In this digital age, it is easy to forget that there is still a physical component to our devices. That being said, printers can sometimes jam or have other issues. When your printer isn’t printing in color and you are unable to figure out why you may be left feeling frustrated. But never fear! There are many solutions for fixing this problem. Firstly, check the cables and connections to make sure everything is detected and connected correctly. If you have more than one monitor, double check with which one your printer is connected to. Not all monitors support the same colors; if you are using a standard RGB monitor as opposed to an Adobe RGB monitor then your colors will appear different between the two.
Why Is My Printer Not Printing In Color?
Check Your Paper
If your printer is not printing in color, the first thing you should make sure of is that you are using paper intended for color printing. Many people use paper intended for black and white printing for color printing, but this can result in muddy colors or blotchy patches of color. Make sure you are using the right paper, and you may find your printer printing in color as intended. There are two basic kinds of paper for color printing: glossy and matte. Make sure you are using the correct type of paper for your printer; otherwise, the colors may not be accurate. If you are using the correct paper and your printer still isn’t printing in color, there may be other issues at play.
Turn On Color Printing
This may sound silly, but you may have color printing turned off. Check the settings on your printer to make sure color printing is turned on. If it is not, turn it on and your printer should begin printing in color. This can be the difference between a black and white document and a document with a variety of colors. If you are using a computer to print a document, you can also turn on color printing from the computer. You can do this by clicking the “Print” button in your computer’s web browser, software program, or document. In the drop-down menu that appears, select “Print in color.”
Update The Printer Driver
If your printer is not printing in color, you should check the printer driver to make sure it is updated. A printer driver is a program that controls a printer. When you have an outdated printer driver, it can cause problems with your printer, including not printing in color. To update the printer driver, you will first want to make sure you have the name of the printer driver. You can do this by clicking on “Start” and then “Control Panel.” Once in the control panel, click on “Printers and Other Hardware” and then on “Printers” to bring up a list of all your printers. Once you have found the printer you want to update, right-click on it and select “properties.” On the “General” tab, you should see the name of the printer driver. Make sure you are using the correct printer driver for your printer; if you are not, update it.
Check Your Ink/Toner
If your printer is not printing in color, it could be due to low ink or toner levels. To check the levels in your printer, you can do a test print. On the printer, you want to make sure you have selected the correct paper type and paper size and then click the “print” button. You may need to select the option “print to file” so that you don’t print to paper if you are using a computer. If you are using a printer without a computer, like a printer/scanner/copier machine, you will have to open the paper tray and look at the paper to see if there is a mark indicating the level of your ink/toner. If you have low ink/toner, you will need to replace it and then re-install your printer.
Reinstall The Printer Driver
If none of the above solutions work and you are convinced that your problem is a printer driver issue, you can uninstall and reinstall your printer driver. To do this, you will need to uninstall your printer driver. You can do this by clicking on “Start” and then “Control Panel.” Once in the control panel, click on “Printers and Other Hardware” and then on “Printers” to bring up a list of all your printers. Once you have found the printer you want to uninstall, click “control” and then “uninstall.” Restart your computer and then go through the installation process for your printer. Hopefully, this will fix your printer driver issues and your printer will begin printing in color once again.
Reset The Printer
If all else fails, you can simply reset the printer. This is a common fix for printer issues, and resetting your printer may solve your color printing problem. To reset your printer, simply unplug it from the wall and then plug it back in. Make sure you are plugging it into a wall outlet, as plugging it into a surge protector can cause issues with the printer. While you may want to try all of the above methods before resetting the printer, it does not hurt to try it as a last resort.
Check For Software Issues
If all of the above solutions have failed and you are using a computer, you may want to check for software issues. This may sound strange, but a glitch in a computer program can cause issues with your printer. You can try closing all open programs and browsers on your computer to see if this fixes your printer issue. If this works, you may just have a glitch in your computer program that you can fix with a restart. You may also want to try unplugging your computer and then plugging it back in again. This can sometimes resolve software issues with a computer. If none of the above methods work and you are still having issues with your printer, you may want to consider calling tech support.
How To Fix A Color Inkjet Printer
1. Check the Ink
If you are using a color inkjet printer, check to see if your printer is low on ink. You can tell if your ink is low by looking at the ink level printout or by looking at the cartridge. If you are printing in black and white, it does not matter. If you are printing in color, your printer may not be able to print unless it has sufficient ink left.
2. Clean The Printer’s Print Heads
If you have a clogged print head, the printer may show that it is out of paper and even show an error message when you try to print. To clean the print heads, press “start” then “control” then “printers and faxes” and then press “clean heads.” Follow these steps for about 30 seconds until the lights on your printer go off, indicating that it has finished cleaning the heads. Once this process has finished, follow these steps again before trying to print again:
3(a) Turn Off The Printer
Press “start” then “control” then “printers and faxes” and then press “off” until you see an error message telling you that your computer will turn off after 20 minutes. After 20 minutes have passed without any problems, turn off your computer and unplug it from where possible (such as a surge protector). If this does not resolve the problem, you may need to replace the print heads.
3(b) If You Have A Computer Card
If you have a computer card, click on “printers and faxes” then click “computer cards.” On the computer card, your printer will be listed under the “printers and faxes” section. Click on “printing problems,” then click on “check print head.” Your printer should now be showing that it is printing normally. If this does not resolve the problem, you may need to replace the print heads.
4. Replace The Cartridge (Optional)
If all of these steps have failed and your ink cartridge is still out of ink, you may want to look into replacing it with a new one. Follow these steps: Press “start” then press “control” then press “printers and faxes” and then press “cartridge status.” Next, press “cartridges installed in this unit/this carriage/this slot/this position/this color cartridge/this black cartridge/these colors are low or there are no cartridges installed in this unit or there are no cartridges installed in this carriage or there are no cartridges installed in this slot or there are no cartridges installed in this position or there are no cartridges installed in this color cartridge or there are no cartridges installed in this black cartridge.
How To Replace A Color Inkjet Printer Ribbon Cartridge
1. Turn Off The Printer
Press “start” then “control” then “printers and faxes” and then press “off” until you see an error message telling you that your computer will turn off after 20 minutes. After 20 minutes have passed without any problems, turn off your computer and unplug it from where possible (such as a surge protector). If this does not resolve the problem, you may need to replace the print heads.
2. Unplug It
If you have a power cord, unplug it from your power outlet. If you do not have a power cord, try turning off the switch or circuit breaker that powers the printer. If this does not work, try removing all of the electrical connections from the printer so that there are no electrical connections in place to power it. If this does not resolve the problem, you may need to replace the print heads.
3. Open It Up (Optional)
If you do not want to damage your new cartridge during installation or if you think that your new cartridge might be damaged due to shipping damage, open up your printer and remove the ribbon cable from where it connects with one of the printer’s internal parts (this is shown below in red). Then remove all of the screws on either side of where said cable connects with another internal part (this is shown below in blue). Next, remove all of these screws on both sides of where said cable connects with yet another internal part (this is shown below in red).
4. Remove The Cable From the New Cartridge
Next, pull the cable out of the new cartridge and then remove all of these screws on both sides of where said cable connects with yet another internal part (this is shown below in red).
5. Put It Into The Printer
Now that you have removed all of the cables from your old cartridge, you can now install your new one into the printer. First, put your printer on “ready” (if you do not know how to do this, consult your printer owner’s manual). Then take your new cartridge into a well-lit area (such as an office or garage) and make sure that it does not have any creases or bent edges. If you think that it might be damaged due to shipping damage, examine it closely for any signs of damage.
Conclusion
Printers occasionally run into issues, whether it’s printing in black and white when you want color or failing to print at all. If your printer isn’t printing in color, check the cables and connections, turn on color printing, update the printer driver, check your ink/toner, uninstall and reinstall the printer driver, reset the printer and check for software issues. Hopefully, one of these solutions will solve your printer problem.
