Make sure you purchase the right ink cartridges for your specific printer and printer region or have your old ones refilled. Cartridges are not compatible between different brands, and often not within the same brand. HP often designs its inkjet hardware to use country-specific consumables. When you unbox a new HP inkjet printer and set it up, you install a set of ink tanks that ship with the printer. As you turn on the device and get ready to use it, an initialization sequence localizes it to the country associated with the ink cartridges you installed.
HP recommends that you use original HP ink cartridges. XL (Extra Large) cartridges cost more but do provide better value in the long run. They will be able to print up to 5 times the pages of a regular cartridge. Our advice is that if you print often, go with XL. However, ink can dry up. So if you are not a frequent printer, go with the regular cartridges.
Print cartridge combinations
Four print cartridges can be used with the printer. For printing most documents, use the tri-color print cartridge and the black print cartridge. When printing quality color photos, use the photo print cartridge along with the tri-color print cartridge. For printing high-quality black-and-white photographs, use the gray photo print cartridge in conjunction with the tri-color print cartridge. Always install the tri-color print cartridge in the left side of the print cartridge cradle. Install the black, photo print cartridge, or the gray photo print cartridge in the right side of the print cartridge cradle.
1. Black print cartridge
2. Tri-color print cartridge
3. Photo print cartridge
4. Gray photo print cartridge
Ink level warnings and indicators provide estimates for planning purposes only. When you receive a low-ink warning message, consider having a replacement cartridge available to avoid possible printing delays. You do not have to replace the cartridges until the print quality is unacceptable.
Which ink cartridges do I need for my HP Officejet J6480 All-in-One Printer?
For your US HP Officejet J6480 All-in-One Printer you need HP 74 Black AND HP 75 Tri-color cartridges OR HP 74XL Black AND HP 75XL Tri-color cartridges. There are also multipacks available like the HP 74 Black and 75 Tri-color Original Ink Cartridges, 2 pack. Check the price of HP 74 and HP 75 cartridges at Amazon.com .
For printing photos use HP 99 Photo Original cartridges.
For printing black-and-white photographs use HP 100 Gray Photo Original Ink Cartridge cartridges.
For your European or UK HP Officejet J6480 All-in-One you need HP 350 Black AND HP 351 Tri-color cartridges OR HP 350XL Black AND HP 351XL Tri-colorcartridges.
There are also multipacks available like the HP 350 Black/351 Tri-color 2-pack Original Ink Cartridges.
For printing photos use HP 348 Photo cartridges.
For printing high-quality black-and-white photographs use HP 100 – Gray Inkjet Print Cartridge cartridges.
Try Amazon's ink selector tool to find compatible ink cartridges for your printer.
Replace the ink cartridges
1. Turn the printer on by pressing the On/Off button (power button), if it is not already turned on. Wait until the product is idle and silent before continuing.
2. Load Letter, A4, or Legal unused plain white paper into the paper tray.
3. Open the ink cartridge access door. The print carriage moves to the far right side of the device. Wait until the carriage is idle and silent before you continue.
Remove the old cartridge
4. Lightly press down on one of the old cartridges to release it, and then pull the cartridge toward you out of its slot. Set it aside for recycling. Remove the cartridge from the slot on the left to replace the tri-color cartridge. Remove the cartridge from the slot on the right to replace the black (or photo) cartridge.
Insert the new cartridge
5. Remove the new ink cartridge from its package. Be careful to touch only the black plastic on the ink cartridge.
6. Remove the protective tape from the ink cartridge.
Do NOT:
– Remove the copper electrical strip.
– Touch the copper-colored contacts or the ink nozzles.
– Replace the protective tape on the contacts.
7. Hold the print cartridge so that the copper strips are on the bottom, facing toward the printer and the HP logo is on top. Slide the print cartridge into the slot as shown. Make sure you push the print cartridge in firmly until it snaps into place. Always install the tri-color print cartridge (marked with a triangle) in the left side of the print cartridge cradle. Install the black, photo print cartridge, or the gray photo print cartridge (marked with a square or pentagon) in the right side of the print cartridge cradle.
8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 for the other cartridge if needed.
9. Close the ink cartridge access door. The printer automatically aligns any newly installed ink cartridge.
Align the cartridges
– If you installed a new print cartridge, the printer automatically prints a print cartridge alignment page, aligns the print head, and calibrates the printer.
– Recycle or discard the page.
If the alignment fails, check to make sure the cartridges are installed correctly, and start the print cartridge alignment manually. You can align the print cartridges at any time from the device control panel or by using the software you installed with the device. If you remove and reinstall the same print cartridge, the device will not prompt you to align the print cartridges. It remembers the alignment values for that print cartridge, so you do not need to realign the print cartridges.
