By taking five minutes to assess what functions your existing printer has, you could find some tips and tricks that could help save you money on home materials, and your printer running efficiently, Tip: do not let two weeks to pass without using your printer, other things to look out for are:

Duplex (double-sided printing)

When purchasing a printer it can be well worth your while to check if it has Duplex Printing.  Setting your home printer to print on both sides could considerably reduce the amount of paper used on a daily basis – just think about the number of emails and documents that are printed out, simply to be used internally. If this is set up as default, users don’t need to even think it.

Booklet printing

 Producing your documents in booklet (your A4 documents are sent to the driver and automatically reduced to A5, printed double-sided and pages re-ordered) looks extremely smart and helps you save up to 75% on paper costs.

Wireless/phone apps for printing

Check whether your printer has wireless capability – not only can you print from wherever your in the home, but the rest of the family also have access in seconds.  Now we’re seeing more and more apps to enable you to print directly from smartphones, if you have wireless in the home it makes sense to get a wireless printer. Prices usually from €50 for an all in one wireless printer.

Using DRAFT mode on your inkjet printer

If you have an inkjet printer you may be able to reduce the amount of ink it uses for normal and every-day printing by switching your printer to use “Draft” mode.  Inkjet printers produce output by moving the print cartridge along the page and spraying ink dots to create the printing.  In “Normal” mode, which is what most printers are configured with, the print cartridge makes multiple passes over the same area and sprays multiple coats of ink to make the characters bolder.  In “Draft” mode, the printer makes a single pass and moves to the next line.  This creates characters which are not as bold, but may still be acceptable for everyday printing.  Because the printer does not lay multiple layers of ink on the same space less ink is being used to print your document.  You can always switch later to “Normal” or “Best” mode when you need that extra special touch.

Avoid Chunky Fonts and Bolds

Thick fonts and bolded text require extra ink to print, so skinny up your text and save. Some ink-sipping fonts to try: Arial and new courier.  Want to save even more?  switch to Century Gothic, a font with a thinner print line. It is suggested that it can use 30% less ink than Arial.

Print What you Like 

PrintWhatYouLike lets you print the good parts of any web page while skipping ads and other junk which can save you a bungle on ink and is free to use.

CleanPrint is a free add-in, available for most major web browsers, that changes the way you print a web page.  Instead of clicking the normal Print button, click the CleanPrint button in your browser’s toolbar instead, if you want a simpler and cheaper printing option.

Designed Documents

If you’ve ever tried to produce a “designed” document such as an advert, flyer, invitation, brochure and so on, you probably looked at desktop publishing packages, photoshop or Indesign and then gave up.   They’re all either incredibly complicated and incredibly expensive.   But fear not, once more Gizmo has come to the rescue and brought to our attention this Online Publishing System which is currently Free To Use called LucidPress.   LucidPress has over 75 templates in which you can replace the dummy text and images with your own.  Once done it can be downloaded as a PDF and printed off.  LucidPress is currently free to use, though the company behind it has hinted that certain features may require a paid-for subscription in the future.

From customized napkins and ribbons to making unique artwork for your walls using everyday fabrics, your standard printer is much more than your go-to gadget for printing out forms and receipts.

This guide will outline 10 awesome ways to use your printer.

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10 surprising things to do with your printer

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