Quote Originally Posted by bruceb View Post
I can not find any reference to "gray scale"
for the Lexmark X73 or in MS Word
This happens wether I select Auto in the
printer colors or Vivid .. and wether or not
I select a default font color in Word
Most printers have a "grayscale" mode that lets the printer only use the black ink cartridge for printing. This saves money for printing and "should" take care of your "bluish black" printing trouble.

I have never used a Lexmark product, I stick with HP, Canon, Fuji-Xerox mostly. So perhaps Lexmark don't use that terminology... but certainly that function should be present. It might just be labelled differently.

In your manual if you are experiencing difficulty with printing it states:

Colors are faded or not printing correctly
• Check the ink level graphic on the Cartridges tab of the Print Control Program. An ink
cartridge may be out of or low on ink. For help, see page 10.
• Use a different color setting.
• Select Printer Properties or Printing Preferences Document/Quality Natural Color
For help, see page 33.
• Use a different brand of paper. Every paper brand accepts ink differently and prints
with slight color variations.
• Clean the nozzles. For help, see the next section.
• Wipe the print nozzles. For help, see page 75.
http://www.lexmark.com/publications/eng/x73/index.html

But I am sure you have already consulted with your manual about this, as that's the first place to look whenever you have a trouble.