[e-nouri]

Epson printers still require you to have the 4 cartridge even if you want to just print in black !

[bsilvereagle]

I believe this is because the tracking dots[1] require yellow ink.

[1] https://w2.eff.org/Privacy/printers/index.php

[kuschku]

Well, why can I print with just black ink on my canon and HP multifunction printers then?

(they also allow me to do high-res (4800dpi) scans of money without any issue, in hilarious contrast to photoshop, which refuses to open them)

[derFunk]

Maybe you got to have them inserted, yes, but they can be empty. (My HP OfficeJet 6500A Plus also prints with empty color cartridges. I just replaced them today after weeks of emptyness).

[jayrox]

this is not unique to epson. hp and xerox printers do the same thing.

[e-nouri]

I had Lexmark before, it was never a problem! unbelievable, the thing is that I never used the colors, they dried out! You have to buy all of them just to print in black!