Technology Tips Weekly - March 20, 2008

Printing Tips

by David Bezuidenhout

Since we are halfway through a short week, I thought I would put together some tips on a really simple topic... Here are some random printing tips:

• Saving on Ink: I'm sure you have noticed the cost of printer cartridges if you use an inkjet printer. Interestingly, printer ink is around 1000 times more expensive than gas! You'll often find that it is almost cheaper to purchase a new printer than replace the cartridges... So, what can you do?
  • Preview the print. Most applications allow you to preview what the printout will look like. Check it out before printing to make sure everything fits the way you want it to.
  • Tone it down. Visit the printer settings, and set the default to Draft, or Low Quality printing. This means the printer will use the ink sparingly and this should be fine for most print jobs. If you want to print something for display or to have a professional look, you can set the printer to High Quality just for that job.
  • Don't believe it! Many printers and printer drivers will inform you when the ink is running low. Just use that as a benchmark, but only replace the cartridges when you see the print quality degrading. In one case, I had an inkjet produce twice the number of prints after 'running out of ink' than it had produced while still 'full'.
  • Go gray. If you want to print something for your own use, and don't need it in color, ensure the print setting are grayscale. Color cartridges are considered spent when just one of the colors is used up, so the less you need to print in color, the longer it will last. This assumes you have a printer that allows for both a black cartridge and a color cartridge.
  • Change printers? If you need to replace the cartridges, consider the cost of replacing the printer with a laser printer. The printer will be more expensive than the cartridges, but you will save in the long run because laser printers are more economical than inkjet printers.
• Save a Tree: Use old single-side pages for printing documents that are for your own use. Be sure to lay them the right way around so the printing is on the back of the page!
• Photos: There are many fantastic photo printers available now. Are they worthwhile? A while back, we investigated the costs of printing photos at home versus at a photo store. The photo store won by far! Although printing your own photos is a wonderful idea, the overall cost of the printer, photo cartridge, photographic paper and wasted ink adds up. Fortunately, most print shops can now accept digital photos on USB memory devices, camera memory cards, and disks, and some will even have websites you can upload your photos to, and deliver the prints to your door!
• Use your printer from anywhere in the office/at home: If you have more than one computer, you can share your printer amongst all the computers in your network. You can do this in Windows by going to the Control Panel, then Printers & Faxes. Choose the printer you wish to share, and click on 'Share this printer' in the Printer Tasks menu to the left. Then follow the instructions. For Apple Mac users, go to System Preferences and Click on Print & Fax in the Hardware section. Click on the 'Sharing' tab at the top of the window, check the checkbox next to 'Share these printers with other computers' and choose the printer you wish to share. When you are done, you can close the window, and your printer is shared on your local network, wired or wirelessly.

We can help with your printer-related issues. Email me or phone me on (778) 292 0654 today!

For those that celebrate it, have a wonderful Easter! For those that don't, have a relaxing long weekend.

Regards, Dave - your local technology guru

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