Replacing printer ink cartridges is an inevitable repeat expense you will have once you own a printer. Over time the amount you spend on ink will add up. There are a couple of preservation and ink saving strategies which you can try in order to increase the length of time your ink will last. Why not try the following five tips and see how you can get more out of the funds you have invested in purchasing ink for your printer?
- Ignore the Initial Cartridge Replacement Warning
One of the most common things which happen to alert you that your ink is on the finishing is the message on your printer which prompts you replace your ink cartridges. One suggestion is to simply disregard this warning and go right ahead using your printer. Whenever this warning comes up, you will realize that there is usually quite a good window of time before your cartridge actually goes completely empty.
For good measure, you could remove the actual cartridge which has been identified as being low on ink and shake it a couple of times to encourage the ink to flow toward the contact points. You may not even have to carry out this step. You could just continue to use your cartridge until its runs out.
If you have problems with your coloured ink cartridge not printing all the colours you could remove it and wipe the contact points with a damp lint free paper towel or cloth, or blow with a warm hair dryer, to remove any obstruction to the flow of ink. In fact you may be able to get a few hundred more pages before you really need to purchase another cartridge.
- Choose to Do Your Printing in Draft Mode
If you do not require high quality prints for every document you may need to print, setting the print quality to draft or fast mode is a sure and effective way to save on ink and lengthen the amount of time your ink cartridge will last. The entire print may appear lighter than normal and in some cases based on the font you use it may not even be noticeable. This allows you to use less ink for each print and the additional benefit is that the printing time is faster if you are printing large volumes and are in a hurry.
- Print in Black and White or Gray Scale to Preserve Colour Ink Cartridges
Coloured ink cartridges tend to cost a little more than black and white ones. This is because you get a combination of three colours which is able to give you the entire range of colours for printing. If you do not need colour for the documents you will be printing, you can change your printer settings to print in black and white only or gray scale to save on coloured ink.
- Pay Attention to Font Size and Thickness
Another way to save on printer ink is to print in smaller fonts if you can afford to do so. Smaller fonts use a lot less ink than larger ones. Also if you stay away from using fonts which are not naturally thick or avoid using bold if you can, you will use less ink per job. When printing, you may also choose to print multiple pages on a single sheet of paper. The resulting text will be much smaller but if the sizing is not critical for your prints, then printing in this format will be a very big ink and money saver for you.
- Properly Proof Read Documents Before You Print Them
Having to do a reprint of a document or documents due to errors or other factors will definitely guzzle your ink quickly. Taking the time to read through items before they are printed will prevent you from having to do damage control. If you are printing from a website, many times there are ads, images, URLs and other unnecessary elements you may not need. This will not only consume your ink more quickly but also waste paper.
Removing these first will save your ink. You will also save ink by printing only what is necessary from the web page rather than the whole thing. Even before you send the job to print, making use of the print preview screen will help you to see if everything has been removed that you want removed and also that the layout of the print will be satisfactory for you.
There may be times when you can save ink by really not printing. Some information you may consider printing may be able to serve you just as well if you save it on your device. If you think you may discard it later, not using ink is the best way to save it. If you must print, trying the foregoing suggestions will save you a few dollars in the long run.
Author Bio – This guest article is written by Tom Richards in support of inkfactory.com, specializing in selling millions of ink cartridges online since 1999.
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