Six ways to save ink when printing for your business

In business, the only way your company can succeed is to operate at a profit. This means that you must not only hit your sales targets but keep a watchful eye on your overheads. Essentials such as electricity and the internet are necessary expenditures, but there are other important areas that you can afford to be a bit more frugal with.

For instance, no matter what sector your business operates in, you’re likely to have some printing requirements. If your company relies heavily on printing materials, the cost of consumables is something to consider carefully before buying a machine.

If you’re thinking about buying a model from a reliable manufacturer, such as an Epson Inkjet printer, there are several things you can do to ensure your ink expenditure is kept as low as possible.

Print efficiently

Every member of your team will feel the need to print. Whether that’s to-do lists, meeting notes, or important emails, when consumables aren’t taken into consideration, people often print for the sake of it.

Encouraging efficient printing in the workplace can save considerable amounts of ink, not to mention paper supplies too. If you instruct your employees to only print when absolutely necessary and educate them on the life cycle and price of ink cartridges, you can work together to keep consumable costs down.

Use print preview

Using all the features your printer has to offer will allow you to get the most out of your model.

For example, the Epson Workforce Pro 4740DTWF has a ‘print preview’ mode, which permits you to view how a document will look after it has been printed, before you’ve pressed the button.

All Epson printers have this capability, and it can help you to adjust things such as spacing and font sizes, and let you decide which pages need to be printed. Using this handy feature will ensure that your Epson ink cartridges last as long as possible.

Turn on draft mode

Unless you’re a business which provides printing solutions, in which case an Epson inkjet printer is probably not the best choice for you, the majority of your printing needs will come from internal demands.

Another tip that is an ink saver function, allows you to print internal documents in draft mode. Using this feature means that your document will print at a lower resolution, so if you’re simply printing a personal to-do list, the level of quality won’t matter too much.

You can also print important documents in draft mode while they’re being revised, and upgrade to a higher resolution once you’ve finalised your work.

Apply grayscale mode

A feature similar to draft mode is grayscale mode. With the exception of colourful presentations or marketing material, black and white will be suitable for the majority of your in-house printing. Inkjet printers, such as the Epson Workforce, allow you to save using blocks of black ink, and instead use a combination of grey tones between black and white.

To save your business on the cost of consumables, encourage your staff to print in greyscale instead of colour wherever possible.

Keep your printer nozzles clean

Have you ever experienced that frustrating feeling when no ink can be seen on your page, but the cartridge appears to be full?

One of your problems could be a clogged nozzle. These nozzles dispense the ink using a spray action onto the paper. If not suitably cleaned, they can become built up with dry ink, and end up completely congested.

Regular cleaning will help to ensure your ink cartridges are in the best working order and won’t make you feel like you have to replace the cartridges as often. Always consult your manufacturer handbook before undertaking any cleaning yourself, or you may invalidate your warranty.

Consider font styles and sizes

Believe it or not, the font you’ve chosen for your in-house style could be eating away at your ink cartridges!

Research has found that Arial is one of the worst offenders for over using ink. If you’re looking to take some of the workload off your Epson printer, and save your company some money, you should opt for Times New Roman and Calibri.

There is even a font called ‘Eco Font’ which was developed in the Netherlands as an ink saver. The font contains tiny holes, which means there is less ink needed on the page.

It is always recommended that you use the printer manufacturer’s branded cartridges rather than 3rd party alternatives to keep your printer in warranty, and ensure you receive the highest quality print possible.

Finally, make sure to store your ink cartridges properly, keeping them away from direct sunlight in a cool dark place and in an upright position to give them the longest life span possible.