Ways to Save Printer Ink

When you purchase a printer for your computer, the price you pay for the device itself is only a fraction of the cost you incur over the life of the device. From time to time, you must replace your printer's ink cartridges. Lessen your ink consumption by developing wise printing habits.

Print Quality

Most printers have the option of printing documents and pictures at various quality levels -- and the lower the print quality, the less ink the printer uses. Except for "final draft" items you need to turn in to a supervisor or instructor at work or school, get into the habit of printing documents at low quality to save on ink.

Page Count

When you print a document, your computer will prompt you to enter the pages of the document you want to print. Look through your document before printing to verify that you need all its pages -- and if you don't, adjust the page range to reflect what you do need. If you print a receipt from a website, for example, the entire document may take up four pages, even though your receipt itself appears entirely within the second page.

Color vs. Black and White

On the whole, color cartridges are more expensive than black and white ones -- and, since color documents print using a combination of ink hues -- these cartridges run out faster with regular use. Even if a document appears in color on your screen, your computer gives you the option to print it in black and white. Unless printing in color is essential to the purpose for which you use your document.

Mobile Documents

With the advent of "smartphone" devices such as the Android, BlackBerry and iPhone, the necessity to print out certain documents at all has lessened. From receipts to emails to -- in some instances -- airline boarding passes, it's possible to pull up full-length documents using the email or Internet feature on your handheld device. This saves not only on ink, but also on paper.

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