1. Print Only What You Need

Think about why you’re printing a document and whether or not you actually require a hard copy. With cloud storage options like Dropbox or Google Drive, documents can easily be accessed via mobile apps or on your desktop. Instead of carrying a hard copy, you can access your documents on the fly this way.

If you must print a copy, discard portions of text or graphics that are irrelevant for your purposes. Printing only what you need, not only saves your eyes the scanning time, but also saves you ink.

2. Print Preview Your Documents

Print Preview allows you to see how the document will look after it is printed. By doing this, you can adjust spaces and select only the pages you want to print. In addition, you can Shrink to Fit a document onto one page, which can help you to save on paper.

3. Print in Draft Mode

You can print in draft mode to reduce your ink consumption. If the option is available, you should find it in Microsoft Word under File – Print. Click on ‘Properties’ to bring up your options. Under the heading ‘Quality’ you should be allowed to select ‘Draft’. Note that these steps may vary slightly based on which version you are using. There may also be an ink-saver option which you can set to be your default setting. What happens when you select draft/ink-saver mode is your document prints at a lower resolution. If it is a document for reference material that you will likely discard later, definitely use draft mode. You can always print a higher resolution document for your final version.

4. Print Text Using Only Black Ink

Print black and white documents using only your black ink cartridge. Choose black and white printing whenever possible. Depending on your printer, you may have the option to select grayscale printing which uses only the black ink cartridge. When you print black with a color cartridge, various colors are mixed to create the black. This drains your color ink cartridge a lot faster than it would deplete a black ink cartridge.

5. Print All the Ink Out Of the Cartridge

When your printer light indicates that you’re running low on ink remember that this is a warning signal. Check the cartridge manually, give it a shake to see if there’s still ink and if so, continue to use it. Keep printing until the ink is gone but be careful – you don’t want to run the printer with an empty cartridge because this wears down the life of your machine.

6. Print "Printer-Friendly" Pages from the Web

Opt for the printer-friendly version when printing from a webpage whenever possible - the amount of printer ink wasted by printing pages directly as they appear on the web is staggering. A single webpage can have multiple graphics or pictures that are unnecessary for your printed copy. Going with the printer-friendly option, saves your ink cartridges and also helps to save you paper.

7. Turn Your Printer Off Properly

Using the manual on/off switch on your printer is the way to go as if you want to prolong the life of your ink cartridges. Don’t unplug it or use the power strip to power down. Let your printer power down slowly and turn itself off. Using the manual on-off button allows the printer to properly ‘park’ the ink cartridges in the right position. When the print heads are in the proper place, this prevents the ink from drying up prematurely.