HP Color LaserJet CP1514n, CP1515n, and CP1518ni Printers - Managing Color

Introduction

This document describes the grayscale (black and white) and color options for your HP product and how to change those options.

This document does not contain information about the Auto continue feature. That feature allows you to print when a print cartridge is nearing the end of its life or is depleted. For information on the Auto continue feature, see Managing Print Cartridges (c01417319) (in English).

Review the following sections for how to manage color.

Print in grayscale (black and white)

You can change the options to print in grayscale for a single print job or for all print jobs.

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Printing in grayscale is useful for printing color documents in black and white that you want to photocopy or fax. Printing in grayscale reduces wear on the color print cartridges.

Print in grayscale for a single print job

Follow these steps to print in grayscale for a single print job.

Open the document you want to print in grayscale.
Click File, and then click Print.
Click your HP product in the Name drop-down list, and then click Properties.
Click the Color tab, select the Print in Grayscale checkbox, and then click OK.
Click OK again to start the print job.

Print in grayscale for all print jobs

Follow these steps to print in grayscale for all print jobs.

Open the Printers and Faxes or the Printers folder.
- Windows XP: Click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.
- Windows Vista: Click the Windows icon (), click Control Panel, click Hardware and Sound, and then click Printers.
Right-click the printer icon for your product, and then click Printing Preferences. The Printing Preferences dialog box opens.
Click the Color tab, select the Print in Grayscale checkbox, click Apply, and then click OK.
Close the Printing Preferences dialog box.

Automatic color adjustment

Use the Automatic color option to optimize the Neutral Grays, Halftones, and Edge Control for each element in a document.

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Automatic is the default setting and is recommended for printing all color documents.
The Automatic setting typically produces the best possible print quality for color documents. However, you sometimes might want to print a color document in grayscale or change one of the color options.

Manual color adjustment

Use Manual color options to adjust the Neutral Grays, Halftones, and Edge Control for text, graphics, and photographs.

Follow these steps to adjust colors manually.

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If you are unsure how the manual color options might affect the elements in your document, review the table in the next section.

Open the document in which you want to change the color options.
Click File, and then click Print.
Click your HP product in the Name drop-down list, and then click Properties.
Click the Color tab, click Manual, and then click Settings. The Color Settings dialog box opens.
Make the desired color changes, and then click OK.
Click OK again to start the print job.

Manual color options

Review the following table for descriptions of the manual color options.

Setting description	Setting options
Halftone affects the color output resolution and clarity.	Smooth provides better results for large, solid-filled print areas and enhances photographs by smoothing color gradations. Select this option when uniform and smooth area fills are the top priority. Detail is useful for text and graphics that require sharp distinctions among lines or colors, or images that contain a pattern or a high level of detail. Select this option when sharp edges and details are the top priority.
Neutral Grays determines the method for creating gray colors in text, graphics, and photographs.	Black Only generates neutral colors (grays and black) by using only black toner. This guarantees neutral colors without a color cast. 4-Color generates neutral colors (grays and black) by combining all four toner colors. This method produces smoother gradients and transitions to other colors, and it produces the darkest black.
Edge Control determines how edges are rendered and contains the following components. Adaptive halftoning increases edge sharpness. Trapping reduces the effect of color-plane misregistration by overlapping the edges of adjacent objects slightly.	Maximum is the most aggressive trapping setting. Adaptive halftoning is on. Normal sets trapping at a medium level. Adaptive halftoning is on. Light sets trapping at a minimal level. Adaptive halftoning is on. Off turns off both trapping and adaptive halftoning.
RGB Color adjusts the color on the entire page.	Default (sRGB) interprets RGB color as sRGB. The sRGB standard is the accepted standard of Microsoft and the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org). Vivid increases the color saturation in the midtones. Less colorful objects are rendered more colorfully. This setting is recommended for printing business graphics. Photo interprets RGB color as if it were printed as a photograph using a digital minilab. It renders deeper, more saturated colors differently than Default (sRGB) mode. Use this setting for printing photos. Photo (AdobeRGB 1998) is for digital photos that use the AdobeRGB color space rather than sRGB. When printing from a professional software program that uses AdobeRGB, turn off the color management in the software program and allow the product to manage the color space. None sets the printer to print RGB data in raw device mode. To render photographs correctly when this option is selected, manage color in the program in which you are working or in the operating system.