If you’ve unfortunately been in a coma, this might be news to you, but the rest of us have come to the realization that South Africa is in a *little* (sarcasm intended) bit of trouble thanks to the current global economical situation we find ourselves in and this also includes the most expensive commodity in the world: Printer ink.
There can be no doubt that the current challenges we face affects every aspect of our lives and this includes the way we print. Suddenly every page that gets sent to your printer has the potential to cost a lot more than what it previously did.
We can only hope that our government has a plan to turn our economic woes around.
“The Plan” – Picture courtesy of EYEWITNESS NEWS. All rights reserved.
While that is happening, we present you with some ideas to save on printer ink:
1. Change your font size.
If you have to print a document which you have made, it’s best to choose a smaller, yet readable font as this not only saves ink, but might also save you on using an extra page which would normally be wasted if there was only a few lines of text that would be printed otherwise.
2. Be selective or don’t print at all.
Some things need printing and then some don’t. Only print what is truly needed to avoid unwanted pages being printed, because once a page has been printed, you cannot return the ink to the cartridge. Websites have tons of adds, navigation bars, images and more which can waste a lot of ink. Opt for the printer-friendly option if you need to print something from the web.
3. Change the quality settings.
Each printer has settings which allows you to alter the quality settings and some even allow you to fine tune those settings even further, allowing you to be in total control of how much ink is being used on every page. Changing the quality settings to “Draft mode” will use very little ink and the printout will still be readable.
4. Use the printer regularly.
This might be contrary to popular believe, but if you don’t print very often, you can stretch the life of your inkjet cartridges by keeping the printer moving. Print a page or two at least once a week using both your color and black ink cartridges. You can print something small (even a printer diagnostic test) to prevent the ink from drying up.
Something else to read before purchasing a new printer: The Right Tool For The Right Job
Save ink… Think Trink.
