Can't print greyscale HP PageWide 452w

[jjboza]

Hello

in ubuntu 12.04 and 16.04 I can't print greyscale with a printer HP PageWide 452w although I can choose that option in printer configuration. I've tried with so driver and also after installing HPLIP. In both cases all that I print is printer in colour.

I think there is some error in the configuration properties window, I don't know if someone has been in the same trouble and how I cant mend it (maybe modifying ppd file of the printer?)



Anyone can't help me?

Thanks

[jjboza]

Hello

in ubuntu 12.04 and 16.04 I can't print greyscale with a printer HP PageWide 452w although I can choose that option in printer configuration. I've tried with so driver and also after installing HPLIP. In both cases all that I print is printer in colour.

I think there is some error in the configuration properties window, I don't know if someone has been in the same trouble and how I cant mend it (maybe modifying ppd file of the printer?)



Anyone can't help me?

Thanks

[coffeecat]

Threads merged and moved to Hardware.

If you do not get a response after about 12 hours, please bump your thread rather than posting a duplicate. Or perhaps the forum downtime yesterday caused you problems finding your first post. Whichever, this section is a better fit for your problem.

[pdc]

this was the old solution .. https://harbhag.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/enable-grayscale-printing-in-canon-pixma-mp250-series-on-ubuntu/

I wonder does it still work; please let us know: I enclose a thumbnail from the bottom section of job options in the setup for our printer ..... where one could add CNGrayscale and call it true ....... that is for Canon ..... I wonder if Grayscale itself is fine for an HP

[jjboza]

Thank you for sharing this, but unfortunately with this printer it hasn't worked nor with CNGrayscale nor with Grayscale, I will go on trying to find the option


this was the old solution .. https://harbhag.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/enable-grayscale-printing-in-canon-pixma-mp250-series-on-ubuntu/

I wonder does it still work; please let us know: I enclose a thumbnail from the bottom section of job options in the setup for our printer ..... where one could add CNGrayscale and call it true ....... that is for Canon ..... I wonder if Grayscale itself is fine for an HP

[pdc]

very occasionally one gets posts on "grayscale": ....... I confess ... for me ... never needed (that I knew of ..)

some older posts http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/68830/how-to-force-lp-from-cups-to-print-in-grayscale .... suggest one needs to convert the image to a grayscale version with GraphicsMagick or ImageMagick ............ the former is in the ubuntu repositories I see

and the latter comes from here https://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php

is this of any help? Perhaps you could enlighten us a little on the uses of grayscale and then we can be better informed to help in future posts

____________

I guess if I google then these answers emerge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayscale and http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/HIPR2/gryimage.htm so it makes me think using GraphicsMagick or ImageMagick would be ok?

[jjboza]

At last I've got.

I have modified ppd file of the printer to change cups filter to use with my printer

Now I have two printers, one to print in color mode and another one to print greyscale, in this one I have modified hpps filter (postscript filter) to add PJL commands to print grayscale,

Thank you

[pdc]

thanks; so it seems to hinge on editing the ppd file;

when I look at a ppd file for our Canon inkjet, I get as in thumbnail ........DefaultColorSpace: RGB .........so sounds like that becomes DefaultColorSpace: GrayScale

so I am guessing that when you say "Now I have two printers, one to print in color mode and another one to print greyscale, in this one I have modified hpps filter (postscript filter) to add PJL commands to print grayscale, " you are meaning two printer drivers are set up: one that you know is standard, and the other is modified to GrayScale; and you can identify that one easily ...... if I remember right in CUPS http://localhost:631/ you can install a new printer and point CUPS to a ppd ....... I think they are normally stored in the folder /usr/share/ppd

thanks for this interesting thread; I will paste a couple of links here that anyone following after may find of use

https://www.jamf.com/jamf-nation/discussions/19072/force-printers-to-print-in-grayscale

https://www.cups.org/doc/postscript-driver.html

________

and where the ppd for mine says


*DefaultColorModel: rgb

I could change that to


*DefaultColorModel: Grayscale and I would have to add a definition in that section

[jjboza]

Thank you for these useful links

yes, the key is to modify my ppd file, but the problem is that different printers accept different commands. What I did is to setup a computer with windows to print grayscale, and I printed to a file, so in the begiining of the file I could read the PJL commands for this printer and use them in ubuntu

[pdc]

thanks very much; "I could read the PJL commands for this printer and use them in ubuntu"

.... could you just copy and paste the relevant lines ........ then it is on the forum for anyone in the future to get a sense of what they need to do ...........

[jjboza]

Hello

The commands were:

@PJL SET JOBATTR="Render Type = Discrete V3"
@PJL SET GRAYSCALE=COMPOSITE
@PJL SET RENDERMODE=GRAYSCALE

In ppd file I noticed that cups filter for my printer was a file named hpps, so I copied fille hhps into one named hppsGR and I added in it following lines:

os.write(output_fd, b'@PJL SET JOBATTR="Render Type = Discrete V3"\x0a')
os.write(output_fd, b'@PJL SET GRAYSCALE=COMPOSITE\x0a')
os.write(output_fd, b'@PJL SET RENDERMODE=GRAYSCALE\x0a')

os.write(output_fd, UEL)

greetings

[jjboza]

Ah

I forgot to say that in ppd file I changed the line

*cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-postscript 0 hpps"

for

*cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-postscript 0 hppsGR"

[pdc]

thanks very much