Hacks To Maximize Toner And Extend The Life of HP Cartridges and Printers
These simple hacks not only increase the lifespan and yield of the toner cartridge, they will extended just about every major component in a printer.
It is estimated that office printers can represent as much as 7 percent of your total office budget. To make the most of each toner cartridge, Metrofuser has put together a few tips for increasing toner lifespan and decreasing overall costs.
For All HP Printers and MFP Multi Function Deceives
Image Size and Use
Eliminate or reduce the size of graphics and complex hi res artwork.
Some printer manufactures do not want users to know this but you can set the printer to light mode or econo mode. This will drastically reduce the amount of toner that is being used.
Reduce or change DPI (dots per inch) from the default to 600 or even 300.
Shake The Toner Cartridge Side to Side
HP printer cartridges utilize toner in powdered form. Over time, toner can clump up and become unevenly distributed, leading to wasted toner. To extend the life of your HP toner cartridge, remove the cartridge from the printer, and shake to redistribute the toner then reinstall.
Turn on Toner Saving Mode
To do this go to your HP your print settings, Depending on the laser printer model you can, change print mode to
Draft mode
Fast mode
Toner-saver mode
These modes use less toner by reducing the density. If content matters more than print quality; these modes are acceptable for working with intra-office documents.
Keep a backup toner cartridge but ignore the low toner cartridge warning. Run the cartridge dry before replacing.
Design using a look and feel that is toner cartridge friendly.
Eliminate solid color and gray color text boxes.
If you have to use them try highlighting the borders instead.
Use a light gray to fill boxes.
3 Font Resizing Tips
Reduce the font size to 10-12.
Change the typeface from “Bold” to normal.
You can get more documents printed from less toner by switching your font. Stick with fonts that are well-known for how little ink they require, including Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica.
This uses more toner
This uses less toner
This uses the least toner
Purchase only high yield toner cartridges (X)
A high yield cartridge contains more toner and can print out more pages than a standard cartridge. They utilize a over-sized toner hopper and have double the amount of print yield . Page yield is a common printer term that refers to how many pages that cartridge can produce at 5% page coverage.
Store unused HP toner cartridges properly to extend their life.
Keep the cartridges sealed in the original packaging until you need to use them. Stock toner cartridges in an upright position in a cool dry indoor place.
FIFO First in First Out
Use the older toner cartridges first.
Enable Auto Continue
Depending what HP model you have, you may be able to adjust the setting to continue to print when the toner is low from the printers control panel.
Disable Cartridge Check
From the printer's control panel, go into diagnostic menu and disable cartridge check. This allows you to run the toner cartridge dry and also swap cartridge positions.
Hacks For Color HP Printers
Since complex color requires the use of 2-4 primary colors, it uses 2-4 times as much toner in the process. If color is not necessary, it is always best to change your printing preference to what is known as “grayscale,” or black-and-white. You still get a readable, quality document or image that uses much less toner and will extend the life of your cartridge.
These are just a few of the ways to maximize and extend the life of your toner cartridges. Office printing is a necessity for all business, it is a good idea to focus on ways to maximize and extend the life of each cartridge.
Other Helpful Resources
Metrofuser is a leading global innovator, manufacturer of printer parts, equipment, diagnostics, repair information and systems solutions for professional users performing critical tasks. Products and services include hp printer parts, printers and printer repair training. Parts include hp printer parts such as printer fusers, printer maintenance kits and other hp printer replacement parts.
The company's, customers include office equipment dealerships, online retailers, repair centers and MPS service providers nationwide. Metrofuser has been named to Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing companies five consecutive years. Contact us at 908-245-2100, Dial 0 for sales.