Restrict colour printing

A page printed in colour typically costs five to seven times more than a page printed in black and white (using only black toner). If possible, avoid typical colour print jobs such as PowerPoint presentations, web pages, and emails.

If you can, print on two sides of a single piece of paper, known as duplex printing, instead of one.

Don’t replace toner cartridges right after the “running low” signal flashes

The low indicator on a printer doesn’t mean it’s going to be empty at any second. With most print devices, the indicator will appear when there is still approximately 20% toner left in the cartridge.

So, keep riding that cartridge hard until it stops spewing ink/toner.

Order toner proactively – not reactively

As with most products, rushed ordering of printer supplies usually leads to sub-par choices. This can also include printer downtime, which hampers productivity in the office. Thus, when you see the low indicator flash on your printer, take time to check your inventory and plan your next order carefully.

Send large print jobs to the most efficient device

Normally, the more expensive the printer (or multifunction device), the less expensive the cost-per-page to print. You may want to lean on small desktop inkjet printers —as they are often more conveniently located in your office than the big MFP device — but they can cost anything from 5 to 20 times more than printing the same job on a larger laser device.

Let your big printing guns in the office do the big printing.

Create an office print policy

A 2016 study found that 90% of offices have no formal print policy in place, while two-thirds don’t track their printing expenses. Printing is like the Wild West for most offices. Management modulates utilities and perishables like coffee, so why not print? You don’t have to come up with a print fleet Magna Carta, mind you. Instead, craft a sensible procedure that addresses issues like when to use colour, ordering guidelines, and what “big gun” printers should take the larger jobs.

Replace inkjet printers with laser devices

We all want the best deal, but often going cheap can end up being a false economy. When it comes to inkjet printers, replacement cartridges can cost you more than the printer itself! Laser printers tend to be more expensive but operate at a lower cost-per-page in small and medium-sized business environments.

Make use of printer default settings to save

Most of today’s printer drivers have nifty default setting options to immediately help you save costs. A popular default setting to save on toner is printing in black and white/draft mode instead of high-quality (and reasonable to do if a document is just for internal use). Setting driver defaults is easy even for newbies.