HOW TO SAVE ON... PRINTING:THERE ARE many people who think their printers (and politicians) are poor value for money yet we do need them, if only occasionally, to perform very important work. That doesn't mean they should always cost the earth.
End-users for computer printers (and voters) often feel caught on the sharp end of the razorblade conundrum. You bought the razor for half-nothing. Now you are expected to fork out for the unbelievably expensive refill packs for the rest of your life.
Printer companies have long been accused informally of using this “loss leader” technique of sales to reap profit. With printers starting at around €50 and refill packs upwards from €15, it’s easy to understand why those who are not on lavish expense accounts would be tempted to throw the printer away and just buy a new one instead of bailing it out time and again.
The good news about “unvouched” expenses is, it implies a minimalistic paper trail. The bad news is, it’s tempting to be profligate in other areas. But even if the Sinn Féin representatives at the centre of the “Inkgate” commotion last week had to print out thousands of pages a week or just a few boarding passes now and then, there are a number of tricks and tips to apply in being more economical with the so-called “black gold” of printer ink.
Most household and office printers are either colour inkjet or laser printers. The first thing to bear in mind is that, printing with black ink is much cheaper than printing with colour. Even if you’re only printing a single page of simple text, the printer automatically injects some colour to deepen the black tones.
Also, the printer will wolf down toner as it slathers it over the page in rich seams while trying to make the best possible impression.
The first thing to do is, change the default settings in the print menu of the programme you’re printing from. Select “Print" and click on “Properties/Options” and select “Fast/Draft/Low Quality” printing. Under the options for colour, select “Greyscale/Monochrome/Black and White”.
While you’re at it, you might consider scaling down the printout by 10-30 per cent for extra thrift, if your eyesight will bear it, without losing the effect you are seeking.
These small configuration changes will immediately staunch the flow of ink. While the changes will be visible, the output quality ought to be acceptable for proof work, around the office and for most everyday requirements. The toner packs will go a lot further now. To revert to high quality and colour modes, simply reverse the changes.
Printing pages off the web can be wasteful if you’re committing the banner ads, hyperlinks, footer information and eye-catching graphics to paper alongside the actual content you want and could use. Happily, there are freely available ways to strip back the page you are printing to its bare essentials with just a few clicks.
Search for “Printwhatyoulike”, “Click2zap” or “Printliminator” and follow the simple instructions to rapidly reduce the extraneous information and even make huge savings on paper. It’s an uncomplicated way to reduce clutter in your printouts and delete waste.
It seems to be an established fact that the most frugal typeface to print in is Century Schoolbook. You could also invest in a set of “eco-fonts” which are designed to reduce ink usage without cutting back on quality.
If you are printing a great many pages for the benefit of your analog constituents and your expense account will stretch to it, it may be worth your while investing in some printer optimisation software such as Preton, Fineprint or Inksaver which, while they claim to lower the toner by up to 70 per cent, do so with no reduction in print quality.
A study by respected consumer magazine Which?into toner cartridges conducted in 2004 established that some toner packs flash a message on screen urging you to run out and buy a replacement unit with fully 40 per cent of the precious black stuff still in it. Some packs allegedly even have a counter that simply stops printing when a certain number of pages have been reached.
What manufacturers don’t advertise is that the toner pack in your machine may be re-used several times. Many office supply shops and online services will take your spent ink cartridges and refill them for half the cost of new packs.
You can also purchase refurbished and refilled packs in the secondary market. The quality is admittedly not as good as brand new manufacturer-supplied cartridges but the savings are remarkable. It’s the environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to keep those leaflets coming.
It could get messy so be sure to spread out a copy of yesterday's Irish Timesover the work area before attempting it, but you could even get a DIY toner refill kit in some supermarkets or by ordering online.
It’s not for the faint of heart. Because of the variables and complexity of the process, it’s probably best to do some research on YouTube first. The cost of each toner refill could plummet to as little as €1 if you do it yourself.
One sideline benefit of DIY is, if anyone happens to ask why your office drawer is stuffed with face masks, rubber gloves, sharp tools and syringes, then your plausible explanation is that you are refilling spent cartridges to make radical savings.
