this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2024
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

CMYK printing typically uses CMY only for black/grey generation up through a certain point. When I'm profiling my printer at work for transmissive printing, I can set that in the profile at about 50%; anything less than 50% gray is going to be CMY only.

And here's another fun fact; pure black ink (or toner) doesn't give you very good blacks. If you use only black when you're printing the darkest areas, you end up with a very washed out looking blacks. The best blacks are achieved with 400% ink coverage, using 100% of each ink channel.

Text is the only place where you can get away with only using black and still have it look good.