Printing costs can quietly add up over time, especially in a busy office or home environment. Here are seven practical ways to reduce your spend without sacrificing quality.
1. Print in Draft Mode
Most printers have a draft or economy print mode that uses significantly less ink while still producing readable output. For internal documents and reference materials, draft mode is perfectly adequate and can cut ink usage by up to 50%.
2. Print Double-Sided
Enabling duplex printing halves your paper usage instantly. Most modern printers support automatic double-sided printing. Check your printer settings or driver to enable it by default.
3. Use High-Yield Cartridges
High-yield or XL cartridges contain more ink and work out cheaper per page than standard cartridges. They cost more upfront but the cost per page is noticeably lower, saving money over time.
4. Preview Before You Print
Use print preview to check documents before printing. This helps catch formatting errors, unnecessary blank pages and oversized margins, saving paper and ink on reprints.
5. Print Multiple Pages Per Sheet
For reference documents, spreadsheets or presentations, printing two or four pages on a single sheet of paper reduces paper use significantly without losing readability.
6. Choose the Right Paper
Standard 20lb multipurpose paper is the most economical option for everyday documents. Save premium paper for when it matters, such as client-facing documents and photos.
7. Keep Your Printer Maintained
A poorly maintained printer wastes ink on cleaning cycles and can produce poor-quality output that needs reprinting. Clean the print heads regularly and do not let the printer sit unused for long periods.