Laptops For Less Blog

Minimizing Ink Usage through Color Management

We are supposed to be in the age of the paperless office. As businesses move more and more towards electronic storage of data and information, and files can be easily sent over the Internet, there is no longer a perceived need for hard printed copies of documents. What great news for the environment – how many trees can be saved…

Well, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. People are simply more comfortable handling hard copies of documentation, despite the fact that more and more businesses are adopting online financial forms, contracts and other documents. One reason is that people are afraid of losing everything if their electronic storage system fails. But, if companies continue to need printed copies of their important files, they also need to manage the cost of printing. The recent global financial crisis has highlighted that many companies are not as recession-proof as they thought they were. Printing is one area where money can be saved, with a little forethought and planning.

One practice many companies have adopted is to use refillable cartridges for their black and color printer ink. It’s extremely cost-efficient to refill re-manufactured or OEM print cartridges.

Another way to save money in this area is to control the printer’s color settings, so that printed documents look as clear and detailed as you need, but use the least possible amount of ink to achieve this. Some kind of color management software is supplied with most printers these days. This software allows for fine-tuning the way the text or image will be printed – for instance, what colors to use and what depth of color to be applied, and whether any special finish should be applied to the print output. You can usually input the kind of paper you are printing on, to ensure that the printer/ink/paper combination is optimal.

If you print mainly text documents, color management is not such an issue. If the documents are mainly for internal use, it might be worth reducing the amount of black ink to save money – obviously anything for external use needs to look as good as possible, so don’t forget to adjust the amount of black printer ink accordingly.

But if you will be printing colored charts or images, color management is vital. If pages are being wasted because the color is too pale or the text unreadable, this quickly adds up, and the price of your replacement print cartridge no longer seems so reasonable, as costs edge up due to too much wasted ink.

It’s recommended to read your printer’s manual before attempting to use any of the advanced color management features. But, with a little study, you can reduce the overall cost of ink replacement, and increase the efficiency of your
printing at the same time.

Finally – a great way to significantly reduce printing costs is to buy replacements from a reputable online merchant who sells refillable cartridges or generic cartridges which are fully compatible with the manufacturers’ own brand replacements, at a fraction of the cost. LaptopsForLess.com has a huge selection of replacement cartridges in stock, at very reasonable prices.