Process printing without black? (CMY with NO K)

I've just been informed that the process used to print the food packaging tubes that I am working on DOESN'T use black!
Thus leaving me with the C,M and Y channels. Now, I could very easily remove the black channel of my images in the Channels palette in PShop - which of course will impact upon the tonal range of my images.
Is there some way that I can convert the images from either RGB or CMYK to CMY - whilst retaining/approximating the darker tones using only three channels?
I'd really appreciate some help here - I'm lost. I've had a bit of reading online and the only info that I can find relates to inket printers and such.

With a proper color managed workflow there is no need to convert source RGB to CMYK in Photoshop. Ideally the conversion occurs at output. Or, the printer converts the RGB for you (check with the printer).
Ideally you would have the printer's ICC profile so you can soft proof the printing condition, no matter who does the conversion.
But let's say you don't have the printer's ICC. At the very least, try to find out what you can about the inks used, the press dot gain, and the Total Ink Limit.
Edit: Color Settings. By CMYK, "Custom CMYK". Specify the appropriate ink colors, dot gain. Separation type, GCR. Black generation None. Enter the total ink limit (it will be between 200% and 300%). Note the name at the top of the dialog and hit enter ONCE.
By CMYK, scroll up to "Save CMYK". Save into your color sync profiles folder.
Then CANCEL. You do not want to change your global color settings. Creating the custom CMYK was the goal and you've done it.
Now with a source RGB image open, View: Proof Setup: Custom. Device to Simulate, select the CMY profile you just created.
For CMY output, Save As. Format, Photoshop PDF. By "Color" at bottom right tick "Use Proof Setup". You will notice that "As a Copy" automatically ticks on.
Now in the Save Adobe PDF dialog, select a PDF standard such as PDF/X-1a. By compression, select the appropriate settings. By Output, "Convert to Destination", and make sure the destination is your custom CMY profile.
Now you have CMY PDF output, and you still retain the native source RGB image.
You also have the option of importing the source RGB image into another app such as InDesign, and performing the conversion to CMY when you output from there.
I should emphasize, the custom CMYK should only be an option if you simply can't get a CMY profile from the printer. But either way, keep your source RGB image and soft proof print color and convert on output. Saves you a lot of time and headaches, and you can move to whatever CMY or CMYK that suits the print job.

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Hi
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sorry for my bad english.

Hi fgriesang,
I see you are experiencing an issue with the Officejet Pro 8100 only printing in black and white, I can help you with this. Rather than resetting the printer to default, please use the solutions offered in the following document; Troubleshooting Print Quality Issues. The solutions in this document help troubleshoot streaked or faded prints, prints without black or other colors, prints with blurred or fuzzy text, prints with ink streaks or smears, and many other issues with print quality.
I hope this helps.
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Sunshyn2005 - I work on behalf of HP

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Hoep you are doing well and sorry to learn that you are having this issue;
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This question was solved.
View Solution.

What exactly is the issue? The alignment aligns the color printhead to black printhead, and only one color (cyan for your printer) and black are needed for that. (There is likely an additional set of blocks that prints gray blocks fading to white. This section is used to calibrate the energy for the colors.) The other test pages you printed will print various diagnostic or test pages which will use all the colors.
A successful alignment page requires the page be printed on unused white paper and requires that the black and cyan sections are printing properly.
Bob Headrick, HP Expert
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Hi symo46, welcome to the HP Forums. I understand you are trying to determine how to print with black ink only from your iPad. As you may have experienced using Airprint you will not have any options other than number of copies, however the HP ePrint App may have the option you are looking for.
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TwoPointOh
I work on behalf of HP
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Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom to say “Thanks” for helping!

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Hi patmcshamrock,
I understand that you replaced the ink in your new Photosmart 6510 and now there is no black in printing. I will try my best to help you resolve this issue.
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I worked on behalf of HP.

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Process printing without black? (CMY with NO K)

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