Force Windows 7 to print in black and white: temporarily turn off/disable color printing
By default, Windows 7 will print documents (web pages, Office and Word documents) and images (clip art pictures or digital photos) in the way you see them, using both black, white and shades of gray as well as any colors you see on screen. If your printer only contains a black-and-white ink cartridge, you do not have to worry about anything: Windows 7 will automatically convert the document or image to black and white and print it that way. But if you have a color ink cartridge, you will want to minimize the number of times you use it, for when it actually matters. This tutorial explains how you can tell Windows 7 to print in grayscale (black & white) any time you want.
Print a document or picture in black and white only in Windows 7
Follow these steps to print without colors:
- Whatever application you are trying to print from, they will launch the "Print" dialog, the small window that lets you choose which printer to use for this particular job, and with which settings.
The screenshot we have added below shows a typical Print dialog in Windows 7, but it can vary depending on the program you are printing from (some applications have their own, customized Print dialog, but the principle stays the same).
- What really matters is the "Preferences" button, highlighted above, which could also be called something like "Printing Options" or "Print Settings", etc. - while "[Printing] Preferences" will be the one you see at least 90% of the time, search for an alternative if you do not see it.
- Click on the "Preferences" button (or the closest match you find), and Windows 7 will open another dialog, called "Printing Preferences", which typically includes several tabs at the top:
- The first tab, typically selected by default, is labeled "Layout", and is where you can determine paper size, orientation, and other settings. Ignore it, and click on the "Paper / Quality" tab instead:
- Under the "Color" section, select the "Black & White" radio button, as shown on the screenshot.
- Then, click "OK" to apply the black-and-white setting, and hit Enter once back in the Print dialog. (This keyboard shortcut is equivalent to clicking on the OK button, and will use all other default printing options, like default printer unless you selected another one, only 1 copy of each page in the document, one-sided printing, etc.)
And this is how you force Windows 7 to temporarily print a document or picture in black and white, even if your printer contains a color cartridge at that time!
up ↑