It's often called "liquid gold." Because of the price of cartridges in supermarkets, every drop of ink seems precious.
The result: many parents hesitate to let their children print coloring pages, and remote workers refrain from printing their reports to read on paper. That's a shame!
At Cartouchify, we believe that printing should be a pleasure again, not a luxury. Here are 5 simple tips to reduce your ink consumption, whether you use HP, Epson, Canon, or Brother, without sacrificing quality.
1. Draft Mode: Your Best Friend
This is the golden rule for work documents (drafts, internal memos, notes).
By default, printers are often set to "High Quality." However, to read black text on white, you don't need photo resolution.
- On Windows: Go to File > Print > Printer Properties > Quality/Paper Tab. Select "Draft Mode" or "Economy".
- The gain: This can halve your ink consumption for daily printing.
2. Print in Black and White (and check Grayscale)
Your printer is smart... sometimes too smart. Even if you print a document that appears black, if you don't force the "Black and White" option, the printer often uses the three colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) to create "rich black."
The trick: Go to printer preferences and uncheck color printing. Select the "Grayscale" or "Black Only" option. This preserves your color cartridges for vacation photos.
3. The Preview Rule
There's something worse than printing a lot: it's printing anything. A web page often prints ads, black navigation menus, and only one useful line of text.
Before clicking OK, always look at the preview (Print Preview). Check that you're not printing 10 blank pages at the end or an unnecessary advertising column. This is an immediate saving of paper and ink.
4. Choose the Right Fonts
Not everyone likes Comic Sans, but we can thank Arial or Calibri style. Some fonts like "Times New Roman" are very economical because they are thin and sans-serif (generally).
If you write long documents, try to avoid bold and thick fonts (like Tahoma bold style), which saturate the sheet with ink.
5. Don't Let the Printer Sleep Forever
If you don't print for several weeks, the print heads (especially on HP and Epson inkjet models) can dry out.
The printer will then need to start an automatic cleaning cycle the next time it's used... and this cycle consumes an enormous amount of ink. Ideally, try to print at least one small test page per week to keep the ink flowing.
And to change cartridges?
Despite all your vigilance, the fateful day will come: the printer will stop.
At that moment, don't run to the local store and pay €20, €30, or €50 for a cartridge. You've worked hard to save, so enjoy it!
On Cartouchify, we offer you:
- Prices up to 50% cheaper than the brand.
- Eco-friendly products tested in France.
- A 3-year warranty, so you have nothing to lose by trying.
Your printer is out of ink? Find your model below and save!
👉 [See all ink cartridges and toners]