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Firefox ignores my printer presets.

  • 12 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 12 views
  • Last reply by Printing1

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When I print from Firefox, it ignores my printer preset -- "Plain paper, fast draft, black and white" -- and insists on printing in color. How can I get it to print web pages in black and white?

When I print from Firefox, it ignores my printer preset -- "Plain paper, fast draft, black and white" -- and insists on printing in color. How can I get it to print web pages in black and white?

All Replies (12)

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Hi   !
Would you take a look at this article and see if you can find the solution there:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-printing-problems-firefox
If the solution isn't there,   we will just have to keep looking   .....

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Happy112, thanks so much. The article certainly looked promising, but, after having done everything it said to do, the problem still exists. Importantly, the first test -- seeing if I have the same problem in Safari -- revealed that this is in Firefox only.

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Hi   again   !
'Been searching and searching for an answer,   and only found solutions to the opposite of your problem:   FF wil   not   print in color   ......

Have you clicked the checkbox to enable   Print Background   (colors and images)   ? If so;   what if you   uncheck   that box   ?
(I don't have a printer,   so this is a complete stab in the dark for me)

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Thanks again -- I've really put you through it, and didn't mean to. Nah, the Print Background boxes are unchecked.

Let's hope someone else has an answer. I really appreciate your taking all the time to help. Thanks again.

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Printing1 said

Thanks again -- I've really put you through it, and didn't mean to.

Aww,   you didn't put me through anything,   you hear   !
I'm just so sorry that I haven't come up with a solution   ......

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I've called for help   .......   (fingers crossed   ! )

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I've called for help   .........   (fingers crossed   ! )

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Thanks again!

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Couldn't let it go and I just found this   (was chosen as a solution):
{ Ctrl + P } then open Properties for that printer. Then locate the Color / Grayscale toggle in the Print driver software.
Any good   ?
(somebody is bound to come to your rescue   !)

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You're terrific, thanks again. Alas, no. First of all, when I pressed {Ctrl + P}, there's nothing that says "Properties". (I have a MacBook Pro, if that makes a diffrerence.) But I did start fiddling around with that "Print" window, looking at Presets, Printer, etc. -- all to no avail. The Preset that I've been using says, for example, that it uses the black ink cartridge only, yet everything prints in color. If I print from the same Preset in Preview, Word, Safari, or anything else, it does the right thing and prints fast in black & white.

Thanks again for your help -- and your optimism that someone can help. Sure hope you're right!

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Bummer   !!!
Probably a very dumb question:   why don't you just use a black
ink cartridge   ? I am still hoping that maybe somebody will come up with a solution. Keeping my fingers crossed   .......

Modified by Happy112

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The short answer is that I do need to print some things in color, but, naturally, I don't want to use up the more expensive color cartridge for things that only need to be in b&w. The best work around is an inconvenience: I save the page as a .pdf, and print it from Preview.