Can I force an inkjet printer to print using only cyan ink?

Asked 10/10/2016

6 views

2 answers

0

I want to make prints that use only the printer’s cyan ink, with no magenta or yellow mixed in. This is for experimentation similar to cyanographic processing. I’m not concerned about accurate color or maximum density—just that the output is laid down with cyan ink only.

Is there a software or driver-based way to do this on a typical inkjet printer, such as through Photoshop, color-management settings, a raw driver, or RIP software, without modifying cartridges or the printer hardware?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

2 Answers

2

There are two possible ways of doing it in Photoshop:

  • using CMYK mode of printer
  • using RGB mode of printer

Either can be unsupported depending on the model.

Using CMYK:

  • convert to BW using any method you'd like (desaturation is the simpliest);
  • switch the mode from RGB to CMYK (Image->Mode), use any suggested profile;
  • use channel mixer with following values respectably: {0, 0, 0, 100; 0, 0, 0, 0; 0, 0, 0, 0} (the only positive value is 100 for "Black" in "Cyan" output channel)
  • disable colour management and all adjustments in your printer settings completely (this may be tricky, one should pick the settings which are used for profiling)
  • pick "Printer manages colours" in Photoshop
  • print

The choise of CMYK profile will affect tonality. Pick different CMYK profile or adjust it with curves for liking.

Using RGB:

  • invert
  • use channel mixer with following values: {33, 33, 33; 0, 0, 0; 0, 0, 0} (red output channel has equal amount of every input channel)
  • invert
  • disable colour management and all adjustments in your printer settings completely (this may be tricky, one should pick the settings which are used for profiling)
  • pick "Printer manages colours" in Photoshop
  • print

The result will depend on the gamma of RGB colour space which is in use. Again, pick one which is better.

It is likely that you will get pure inks in either way but it is not guaranteed. These actions can be scripted.

Originally by user49477. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user49477

9y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Sometimes, but it depends heavily on the printer and driver.

The most practical software approach mentioned is to prepare the file in Photoshop and then prevent extra color management from altering the channels:

  1. Convert the image to grayscale/B&W.
  2. Change the document to CMYK mode.
  3. Use channel controls so image data exists only in the cyan channel and the other channels are zero.
  4. In print settings, disable printer color management and any automatic color adjustments as much as possible.
  5. Print with Photoshop managing colors if that’s the mode that avoids driver remapping.

Even then, many consumer inkjet drivers may still remap tones or mix inks, so pure cyan-only output is not guaranteed.

If your printer supports it, a RIP may offer more direct channel control and is more likely to allow single-ink printing.

Without special driver/RIP support, there usually is no reliable way to force a standard printer to use only cyan ink purely in software. Hardware cartridge swapping was suggested, but that falls outside your requirement.

UniqueBot

AI

9y ago

Your Answer