properties.

Mac

1. Open a document and select File > Print.
2. Set black and white as described in Option 1.
3. Open the Presets menu and select Save Current Settings as Preset.
4. Name it Black and White, then click OK.
5. Select this preset whenever you print. Your Mac remembers the last preset used in most applications.

Option 3: Set the printer itself to black and white

Use this when no one in your office should print in color. The printer then prints every job in black and white, no matter what each computer sends. You may need the printer's admin login.

From the printer's touchscreen

1. Touch Settings > Print > Quality > Print Mode.
2. Select Black and White.

From a web browser (Embedded Web Server)

1. Find the printer's IP address on its home screen, or touch Settings > Network/Ports > Network Overview.
2. Type the IP address into a web browser on a computer on the same network.
3. Click Settings > Print > Quality.
4. Set Print Mode to Black and White, then click Save.

To block color for some or all users (admins only):

In the Embedded Web Server, go to Settings > Security > Login Methods > Public > Manage Permissions > Function Access and clear Color Print. This stops color printing for anyone not signed in.

Menu names vary slightly by model and firmware. If you don't see these options, contact RJ Young and we'll set it up for you.

Making black-and-white copies

Copies made at the printer use their own color setting, separate from your computer's print settings.

For a single copy job

1. On the home screen, touch Copy.
2. Set Color to Off.
3. Touch Copy.

To make black and white the default for all copies (admins)

1. Touch Settings > Copy > Copy Defaults (or open the same menu in the Embedded Web Server).
2. Set Color to Off.
3. To block color copies completely, set Allow Color Copies to Off.

Avoid the Auto color setting if billing matters. Auto prints in color whenever the printer detects color in the original, including faint marks or colored paper.

Common questions

My document is all black text. Why was it billed as color? The document likely contains a small color element or gray shading built from color toner. Printing with Print in black and white selected prevents this.

I set black and white, but some jobs still print in color. Some applications override the driver default. Check the color setting in that application's print window, or use Option 3 to set the printer to black and white.

Now my printer won't print in color at all. The printer-level setting from Option 3 is turned on. Change Print Mode back to Color, or ask your office admin.

Need help? Contact RJ Young! We can review your color usage, check your meter readings, or have a support technician set these defaults on your printer for you.