How to Save Ink Printer

let’s face it, printer ink is expensive! Every time you press the "PRINT" button on your computer, the printer ink cartridges will consume a small amount of ink and soon they will be empty. Buying a new genuine ink cartridge is certainly expensive, depending on the make and model, the printer ink cartridges can sometimes cost more than the printer itself.

If you want to save money on expensive ink cartridges for your printer, you need to follow these few simple strategies that can help your ink cartridge last a bit longer.

Determine your printing purpose. Before you start printing any particular portion of text or graphics, decide its relevance and usefulness so that you do not unnecessarily spend time in printing things that may not be of much use.

Don’t print anything before you haven’t thoroughly revised the content for mistakes. Otherwise you might end up printing it several times. Print only what you need. Don’t print a whole book, if you’re only interested in a few paragraphs. Don’t print the graphics, if you’re only interested in the text and vice versa.

Avoid extreme temperatures. High variations in temperature can easily affect printer ink cartridges. Hence, make sure that they are not exposed to extreme heat or cold conditions to ensure a lasting performance.

Use color printing only when needed. If you want your color ink cartridge to last longer, then make use of color printing only when required.

Choose the correct printer settings. In case you have documents that are not been used for presentation purpose, then a draft printer setting should serve the purpose for all general documents. You can also change your default font to “ecofont” for lesser ink usage.

Use your printer regularly. It is necessary that you use the printer on a regular basis so that there is lesser chance of the printer ink drying up easily. Just try printing some small portion of text every time so that the printer is in a good working condition.

If you are printing documents only for the sake of plain reference, you can print only the essential text and the matter that is required. Avoid printing images or colorful graphics if it does not serve the purpose.

Print preview function is a useful feature that can help you in giving a preview of how the document will look like after been printed. It can help you adjust spaces and organizing things together before getting the final output. Thus, you can save ink cartridge in this process.

Never stop the printer in between until it has completed the task, as the cartridge could be still moving. This will force the printhead to stop at a particular place where you stopped the process and may cause ink leakage too.

Lot of ink saving software is available online which can be used for reducing the consumption of printer ink. Some of them consume less ink even when used for high resolution printing purposes.

If you are using the printer frequently, avoid shutting it fully until you have completed your work. Otherwise, it may unnecessarily cause your printer ink to dry up in the process as everytime you turn it on, a small amount of ink is utilized.

And finally, don’t be alarmed if your printer reports that ink are empty. Chances are you have 10-30% lifetime left. So keep printing until the printer stops.

By following such small yet effective tips, you can ensure that your ink cartridge will last longer.

How do I save my opened ink cartridges?

To store your already opened ink printer cartridges for future use, here are a few steps to follow:

With a soft, moist (not wet) cloth, gently wipe the opening of the ink cartridge to rid it of any dried up ink that could cause clogging.
Cover the opening with vinyl tape to prevent leakage. If your cartridge holds multiple color ink tanks, make sure that the vinyl tape does not touch the other openings. This would contaminate the colors with each other.
Take a clean damp (not wet) cloth and put this in a zip lock plastic bag along with your printer cartridge. The moist cloth will make sure that the printer cartridge would not dry up.
Store in a cool, dry place that you can easily remember so that you can use this after the cartridge that you are using is completely consumed.
Re-moisten the cloth every few days to ensure that it does not dry up.