Canon Pixma iP4200 - print settings for large black (text) cartridge?

Question

I would be glad of advice as to what settings to use so that my Canon Pixma iP4200 uses its separate (for text) black ink cartridge, as opposed to its 'photo' black cartridge.
I have put screenshots of the options here:
http://homepage.mac.com/gillylal/print
Thank you very much for any advice.

Answer 1

Hello Gillylal,
Of the four settings listed, the best for text only printing is "Composite Document". Most of the time this will mean that black text will use the black cartidge, as opposed to using CMY to print a black equivalent. However, this can vary depending on the application and the colour value it sends to the printer for its text. PowerPoint can often send it's text data with an RGB value not quite equal to black. Therefore the printer can mix some of the other colours with the black, or use the CMY tanks to print a brownish 'black'.
As for the lack of a text only option, well this is the grayscale setting. Regardless of the colour value, only the black cartridge will be used. And if the text does have some value other than black, it will look less solid as the printer does its best to make the colour look different by using the black cartridge.
Hope this helps...