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does postscript code exists for the Colour Mode?

dd
Registered: Apr 1 2009
Posts: 4

hello
 
I want to know if a postscript code exists for the Colour Mode: ie switching between printing black and White, and printing Colour.
 
ie
turn on black & white print
turn on colour print
 
are there simple postscript codes to turn on/off.
 
Currently the firm has a mix of colour and b&w mfds. current default is b&w.
Technology will be opening and allowing printing of colour.
However colour print costs a $$$!!!
 
Currently in the microsoft applications we have print postscript codes for finishing options ie
duplex/on off
staple
holepunch
 
A request was made the default for all printing be b&w.
have a "colour" button. when users click "colour" button the result is prints colour only for that print job.
   
On the canon printer driver, under the Colour tab,a drop down exists with the values
Colour Mode:
black and White
Auto (Colour/B&W)
 
Ive had a look at the PDF cookbooks supplied by Adobe. They mention setting invidual Red, Blue, Green etc - this is too complicated.
 
I would just like a simple postscript code to turn colour on/off. b&w turn on/off
Is this possible?
 
I understand ps codes maybe vendor driver specific.
  
environment
Windows XP SP3
Office 2007 SP2
canon print models & drivers iR C 4080/C4580 PS3, iR5055/ir5056 PS3
 
Many thanks
 
dd
ps can i attach files/screen captures to posts?

KellyMcC
Acrobat 9ExpertTeam
Registered: Jul 11 2011
Posts: 389
It looks like these are the only 2 options:

Take the RGB (red-green-blue) specification of each colour, average the values, and use that as a grayscale setting.
Turn all colours (and any grayscales) to solid black.

I think the RGB average is your only option, if you can't control the colour through the driver.

In PostScript Level 3 you may also be able to control the output by applying a Grayscale color profile.

Side note...
The only way to post images or screen shots is to host them somewhere yourself and put a link in the post.

Kelly McCathran
Adobe Community Expert
Certified Technical Trainer+