How to Make Toner and Ink Last Longer to Save Money

Printer ink and toner is a big recurring expense when it comes to technology—it seems like we’re always running out of it, and then forced to buy more. It doesn’t have to be this way, though. Here are a couple easy tips and tricks to make your ink and toner last longer and keep your wallet a little fatter.

Ignore the “low ink” warning—at least at first

Printers start notifying you about low ink way before the ink is actually all the way gone. If you think you still have a few more prints left, give it a go! Until you start noticing streaks and other drops in print quality, leave those ink cartridges installed.

Maintain your machine

All those cleaning settings you usually ignore? Give some of them a try. A clogged print nozzle or something similar could make it seem like you’re out of ink, when really your printer just needs a good cleaning.

Tweak your printer settings

If you’re just printing out pages of a report or a paper for school, you don’t need to use the color printer cartridges. Adjust your settings to print in grayscale or black and white; this way, you won’t use up the smaller color cartridges as quickly and will make sure you actually use up all of the larger black one.

Proofread everything

How many times have we printed out something, just to notice a typo and have to start all over? By reading and rereading everything carefully before printing, you’ll save yourself unnecessary reprints and ink. Plus, you’ll use less paper, so the environment will thank you too!

Change your font

This one was a little surprising, but the science of it makes sense. You can adjust your font size to be smaller, which uses less ink on its own, but you can also change fonts entirely to save even more. A font like Garamond has skinnier strokes within individual letters, and so uses less ink in each letter. If you’re really trying to get the very last drop out of your ink cartridges, this might be the way to go.

Shopping smart is another great way to save ink and money; check out retailers like 123Inkjets that sell high-quality ink and toner for less money right out the gate. Shop during the extended sale and get an extra 17% off ink and toner and free shipping using code 123PRES now. Combine that with these new tricks you’ve just learned, and you’ll be good to go on all your ink and toner needs!