5 ways to reduce your printing costs

Nowadays, businesses are getting creative in their cost-cutting measures. One overlooked area where a little penny-pinching can yield big savings is cutting printing costs. People who print at home know how quickly the cost of ink cartridges and paper can add up, so just imagine how much it costs a business with high-volume printing needs. Luckily, cutting printing costs is easy. Keep reading to learn five easy ways.

1. If it Doesn't Need Printing, Don't
This sounds intuitive, but it is surprising the amount of emails, memos, and other notices that people print that they really don't need to. An office policy of electronic distribution of notices will easily cutback on this problem.

2. Print on Both Sides of the Sheet
One often underused feature on many printers is duplexing, which is printing on both sides of a sheet. Not every printer has this feature, but if it is available it can cut paper costs in half. Think about it. A fifty page report distributed to ten people amounts to five-hundred sheets of paper. Using the duplex feature cuts it down to two-hundred and fifty.

3. Don't Use Color Ink if It Isn't Necessary
Anytime a person is working on a chart or project that includes color they probably need to print drafts first. Color toner and ink cartridges are more expensive than their color counterparts. If there isn't a need to have the draft in color, then don't print it in color. Save money and use the black instead.

4. Use the Economy Print Settings that Save Ink and Toner
Many printers have special options to save ink or toner. Some have draft options that will reduce the amount of ink or toner used on drafts of a project, and laser printers typically have a toner save mode. Both of these options provide an easy way to cut ink or toner costs that many people don't know about.

5. Switch From an Inkjet to a Laser Printer
For businesses or individuals with high printing needs, a laser printer is a more economical choice. Yes, laser printers require drum units and sometimes multiple cheap toner cartridges, but their cost per page is less than an inkjet printer. The long-term savings from making the switch will payoff in the end.

Given the increasing cost of everything these days, people need to save money where they can. These five easy tips will cut printing costs immediately. For businesses or individuals with large printing needs, these savings can add up fast and be better spent elsewhere.