How to cut down on ink used in printers

Replacing ink cartridges is an expensive affair. A new ink cartridge is expensive especially if it is OEM. Cheaper alternatives includes buying third party compatible ink cartridges, using refill and using remanufactured ink cartridges. Remanufactured ink cartridges are also known as recycled ink cartridges.

By buying recycled ink cartridges, refill kits or compatible ink cartridges, these steps are ways to save money. Other ways to save money is to cut down on ink used in printers. If possible reduce the quantity of ink used in ones printing job will reduce the cost of printing per page.

So the question, how to cut down on ink used in printers?

One sure way of reducing printer ink use is to print in draft mode. As many a time,the final document is produced only after many drafts. Hence by printing the drafts in draft mode, considerable amount of ink can be saved. In draft mode the ink used is minimized. This is also true if the final document is to be in colors.

Setting the printer in draft mode is rather an easy task. Follow the following steps.

1) First go to the control panel and select printers and faxes
2) When in printer and faxes, you should be able to see the printers installed. Select the printer that set as default ( with a tick mark)
3) Right click on it and from the drop down menu, select printing preference.
4) In the printer preference , select print quality and in there there are a few options and select draft mode.

The above four steps are meant for window system , the steps are applicable to different models of printers installed. When the document is ready for the final print, you will need to reset back the print quality to high using the same steps above.

Another method to save on ink, especially color inks is to have two set of printers. One printer is printing in black and white only, while the second printer prints in color. Always use the first printer to print in draft mode and when document is ready only use the second printer to print. This could be in color or in black and white. Through this method one can extend to usage of color inks and off course reducing the cost per page of printing.

Hence the above two methods can be used to cut down on ink used in printing.