Did you know that most printers are factory-set to be ink guzzlers? Many printer manufacturers, in fact, make the bulk of their money by selling ink and not the printers. So, printer users would do well to learn about the ways to make ink cartridge last long. Here, we list out six ultimate ways to extend the life of your printer ink cartridge:
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Choose the Right Font
Not all fonts consume the same amount of ink. Fonts with more curls and serifs or wide letters and thick lines require more ink. Your ink cartridge will use up to 30% less ink if you stick to ink-saving fonts such as Garamond, Century Gothic, and Eco Font. Top three fonts that you should avoid are Arial, Tahoma, and Trebuchet
You can also reduce the font size and avoid text in bold altogether if you print a lot of text documents on a regular basis.
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Put Your Ink Cartridges to Use At Least Once A Week
Do not let an inkjet go unused for weeks or months at a stretch. Ink cartridges can easily dry up or become completely clogged if left unused for a long period of time. It can be quite frustrating to see your ink cartridges die in this manner without having served any purpose.f you are looking for someone selling inkjet cartridges, you can check Sell Toner online
Cleaning the ink cartridge head may work at times but in most cases, you’d have to buy a new one. The best way to keep ink cartridges from running dry is to print something at least once a week so that the ink keeps flowing.
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Do Not Turn the Printer Off On a Daily Basis
When you kill the power to a printer, it goes through a maintenance cycle each time it is turned back on, leading to ink being consumed.
Modern-day printers consume very little power when on standby or in sleep mode. So, it is better to focus on saving ink (which is far more expensive) than power.
During the holiday season, when a printer cannot be used daily or weekly, switch it off with its own power button. This way, the print heads are parked in a position where they are better guarded against drying out.
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Tweak Printer Settings
Your computer’s operating system has built-in preferences to help you extend the useful life of ink cartridges. Windows users, for instance, can access Printing Preferences in the Devices and Printers section in the Control Panel.
- Choose ‘Draft Mode’ to produce draft-worthy versions of documents and save on ink each time you do not require high-quality prints. In some cases, it may be shown as ‘Economy Mode.’
- Choose ‘Print in Grayscale’ to print your documents in B&W; this way, your color ink cartridges will last longer.
- Use ‘Document Options’ to print several pages per sheet. This is particularly useful when you need to print lengthy PowerPoint slides and documents. You will have to adjust the formatting of a print job.
- Use a lower resolution when you print graphics and photos. On most occasions, you do not need to print color documents at a high resolution.
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Opt for High Yield Ink Cartridges
If you need to print hundreds of documents, graphics, posters, flyers, invitations, reports, etc. on a monthly basis, you cannot expect standard cartridges to last more than a few days.
Therefore, you should opt for high-yield inkjet or toner cartridges that can print thousands of pages. A high-yield cartridge can last 50% more than a standard cartridge. Every brand either Epson, Brother, Dell, Canon, Kodak or HP offers high high-yield inkjet or toner cartridges.
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Print Smartly
- When you print web pages or documents for the sake of plain reference, make it a point to remove all unnecessary backgrounds, borders, banners, images, and graphics.
- Use ‘the Print Preview’ function to check how the output will look like. Most people end up wasting both ink and paper while trying to adjust spaces and elements by looking at the prints.
- Proofread your work before hitting the print button. Reprints are easily avoidable with a bit of proofreading. Scan your documents for typos or spelling mistakes before you print them.
- You can disregard the ‘cartridge empty’ warning. Such low ink warnings can show even when the cartridge is 40% full. Keep printing until you notice that the print quality has lessened.
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Author Bio
My name is George Mendelson. I am the PR Media Manager at InkjetsClub, a nationwide leading ink and toner retailer. One of my passions is educating and helping people through all the issues related to Printers, Ink Cartridges and Toners
