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Do printers know to switch between black cartridge and color mid page?

Say that I have a color printer. I set my printing preferences to print to "color", and I want to print a page that has a small bit of color at the top, while the rest of the page is black. My question is, will the printer be smart and print the top using the color cartridge while printing the rest with the black cartridge? Or will it be stupid and print the black portions with the color cartridge as well? If it depends on the model and year, please tell me how I would know. thanks.

Public Comments

1. What you see is what you get. So, whatever color or design you put in to your document, that will also be what will be printed.
2. a lot of older inkjets always used the color jet. even when printing only "black and white".. they would still use some colored dye. part of that is in the printer design... if you don't use the ink frequently enough, it dries out. Just a little change in moisture content can change the color of ink.. so they spray a little extra when they can - to keep things clean and clear. Also, to make blacks look 'richer' you might see a little extra blue or magenta added to bring out tones. Finally, for the truly paranoid - there was a study done by the EFF a couple of years back. Some printers (even lasers) actually print a very light set of dots - barely detectable across a page. These dots can be used to identify which printer a particular document comes from. Most modern inkjets are very good about conserving ink. But - as to a particular make and model, you need to identify them. There are probably more than 2000 different inkjet drivers on a Windows XP install disk. I can't possibly guess which make/models you might be considering today.. used or new, brands, US or foreign, cheap stuff or high-end? Google the printer info, and you can probably find out about the model you need info on.