Extend the life of your ink cartridges by following these fundamental printer tips.

Tweak Printer Settings To Ensure Printing Efficiency
Firstly, pay attention to the settings on your printer – most printers allow you to have various levels of print quality from draft to normal to best. Make sure to print internal documents in draft mode whenever possible. Draft mode produces legible documents that allow you to easily read or view documents without using the same ink level. Further, make sure to take advantage of print preview to save ink on possible re-prints, so that you are able to review the document on-screen and make any necessary changes before printing it out.

Taking this idea a step further, it is often possible to maintain the document in electronic format by creating a PDF, which allows you to distribute an electronic copy without using any ink.

Save Money By Using Third-Party Printing Solutions
Since not all documents are created equal, make sure to be careful when printing high-color images or photos, which require high levels of ink. Instead, you can order from discount digital photo printing labs online at a lower cost than you could print photos yourself. While it may be tempting to produce business materials solely on your printer, you can also often save money at the margin by utilizing business card, envelope and post specialists rather than using your home or office printer.

Save Ink By Adjusting Your Printer's Settings
When you do print on your own machine, you can adjust the print settings to reduce the ink volume setting. This will enable you to increase the life of your cartridge while having a small impact upon print quality. To get the most from your cartridge, you can buy a high capacity refill rather than a standard cartridge, which will provide a more dense ink refill that extends your print cycle. There are a number of ways to get your ink to last longer, and, over time, this can produce quite a bit of printer savings.

But how can you refill an ink cartridge or laser toner from the comfort of your own home or office?

Canon Inkjet Cartridge Refilling Kits

Refilling Inkjet Cartridges

There are many ways to refill an ink cartridge; some are more dangerous than others. For the average user, the best solution is to purchase a DIY ink refill kit from a retailer like 123Refills or 4Inkjets. These are available for both inkjet and laser printers. The content of each kit varies depending on the manufacturer, but the process is the same.

The inkjet refill begins by injecting the ink into the cartridge. Using the included syringe and needle, the injection is either performed through a hole in the cartridge or by removing the entire top of the cartridge and then injecting the ink. Depending on the demand, one may choose to buy ink in bulk so that multiple refills can be performed at a steep discount.

After the injection, small adjustments are made to ensure proper air balance within the cartridge. Once the refill is complete, the cartridge must be reinstalled and have test prints run. Sometimes, the ink must be forced through the sponge at the bottom of the chamber before the initial flow. Lastly, the print heads must be cleaned and inspected to prevent any blockage.

Refilling Laser Toner

For laser printers, toner bins can be refilled in much the same way as inkjet cartridges. The first method involves using a syringe and needle, and the second method involves using a funnel to add more toner. From my personal experience, the best places to get toner for refilling is either 4Inkjets or 123Refills. Laser printers are often more difficult to refill as the basic technology is much more complex than an inkjet. Laser printers need to have the waste hopper emptied as well, which can be dangerous if any of the loose toner dust is inhaled.

The second and final reason why laser printers are more difficult to repair is the cleaning procedure prior to adding more toner. Laser printers have complex blade and drum systems that need to be cleaned and inspected for any wear and tear.