Many consider laser and inkjet printers as “money pit” because of the huge expense tied to operating these machines. However, what actually drive printing costs are the printing practices of users. Coupled with the manufacturer’s use of the “loss leader” type of sales to maximize profit, cost of replacement inkjet and laser toner cartridges has become restrictive. Because printing is necessary, redefining one’s priorities and practices can be an incentive that is enough to save on printing expenditures.
What smart printing practices must be followed to save on printing costs? Top on the list is printer preference because color will always be expensive compared to monochrome printing. In addition, never use a color printer on black and white documents because color from the CMYK laser toner cartridges will still be utilized to deepen black tones.
- Change the default setting when printing inter-office documents. Switch the “Print Menu” program to Fast/Draft/Low quality and Grayscale/Monochrome/Black and White when printing on a colour laser printer. And if your eyes can take it, scale down the printout by 10-30% up until the eyesight can bear. This option will save a lot and extend the capability of the laser toner cartridge.
- Avoid printing pages direct from the web. Just pick the basic essentials and do away with banner ads, hyperlinks, footer information as these extras consume a lot of ink/toner and paper. Follow this simple instruction to eliminate or reduce superfluous webpage content before printing.
- Change to eco-fonts or to the most frugal type since it will definitely save on printing (toner use) without sacrificing print quality. Alternatively, invest in the use of optimization software that is developed to cut on toner consumption by up to 70%, without visible dents in print quality.
Try alternative aftermarket toner products and don’t just settle with the use of OEM replacement all the time. An independent study confirms that a typical laser toner cartridge does not die out after the toner supply has dried out. In fact, it can survive four lifetimes if refilled with toner. Considering that an OEM HP Q2670A toner cartridge costs over $130 (6,000 page coverage), reactivating it with a compatible toner refill kit that costs only $32 provides savings beyond the users expectations.
Aside from realigning printing practices and using toner refill kits, patronizing compatible and refurbished toner cartridges will also deliver savings or drastic cut in toner expenditures. Remember, make use of every opportunity to follow smart printing practices €“ it is the most practical solution to save on printing expenses.
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