I want to purchase a Colour Laser printer - (I also want to veer away from Brother, but that's another kettle of earwigs...)

As I understand the concept of a monochrome (black & white) laser printer, it's using a thermal process to apply Black toner to a sheet of paper, by scanning a laser beam across it's photoreceptor.

Obviously, it can't be doing this with Colour though. So - it needs to be applying actual inks.

So... now - without wanting to get into the technicalities of the process, what I want to purchase is a small colour laser printer (not one of those massive bastards that stand like a fridge) - where there is a separation in the action of using ALL toner cartridges: C M Y K - just to produce a simple black print of either pure text, or a half-tone grey scale image.

To put that in a clearer way - that it will only combine all four colours when printing in colour, and won't touch the Cyan, Yellow and Magenta.

Basic wish / desire here - is to avoid having to constantly change the Black Toner Cartridge, if the Colour Laser Printer uses all four to just print Black, and to be able to remove only the Colour Toners when they run dry, so that the Black Toner continues for far longer, as it is used much more than colour.

Does this make sense?

Does such a Colour Laser Printer exist, and does anyone here have any suggestions of Brand Name or URL?

Cheers in advance,

cw

Edit: My Post was useless, re-read the question and it didn't answer. Whoops.

Samsung, I believe, make a small and affordable colour laser printer which uses individual colour toners. I know Apple's short-lived and expensive Color LaserWriter also used individual colour packs.


B.

Not sure what the OP is asking (despite re-reading it 3 times).

Laser printers use a laser beam to 'charge' (for want of a better word) the photoconductor which then picks up toner onto the 'charged' spots, and transfer the toner to the paper, which is then fused to the paper by a heated roller.

Colour lasers use exactly the same process, only 4 times (for each colour CMYK). That's why most (cheaper) colour lasers print black at 4 times the speed of colour.

Most colour lasers have an option to just print in black/greyscale.

Try 'laser printer' in wikipedia for a more thorough explanation.

is this what you are looking for http://www.color-laser-printer-revie...0w-review.html

Ok.....

I think I'll jump in here, and explain a few things. With 13+ years working for the leading copier and printer company in a technical capacity, I kinda know a few things.

The xerographic process is very simple. It is basically the same regardless of whether is its a monochrome process or four colour process. Sorry, your understanding of the process seems to be a bit skewed. Suffice to say that the four colour process is really four single colour processes occurring one after the other. This is true for all our machines.

The heat part (fusing) occurs after all colours are laid onto the paper. Fusing uses heat and pressure to melt the toner into the paper.

What you are talking about is the difference between a single colour black and four colour black. This is "usually" a function of the job and printer drivers you are using, as opposed to the printer itself. I stress the word "usually." The reason we use four colour black as opposed to three colour, is that three colour will not create black. it is a crappy brown. We add black to make it black. Stupid I know....

Colour laser printers are not hulking monsters now. Some are quite small.

Anyway, regardless of what you end up buying, you need to ensure that you have the choice to print single colour black when desired.

Should you want any info, PM me and I'll explain anything you wish. BTW, I am NOT IN SALES..!!!!!

Yes! That's the nail! Individual toners - where the laser printer isn't going to draw from all colours just to print black text.

And - precisely what Xerodude mentioned above.

PM sent btw...

extraction from Xerodude:

"single colour black and four colour black"

I am after a Laser Printer that will do the single colour black and leave the others alone.

As to clarification - closely to PM sent to Xerodude:

Much like certain basic four colour ink-jet printers, some of them (most of them) appear to make certain that when the ink-jet prints only in black (as for "just text") - it's actually using all colours to reach dense black... which it doesn't need to do - because it will print black just fine if it used only the black cartridge.

It makes sense on the profit margin, as even if the user just prints pages and pages of black text, the little bugger is going to use all 4 colours to do so - and thus the user must keep buying the colour cartridges - even though they rarely print a colour photo.

And yes - my understanding in the technicalities of the Laser Printer is retarded because I don't know anything about them, which is why I'm playing dumb here.

Simply after a Colour Laser Printer, which, as Brains has said, uses its toner cartridges separately, or as Xerodude mentions, doesn't draw from ALL toners just to produce black - which would cause the user to keep buying ALL the colour toners ALL the time.

So... again - if I have pure black text and I hit + P - it gives me the choice to only draw from the Black Toner, and it doesn't draw from the colour ones at all.

cheers,

cw

Have worked with several Xerox'es and they never let me down (and are able to print "single-colour-black")

I think the Docuprint C525A will suit you well:
http://www.digitalzoo.net.au/product/id/21862.html

Less than $400 and the toners are $94 for black and $165 each for the colours.

(yes a set of toner cost more than the actual printer...
... the printer comes with lower-capacity cartridges supplied)

CW: I'll answer your PM here, so others can understand too.

From what I understand, you want the ability to print single colour black as opposed to the four colour process. I can't recommend you a specific brand or model. I can comment on process. I know the models I work with can do what you ask. However, I am guessing you don't want to spend the $$ I know our boxes are worth......

Let's just get a few things clearly understood.

The more complicated the printer, the more capacity you have for various print options. Trust me, a $350,000 colour printer has a shitload of options. If I want a specific spot on a page to be single colour black, I can do that. Even though the rest of the page is full colour.

MS applications tend to only print in RGB. This can mean that even a black text document will print in four colour mode. You need to force a single colour black from the driver in this case.

Adobe can print in whatever you like. A graphic designer can chose specifically what colour he wants on a page. For example, spot, RGB, CMYK, Pantone etc. Also whether a black is single or four colour. In this case, the originating application is the key.

The capacity to print single colour is often a function of the originating application and the print driver. Do not get hung up on the printer so much. You need to understand your workflow and drivers more. Just focus on making sure that what ever you buy can print a genuine single colour black via the driver. And of course the driver must be able to over-ride any setting the originating application have set.

I hope this makes sense.

Well - I don't require extremely honed down pantone options - only to separate text from photos without burning up all cartridges at once.

So... you wouldn't care to direct me to... a URL that will show models and prices of Colour Laser Jets that do this... at all?

(I don't even know what name such a Colour Laser Jet has - thus I can't Google it) - and I know that it's not against the law of MacTalk to name drop brands and models...

hmmm?

something... tangible

cheers,

cw

I need you to understand that the printer is not the only thing to consider here. You must consider the types of jobs and applications you are printing from. This is extremely important.

It is not always the printer that is the issue. Colour information is embedded within the the print job. The printer then interprets this information and acts upon it.

For example, take a single page that has some black text and an image on it. The text and images are referred to as elements. It is possible to give these elements instructions on how to print. These instructions are embedded within the print job. Normally Postscript is used. I can say, print the text single colour, and the image in cmyk. The capacity to do this is normally a function of the application, not the printer.

I would suggest that you pick a few models that interest you and sit in your price range. Research them to find out if they are capable of printing single colour. Calling the manufacturer may also help answer these questions. Make sure that you can do this via embedded information as described above or via the print driver.

Make sure that the applications you are printing from are capable of embedding colour information as described above.

I'm sorry, I can't recommend a printer sub $1000. The machines i work with range from ~$30k to $350k.

Why is it... that every time I ask a question here... it turns into this?

I'm sorry for asking.

I understand that MS will print black text as RGB - but let's just assume I PDF everything and specify Distiller to use a black and white profile... and then I print.

What is the Name of this kind of Laser Printer???

You have already explained that you're a colour technician in Laser Printers. It can't be that difficult to point out... the name of a model... that has separate cartridges.

Okay... let's say... you post a question in MT - that you wish to connect many computers to... something that allows many computers to access the internet and each other... but the problem is that the answers you receive outline all the technical aspects of such a device... but no one will tell you it's called: a... Router

... and no matter how many times you pose the question, all you get back is the definition of a wireless / ethernet router - MINUS - the name: Router.

How can I google... that which I do not know the name of?

This is extremely frustrating...

cw

There are heaps of new or refurbished HP colour and BW lasers going on Grays Auctions at the moment! Most come with 12 months warranty and are mac compatible. Many are going for good prices.

http://www.graysonline.com.au

Paul

Brains' and Cien's answers... so far -are the only ones that make any sense.

I now know ... "where"... "how" and "what"... but not... "which"...

cw

(either no one knows - and the only one who does know... won't say)

ClockWork, for what it's worth, I recently purchased a HP Colour LaserJet 2605dn (network and built in duplexing) for $750 (with a further $100 cash back to come, making it $650 in the end) I've run about 1000 pages through it so far. This includes both plain black text documents and full colour stuff too. Without knowing all the ins and outs, it certainly appears that plain black documents are only drawing on the black cartridge. (it uses 4 separate C, Y, M, K toner cartridges). Dunno if this helps at all?
dlmuller