Save on Ink and Print for Less | Dr. Printsmart

There are various ways in which you can save on ink and print for less. The cost of printing can form a major portion of operating costs in many companies which can reduce profit margins. In this article, I will review various ways which will help you save on ink and reduce your printing costs.

The Right Printer Settings

Your printer has several settings which can be manipulated according to your printing needs, thus saving on ink. One way is to set the color option only when needed and keep the default at black and white printing for regular office documents.  Another is to set the print default to double-sided printing to save on paper.  You also have options of Best, Normal and Draft settings for each printout.

As the name suggests, the Draft setting will produce the lowest quality printouts, but this will result in saving almost 50% of your black ink. Draft mode is adequate for internal office documents that have mostly text. Normal and Best modes can be used for outside correspondence and other important documents used in presentations.

Effective Software Applications

HP Smart Web Printing is a free application which gives you added control over printing content from different websites. This application gives you the ability to select content, scale web pages, combine them and print without leaving anything out.  It can be downloaded using Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8.

To optimize ink consumption in inkjet printers, InkSaver is a popular application by which you can save on ink and print for less. The application offers superior quality printouts even in Draft mode and still manages to save on ink. The user interface is a simple slider which can be set to the percentage of savings you want to get from your printer.  Review the system requirements to determine if this application will work on your printer.

Cartridges – New, Generic, Recycled

Printer and Copier supplies can be bought online as you can get a reasonable discount from various online outlets. Most people find that even with a discount, the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) brands can be costly. Another alternative would be to buy generic brands. These cartridges will be close to 50% cheaper than your originals and the quality of your printouts are often similar. These generic cartridges can also prove to be a good way of reducing printing costs as long as these cartridges are compatible with your printer.

You can also get a decent return on your used cartridges by selling them to companies who recycle them for reuse. Companies like Ecyclegroup recycle empty inkjet, laser, toner and fax cartridges and even provide prepaid labels to mail them.  If you are a small business and go through multiple cartridges in a month, this can also prove to be a good way of reducing printing costs.

These are some of the effective and safe ways to save on printing.  Leave your comments below and tell us some other ways you have been able to save on ink and print for less.