{"id":766,"date":"2014-10-28T00:38:25","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T00:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/?p=766"},"modified":"2023-06-07T23:13:21","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T23:13:21","slug":"how-to-make-your-ink-cartridge-last-longer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/how-to-make-your-ink-cartridge-last-longer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get More Ink Out of Your Cartridge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Printer ink\u00a0is notorious for being expensive. More costly than the price of the printer itself, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.consumerreports.org\/cro\/magazine\/2013\/08\/the-high-cost-of-wasted-printer-ink\/index.htm\">Consumer Reports<\/a>\u00a0puts the price of branded OEM ink (such as HP, Canon, or Epson) at $13 to $75 per ounce, while a bottle of vintage Dom Perignon currently sells for $160, or $6.31 per ounce. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/?xid=tmd:blog:&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_source=ldblog&amp;utm_campaign=766:homepage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">printer ink<\/a> costing at least twice as much as premium champagne, you\u2019ll certainly want to get every drop\u2019s worth. We&#8217;ve broken this article into two parts: in the first part, we&#8217;ll talk about simple and proven strategies or printing habits that can prolong the life of your ink cartridge. In the second part, we&#8217;ll talk about\u00a0methods you can use to tap out\u00a0every last drop of ink from your cartridge.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>How to Prolong the Life of Your Ink Cartridge<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Avoid Large Fonts and Bolds:<\/strong> Large fonts and bold text require more ink, so save by slimming down the size of your text. Some ink saving fonts to try are Arial and new courier. To save even more, download <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecofont.com\/\">Ecofont<\/a>&#8211;a\u00a0font style that uses 20% less ink by including small white circles within each character.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Proofread Before Your Print:<\/strong> Examine your documents carefully before printing them out \u2013 you just might save yourself a reprint.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Play With Your Printer Settings:<\/strong> Printers have been purposely set to guzzle ink before leaving the factory. Luckily for us, it\u2019s an easy enough change. Simply update your printer\u2019s default settings. To do this on a Windows-based computer, click start &gt; printers &gt; right click on your printer and choose \u201cpreferences\u201d. Changes worth considering include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Setting the print quality to \u201cdraft\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Choosing \u201cprint in grayscale\u201d to prevent color printing<\/li>\n<li>Choose \u201cdocument options\u201d to print multiple pages per sheet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Only Print What You Need:<\/strong> Do you want to print an article or recipe off a website, but can do without all of the ads and photos that appear on the page? Go to printwhatyoulike.com, enter the URL for the page, and you\u2019ll be able to delete those ink-guzzling extras with just a few simple clicks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Use Print Preview:<\/strong> Have you ever printed something from the internet just to find that it didn\u2019t fit the page? To avoid such a big ink waster you can hit \u201cprint preview\u201d before sending anything to be printed, and you\u2019ll be able to catch and correct any issues before the ink makes it to the paper.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Check for Clogs:<\/strong> Has your cartridge stopped printing like it\u2019s supposed to? Do you receive streaks or smears on your page? Before you trash it, make sure a clogged nozzle isn\u2019t to blame. To confirm this, try running your printer&#8217;s printhead cleaning feature. This will wick out any ink that may have settled and dried over the printhead nozzles during a long interval between print jobs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Saving Work Instead of Printing It:<\/strong> Would a saved digital record work just as well as a printed copy? If that\u2019s the case, save the file to your hard or flash drive and cut out the printing process.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Third-Party Print Cartridges:<\/strong> Reputable aftermarket suppliers of printer ink not only offer a cost-effective alternative to big name brands, they can also provide you with cartridges that deliver a higher yield. According to a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/147267\/ThirdPartyInk.html\">study<\/a> by PC World, &#8220;Our tests show that all of the third-party ink in our test group yielded more prints per cartridge&#8211;on top of costing less&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to note, however, that not all aftermarket ink is created equal. Make sure you choose a reputable company with a strong warranty and flexible return policy. this will serve as an indicator of that company&#8217;s adherence to high standards of quality and customer service. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/\">LD Products<\/a> stands by all of its remanufactured and compatible ink cartridges with a 100%\u00a0satisfaction guarantee.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 id=\"section5\"><strong><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com?xid=tmd:blog:banner&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_source=ldblog&amp;utm_campaign=5816:greatink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9286 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ld_bnr_blog_GreatInk_2020_728x90-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\" \/><\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3>How to Get Every Last Drop of Ink From Your Cartridge<\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re receiving a warning from your printer that it\u2019s out of ink or running dangerously low, go ahead and ignore it.\u00a0In PCWorld&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/152953\/printer_ink_costs.html\">article<\/a> &#8220;How Much Ink is Left in That Dead Cartridge?,&#8221; a test revealed that most ink cartridges still hold anywhere from 8 to 45% of their ink when the message appears. So how do you get the remaining ink from your cartridge? There are a couple of ways:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Printhead Cleaning:<\/strong>\u00a0You may sometimes think you&#8217;re running low on ink when\u00a0you start getting streaky prints, but it may\u00a0only be because your printhead needs cleaning. There are a few ways to remedy this but the easiest way is to run your printers printhead cleaning feature to\u00a0get rid of\u00a0dried ink in the print head. This specially happens when your printer hasn&#8217;t been used for awhile.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NdPuaukDywo\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Shake it<\/strong>: When your prints start to look faded, it&#8217;s not always because your cartridges are running empty. Sometimes it could be because some of the ink has dried up and is clogging the nozzles. Apart from the hair dryer method, you could also try flipping the cartridge upside down and then gently shake it. Easy on the shaking though, we only want to get the ink unstuck, not break the cartridge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hair Dryer Method:<\/strong> Another way to get every last bit of ink from your cartridge is to make sure your cartridge nozzles are clear. Blowing the nozzles with hot air thins out\u00a0whatever ink blockage is there and enables the rest of your ink to\u00a0come out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paper Towel method:<\/strong> Similar to the hair dryer method, the paper towel method also aims to clear out\u00a0dried ink from the nozzles to help the rest of the ink come out.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oIuJsiaicW0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Cover the Sensor:<\/strong>\u00a0Some ink cartridges come with a chip which detects ink levels. And more often than not, this chip sends out an empty cartridge warning too early. When it does, it sometimes won&#8217;t let you print unless you change cartridges. To address this issue, cover up the chip sensor with dark electrical tape. Take that, you chip!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cartridge Swap:\u00a0<\/strong>Another way to convince your printer that you&#8217;ve changed cartridges is by swapping the cartridges.\u00a0 This should only be tried with black and tri-color cartridges like the HP 67 series.\u00a0 Do not try it if your printer uses individual black, cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges.\u00a0 All you need to do is put the black cartridge in the tri-color slot and the tri-color in the black slot, &#8211; then put them back in their correct slots and try printing.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Important Note:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You need to know when your ink cartridge is <strong>really empty<\/strong>. When it truly is,<em><strong> be sure to change it promptly.<\/strong><\/em> Printing on a depleted cartridge can melt your print head and damage your printer (yikes!). It always pays to have a spare cartridge ready for when your cartridges are really empty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One way to\u00a0make sure you always have a spare cartridge without blowing your budget is to shop compatible cartridges which usually cost a lot less than an original brand cartridge while still giving you the same clear prints you&#8217;ve come to expect from OEM cartridges.<\/p>\n<p>If you have other techniques in squeezing every last bit of ink from you cartridge, leave us a comment!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/?xid=tmd:blog:&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_source=ldblog&amp;utm_campaign=766:lowprices\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9287 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ld_banr_txt_customers_2020_728x90-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"footable_parent_12760\"\n     class=\"footable_parent ninja_table_wrapper loading_ninja_table wp_table_data_press_parent semantic_ui colored_table\">\n                <table data-ninja_table_instance=\"ninja_table_instance_0\" data-footable_id=\"12760\" data-filter-delay=\"1000\" aria-label=\"LD Products - support us plug - gray\"            id=\"footable_12760\"\n           data-unique_identifier=\"ninja_table_unique_id_1648337845_12760\"\n           class=\" foo-table ninja_footable foo_table_12760 ninja_table_unique_id_1648337845_12760 ui table  nt_type_legacy_table selectable striped vertical_centered ninja_custom_color inverted footable-paging-left hide_all_borders ninjatable_hide_header_row ninja_table_search_disabled ninja_table_pro\">\n                <colgroup>\n                            <col class=\"ninja_column_0 \">\n                    <\/colgroup>\n        <thead>\n<tr class=\"footable-header\">\n                        <th scope=\"col\"  class=\"ninja_column_0 ninja_clmn_nm_cartridgeseries \">\ufeffCartridge Series<\/th><\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n\n        <tr data-row_id=\"1067\" class=\"ninja_table_row_0 nt_row_id_1067\">\n            <td>Thank you for reading this post! This article is written by a team of ink experts at <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LD Product<\/a>s<\/span> - a Long Beach, California-based company that specializes in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">compatible ink and toner<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 With over 20 years of printing expertise, we\u2019re committed to helping you save money on printer ink without sacrificing quality.\u00a0 If you found this content helpful, we\u2019d be grateful if you supported us by visiting <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LDProducts.com<\/a><\/span> for all of your ink and toner needs.\u00a0 We appreciate your support!<\/td>        <\/tr>\n    <\/tbody><!--ninja_tobody_rendering_done-->\n    <\/table>\n    <style id=\"ninja_table_custom_css_12760\" type=\"text\/css\">\n#footable_12760,\n#footable_12760 table {\n    background-color: rgba(238, 240, 241, 1) !important;\n    color: rgba(7, 7, 7, 1) !important;\n    border-color: rgba(238, 240, 241, 1) !important;\n}\n#footable_12760 thead tr.footable-filtering th {\n    background-color:  !important;\n    color:  !important;\n}\n#footable_12760:not(.hide_all_borders) thead tr.footable-filtering th {\n        border : 1px solid transparent !important;\n    }\n#footable_12760 .input-group-btn:last-child > .btn:not(:last-child):not(.dropdown-toggle) {\n    background-color:  !important;\n    color:  !important;\n}\n#footable_12760 tr.footable-header, #footable_12760 tr.footable-header th, .colored_table table.ninja_table_pro.inverted.table.footable-details tbody tr th {\n    background-color:  !important;\n    color:  !important;\n}\n\n#footable_12760:not(.hide_all_borders) tbody tr td {\n    border-color: rgba(238, 240, 241, 1) !important;\n}\n#footable_12760 tbody tr:hover {\n    background-color: rgba(238, 240, 241, 1) !important;\n    color: rgba(7, 7, 7, 1) !important;\n}\n#footable_12760 tbody tr:hover td {\n    border-color: rgba(238, 240, 241, 1) !important;\n}\n\n#footable_12760 tfoot .footable-paging {\n    background-color:  !important;\n}\n#footable_12760 tfoot .footable-paging .footable-page.active a {\n    background-color:  !important;\n}\n#footable_12760:not(.hide_all_borders) tfoot tr.footable-paging td {\n    border-color:  !important;\n}\n\n\n#footable_12760 td.ninja_column_0 { text-align: center; }<\/style>\n\n    \n    \n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Printer ink\u00a0is notorious for being expensive. More costly than the price of the printer itself, Consumer Reports\u00a0puts the price of branded OEM ink (such as HP, Canon, or Epson) at&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,19],"tags":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13157,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions\/13157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldproducts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}