Comment Re:Interesting (Score 1) 355
The need for yellow ink would probably also explain why when one of the color cartridges runs out on the printer at work, the printer will refuse to print in black-and-white. Presumably, they would need the yellow cartridge to print the yellow microdots on the black-and-white documents. That is on a Hewlett-Packard combination printer/copy/fax machine.
Since 99% of what I print at work is in black-and-white, it is quite annoying to suddenly have it quit working when it suddenly says that it just ran out of one of the three colors. I then have to take an hour of my time to drive into town and back to go get that particular color ink cartridge.
That same printer, will also not allow me to even try to print on an ink cartridge that is starting to run empty. They probably do not want to risk not having the microdots not show up clearly.
The older Hewlett-Packard printers that I had used at home and at work, in the past, would all allow me to continue printing in black-and-white or color, when the color cartridge was empty or starting to run out. Until now, it never occurred to me that it might because of the needed to print yellow microdots, as a tracking device.