How to Cut down on printing costs

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When printing at home is expensive, I myself especial feels like you’re swapping out ink cartridges every other week.  Now I just found out the cheapest way to cut down on printing costs is to avoid printing altogether  but unfortunately that’s not always a possibility. From making reports to stickers printing, most of us still need to print on a regular basis, but it doesn’t have to cost an expensive way.

Here are some smart good tips to help you cut down on printing costs:

1. Fast draft printing mode

The fastest and easiest way to cut down on ink use (and cost!) is by printing in draft mode. Draft mode lays down less ink, and while your text will look a bit grayer than black, it’s useful for less important documents. The draft option should come up in the print dialog box each time you print, so you can decide on a case by case basis when the print quality isn’t important. Alternately, you can set the printer default to draft mode so it automatically saves you ink and money. While settings vary from program to program, in Windows you can find the option by choosing File > Print then look around for a setting called “draft” or “fast draft.” If you don’t see a drop-down option or checkbox named this, look for the Print Quality tab to adjust your settings.

2. Choose your font wisely

When you print, you probably pick your favorite font or go with a default — perhaps the tried-and-true Times New Roman or maybe something with a little more flair? But font choice can dramatically affect how much ink you use — and a new font was actually designed to save you a chunk of change. Thicker, bolder, or more ornate fonts naturally require your printer to lay more ink down on the page. Choosing asimple, sparsefont can add up to real savings, especially if you often find yourself printing page after page of text.

3. Use Ecofont

So what is Ecofont? Ecofont is a neat font designed with savings in mind. The typeface is actually perforated by tiny holes, so it remains readable while gobbling down less ink. There are a number of different Ecofont typefaces, but the Ecofont Century Gothic is the real super green superfont.

Ecofont Software adds a print button to your toolbar. With just one click of the mouse you can save up to 50% toner when printing. Both your wallet and the environment will be grateful to you, since ink and toner are a particularly heavy burden on both.

So, what are some fonts to avoid? Impact, Cooper Black, and Comic Sans are all ink-hogs, but the easiest way is to just steer clear of any font that looks thick or bold.

* Ecofont as of the moment doesn’t run on Mac environment but on windows. Its compatible with Windows XP, Vista, Seven and works well on Office 2003 pro, 2007, 2010.

I would say for us Mac users we have to wait as soon the version is available.