Printer ink is perhaps the most expensive accessory in your home or office. It’s much costlier than gasoline, perfume, and even vintage champagne per milliliter. So, it makes sense to learn how to really reduce the usage of printer ink. Here in this post, we’ve compiled a selection of the five best ways to help you reduce ink usage in homes and offices:
- Lower Print Resolution for Photos, Graphics, and Visually Rich Documents
The resolution stands for the actual number of ‘Dots per Inch’ printed in a graphic or photo. It is identical to the pixels that create a digital image on a virtual screen. For a decipherable outcome, 72 DPI is more than enough. Most printers are pre-programmed to print at 200 to 300 DPI. This is completely unnecessary and leads to ink wastage.
You can lower the print resolution in ‘Print Settings’; this way, your graphic documents, and photos will certainly consume less ink.
In case you are using a program such as Photoshop that requires an increase in resolution or you just happen to need high-quality prints for a portfolio presentation, you can always change back the settings.
If you are a photographer or graphic designer who needs a large number of high-resolution prints each month, it’s advisable to opt for canon compatible ink cartridges that cost up to 50% less than OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) inks.
- Protect Your Cartridges – Do Not Turn the Printer Off
You need not turn the printer off on a daily basis. The printer goes through an ink-consuming maintenance cycle each time it’s switched on.
You can, however, make an exception during extended weekends or the holiday season. Just make sure to switch the printer off by pressing the power button on the device. This way, the printhead returns to the position where it is better protected against drying up.
- Pick the Right Font
Different fonts do not differ in ‘style’ alone. Some fonts have a comparatively higher rate of ink consumption. Therefore, you can reduce the usage of printer ink simply by switching fonts.
For instance, Arial – a default font in several browsers – consumes up to 30% more ink than Times New Roman.
Some of the best fonts for reducing ink usage are as follows:
- Ecofont Sans
- Ryman Eco
- Garamond
- Century Gothic
- Brush Script
- Courier
- Baskerville Old Face
Some ink-saving fonts take more room on the page and others may look great only when scaled to a certain size. The key is to strike a balance between aesthetics, readability, and ink-saving capability of fonts.
If you must use ink-draining fonts due to design requirements, consider procuring high yield cartridges that can print a higher number of pages at a reduced cost.
- Use the Draft Mode More Often
Use the Draft or Economy Mode when you need to print a handful of casual documents. In the Windows OS, these settings are generally accessible in the ‘Devices & Printers’ section of the Control Panel. You just have to change the printer settings to ‘Draft Mode.’
The next time you need to print some documents just for reference, they need not be of the best quality.
With reduced ink usage, the quality of the print will drop but it will still be legible. You can alter these settings anytime if you feel the need to have a photo or document print of the highest quality.
- Print Smarter to Reduce Ink Usage
You can reduce printer ink usage by more than 50% by printing smartly. Here are some easy to follow guidelines:
- Use the ‘Print Preview’ feature for adjusting the spaces and segregating the pages before executing the print command.
- Reduce the font size while keeping the readability in mind for printing everyday documents for reference.
- Remove banners, graphics, headers, footers, etc. when you print a web page; some websites and browser extensions let you select printer-friendly versions of web pages.
- Avoid bold text, thick margins, and page borders.
- Print multiple PowerPoint slides or pages on a single sheet.
You cannot expect printer companies to help you save on ink. It’s their business model to keep selling you more ink. You need to make a conscious effort to reduce ink usage and get the right set of ink cartridges. Depending upon how much you print, you can save hundreds or thousands of dollars each year simply by following some tried-and-tested methods for reducing printer ink consumption.
Author Bio
My name is George Mendelson. I am the PR Media Manager at InkjetsClub, a nationwide leading ink and toner retailer. One of my passions is educating and helping people through all the issues related to Printers, Ink Cartridges and Toners.
