Reducing The Amount Of Ink Used For Printers And Copiers
Ink can be expensive. Whether it's a toner, solid ink, or liquid ink, each copy is going to cost your company money. But there are ways that you can reduce the amount of ink that is wasted every time you print. This is especially true when the quality of the print isn't an issue.
Set the Print Quality to Low
Most prints don't need to be high quality. By printing in low quality or medium quality, you can often save on ink. This is because the printer will not try to print light artifacts; the printer or copier will only try to print the darkest areas of the document. This will also make your prints much faster, as low quality prints take less time to be produced.
Avoid Printing Copies
When at all possible, prints should always be done directly from the original document. A scanned copy or an image of a document is going to use up far more ink, because the printer will be trying to print dark and light areas of the page. As an example, scanned copies often have darker corners or darker edges -- this requires ink to print. A document will only have the actual text on it, which will be printed clearly. This will also help in making the copy clearer.
Change from Color to Black and White
Many people print in color all the time. While a black-and-white print will still look black-and-white when printed in color, the black that is produced in a color print is often produced using many shades of ink for a warmer and richer look. This can be an unnecessary waste of colored ink, which is more expensive than black ink. When possible, prints should also be sent to the black-and-white toner machine rather than a high fidelity multi-color machine.
Print Lighter Copies
By adjusting a print a few shades lighter, you can often save on the amount of ink that you need to use. This can also make the copies clearer, especially if the image has been scanned before. Scanned images tend to be darker by a few shades than the originals. Like adjusting the quality, printing lighter copies will also make printing faster.
You can also try to find ways to purchase ink at a discount. There are many "refill" stations that let you refill your toner cartridges rather than replace them altogether. There are also discounts available for bulk use.