How do I use less ink when printing?
It has become obvious to all of us that over the life of a printer, whether laser or ink-jet, the lion’s share of the cost of printing is in the consumables, whether toner or ink. Here how to save some money on supplies.
It is an old story. When you go to buy a printer, there are some very good deals on both laser printers and ink-jets. But after you get the printer home and start using it, you quickly discover that you are spending a fortune on toner (for lasers) or ink (for ink-jets). Over the course of a year or two, unless you run a paperless home or office, you will easily spend a great deal more in printer supplies than you spend on the printer. Here are some ideas that will save you both supplies and money.
Printer mode – When you are working on a document, you may print it several times during the development process. Don’t print the early copies that you just need for editing purposes in the best quality print mode. Instead, print them in draft mode. Draft uses much less ink than your highest quality printing mode. Your printer may also have a number of modes. The higher the quality, the more ink or toner is consumed. Experiment and see which is the lowest mode you can live with, then use that mode instead of the highest quality for internal use. Save the highest quality for clients or final work to turn in to school.
Low Ink- When your printer tells you that one or more of your cartridges is running low on ink or toner, that is a good time to go out and buy a new one, if you don’t already have one on hand. It is not, however, a good time to actually replace it. Don’t remove and replace a cartridge until you can actually tell that the ink in that cartridge is completely gone or (what’s more likely) the printer absolutely refuses to print any more until you replace the cartridge.
Font selection- Although it seems like a long shot, selecting the right fonts can help you lose less ink or toner. In research done by ShopSmart Magazine, it was discovered that a single cartridge would print 419 pages of text using Times New Roman , but only 276 printing the same size Verdana! That is more than 50% more pages just by changing the font that you use!
Color vs. black- Although printing drafts, or even final documents, in black and white rather than in color will not save you any ink, it will save you money. Color cartridges, both ink-jet and laser, tend to cost more than black cartridges. This saving can be significant. The black cartridges are often ten percent or more less expensive than the color cartridges in both laser and ink-jet supplies.
So the answer to saving money is to print all your drafts in black and white in draft mode, to use fonts like Times New Roman more than thicker fonts like Verdana, and to hold out for the last minute before you replace an ink or toner cartridge. Your checkbook will thank you.
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