We are all trying to save money these days, so here are some of our best tips on how to cut your printing costs in half by taking simple steps like shopping around for the best price, emailing your documents instead of printing them out and using duplex printing.
Don’t spend too much on ink
You can shop around and compare prices on printer ink. You will usually find the best prices, discounts and widest selection on-line. Remanufactured ink and toner cartridges are the best price at the highest quality, you will find remanufactured cartridges less than half the price of OEM while performing better than refilled or compatible cartridges. Clickinks.com is known for low priced remanufactured ink and toner cartridges.
Print in economy mode
Next thing is changing your printing preference; how is this going help me save on my printing cost? By changing your printing preferences to print fit to page, change your current resolution to 300 DPI, change you toner saver on, set to economy mode and change your printing settings to text or even draft instead of photo. Once you have changed your printer preferences then go to print preview to make sure you are printing only what you need instead of printing headers, footers and anything else unnecessary.
Duplex Printing
If your printer has a duplex option, you can print on both the front and back of paper. Many office printers even have the option of automatic duplexing. This will cut your paper costs in half.
Consider your Font
Switching to Calibri, Times New Roman or another narrow font and not using bold effects also means that you use less ink with each letter you print. For more information on Ink Saving Fonts, see our earlier blog.
Email your documents
Are you sharing documents with other co workers? Everything doesn’t need to be printed, many times you can send them by email instead of printing them out, saving time, money, ink and the trees. Only print out what you need, for example let’s say that you have a memo or announcement you can just print the document once and then post it up somewhere everyone can see.
When you aim to save money, you end up spending less on ink or toner, putting less strain on your printer so it lasts longer, saving trees and keeping empty ink cartridges out of the environment.
A toner cartridge, also called a laser toner cartridge, is the consumable component used in a laser printer. Cleaning your cartridge as needed is very important for the quality of the printing and maximizes the printer performance. To reduce the chance of your printer toner cartridge clogging, printer manufacturers recommend that you print at least one page a week in both black and color. If uneven printing results occur, try shaking the laser toner cartridge or cleaning your printer.
Cleaning process:
- Run the printer toner cleaning program that came with your printer. It was designed specifically for clearing clogged toner cartridges, and it only takes a few minutes to complete. To effectively clear clogs, you may need to run the program more than once.
- The fuser-roller gets extremely hot while printing, so it is essential that you allow it to cool off completely to avoid burns. It is recommended that you allow the printer to sit unplugged for at least one hour before opening to clean.
- Turn off any fans and close any vents nearby to prevent air disturbances that could make the toner particles airborne. Laser toner is made up of fine particles and harmful materials, so it is important to avoid inhaling them. You may want to wear a mask to cover your nose and mouth and even disposable latex gloves to protect your hands when cleaning toner cartridges.
- Remove the printer toner cartridge from the printer, and wipe it with a damp cloth to remove excess toner. Then, place it on some old newspaper.
- There are thin wires called corona wires that will often be exposed during cleaning. These fine wires can be easily damaged and are costly to repair. Take extra precaution not to brush these fine wires. Instead, use a cotton swab moistened with isopropyl alcohol to gently run along the length of the wire. No pressure is required to remove the fine particles.
- Reinsert the laser toner cartridge into your printer. Now, you can safely turn the power on and print another test page to ensure the problem has cleared.
For a printer with normal use levels, it is typically sufficient to clean it every three months and have it professionally deep-cleaned once a year. If in the cleaning process you get some toner on you, keep in mind that toner can be washed off skin and garments with cold water. Toner fused to skin can be partially removed using an abrasive hand cleaner and will eventually wear off. For more on how to clean up any spills, see How to Remove Toner.
What is Toner?
Toner is an electrically-charged powder used in laser printers and photocopiers. It is used to form text or images. In its early form it was simply carbon powder. Later the manufactures added polymers to improve the quality of printing. The two main ingredients of toner powder are now pigment and polymer. The role of the pigment is fairly obvious, it provides the coloring (black, in a monochrome printer) that fills in the text and images. The use of polymer varies by manufacturers and even by printer model. Some of the most common polymers are styrene acrylate copolymer, polyester resin and styrene butadiene copolymer.
The formulation of toners can also vary in granule size and melting point. The particle size of toners has reduced from a 14–16 micrometers to 8–10 micrometers (600 dots per inch resolution) to improve resolution. The smaller the particle, the more accurate the color reproduction and efficiency. Uniform shapes are also a great factor when talking about improving the quality of the printout. Further reductions in particle size producing further improvements in resolution are being developed through the application of new technologies.
In earlier machines, this low-cost carbon toner was poured by the user from a bottle into a reservoir in the machine. Current machines feed directly from a sealed cartridge. To save money and keep cartridges from piling up in landfills, empty cartridges can be refilled or even better, remanufactured. Remanufactured cartridges refill the empty toner cartridges and the quality remanufactured cartridges like found at Clickinks.com also replace all used or worn parts.
What is ink?
Ink according to the Oxford Dictionary is: “a colored fluid used for writing, drawing, printing, or duplicating.” According to Wikipedia: “Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design.” Britannica Concise Encyclopedia defines it as a “Fluid or paste of various colors (usually black or dark blue) used for writing and printing, composed of a pigment or dye in a liquid vehicle (solvent).” No matter where you look for a definition, all of them have something in common; the purpose of ink is to deliver a visual image. Inks are found in almost every aspect of human activity.
The first inks used were made of fruit or vegetables juices; blood from some types of animals and bark from trees. The first man made inks were made from animal or vegetable charcoal mixed with glue and it appeared in Egypt about 4,500 years ago. Older style writing inks, such as in fountain pens, use a fluid water-based dye system. But in the 1950s, when ballpoint pens became fashionable, the writing ink industry shifted to paste like oil-based dye systems. The thick consistency allows capillary action to keep the ink flowing well, and the inks generally are no smearing and quicker drying than water-based systems. Dyes tend to be preferred over pigments for writing inks because pigments can't be dispersed minutely enough and tend to clog the pen tip. Water-based dye or pigment systems are still used for markers, highlighters and rollerball pens. A few pen manufacturers, such as Bic (which sells about 3 million pens per day) make their own ink, but most pen manufacturers buy their ink.
There are various types of inks available today, all used for different purposes in the printing market. Newspapers, magazines, photo and book publishers are just a few examples of the paper base industries that use inks in a daily basis. Even the governments use ink to print money. But there are a lot more industries that depend on inks to deliver a message; apparel, beverage and paint industries are some good examples. In today’s developed nations, most residences and businesses have a printing capability and having an inkjet printer is very common in most countries. At home ink is used to print homework, reports, bills or just to print some drawings to keep the kids busy doing some coloring (I’m guilty as charged).
Today's inks are divided into two classes: printing inks and writing inks. Printing inks are further broken down into two subclasses: ink for conventional printing, and ink for digital nonimpact printing, which includes ink-jet and electrophotographic technologies. Inks also contain additives such as waxes, lubricants, surfactants, and drying agents to aid printing and to impart any desired special characteristics. An average size magazine issue of 80 pages requires a total of only about 68 gal of ink to print just more than 150,000 copies. The advent of personal computers, personal electronics, and the Internet may one day replace libraries full of printed books and periodicals with electronic products. Look how many e-books are already in use. But the great paperless society hasn't fully shown itself yet, many industries still rely on paper. And as long as there's paper, then there must be ink.
Use an envelope moistener for only 95¢ and save your tongue
Christmas cards, birthday greetings and stacks of bills can really get to you after awhile.
But there is an easier way, don’t lick all those envelopes when you can use a neat bottle moistener. This is no tongue in cheek joke, these bottle moisteners are so inexpensive and make it really, really, easy to seal a stack of envelopes without worrying about where that envelope has been, drying your mouth or cutting yourself.
Get one for home and another for office, you will never be left in a sticky situation again.
· Envelope moistener with polyurethane sponge.
· Eliminates the need to lick envelopes.
· Distributes moisture evenly without over-wetting.
· Long-lasting polyurethane sponge.
Order this handy envelope moistener today for only 95¢ at Clickinks.com!
Ink Poisoning: Is your beloved family member at risk?
How many of you have a treasured K-9 companion? Here is some information that you need to know about ink poisoning. Dogs are curious creatures by nature, and they love to explore their environments. Unfortunately these explorations consist of sniffing and licking everything, even if it may prove to be harmful to them. As a responsible dog owner we need to dog proof our homes like we would do for a baby. Beware of some of the signs that could indicate ingestion of poisonous substance and what to do in case of emergency.
Ink ingredients
The ingredients in ink are a mixture of dyes and pigments, water and solvents. These ingredients are nonpoisonous if ingested in small amounts. If your dog chews on a pen, marker or empty cartridge, you will be relieved to know that there is no immediate cause to be alarmed.
Signs and Symptoms
Accidental ingestion of ink may not have any signs or symptoms besides the ink stains that are on the dog’s coat. You should still watch for other signs of ink poisoning such as vomiting, diarrhea, irritation around mouth and eyes, agitation, drooling, staggering, seizures or difficult breathing.
What to do
If you suspect your dog has ingested ink but isn’t showing any of the signs, just keep the dog under observation and contact your vet as soon as possible. If there isn’t any sign of illness then a trip to the vet may not even be necessary, but you should contact your vet for some professional advice or you may get in touch with your animal poison control at 888-426-4435 or
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/ . If your dog is losing consciousness or is unconscious, having seizures or difficulties breathing please take your dog to the vet or emergency clinic immediately.
First-Aid
If your dog has gotten ink on him or her fur, clean the dogs coat with mild dishwasher fluid this will prevent him or her licking him or herself. Your vet may give your dog activated charcoal hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting if needed.
Prevention
To prevent your dog from getting ink poisoning in the first place, please keep your dog’s environment neat, clean and safe. Teaching your dog the common command of “leave it” can also help prevent an accident.
No matter what type of document you are printing, whether if it’s a letter, spreadsheet, PDF or a photo, and no matter what type of printer you are using there are some similarities in how your printer works. The software is responsible for sending the data to the printer; this software is known as the driver. The driver translates the data from the application into a format that the printer understands, the driver also checks to see if the printer is connected, turned on, and functioning properly. There are two major types of printers, the laser printer and the inkjet printer.
How a Laser Printer works:
For the laser printer there is a basic principle which is static electricity. A revolving drum which is known as a photoreceptor which is made out of conductive materials that sends light photons, as it revolves it receives an electrical charge from a wire that is called a charge corona, while it spins a tiny laser beam shines across it surface to discharge at various points to create the image on the drum.
Once the image is set, the printer puts a positively charged toner on the drum. The toner then will only stick to the negatively charged areas.
After the toner is adhered to the image on the drum, the paper is moved into position. The paper encounters the transfer of the corona wire and receives a negative charge. The negatively charged paper has a stronger pull than the static electric charged toner that is holding to the drum, the paper pulls the toner powder from the drum transferring the image to the paper once the image is transferred from the drum; a detac corona wire zaps the paper to remove it from the drum.
Finally the paper is ready for the fuser. The fuser permanently bonds the image into the paper. The paper passes threw the fusers which are just heated rollers. As the paper passes threw the fuser heats up the toner powder and bonds it with the paper, then the fusers sends the paper out of the printer.
How an Inkjet Printer works:
For the inkjet printer, it uses miniscule droplets of ink to create the image. The ink comes from an ink cartridge that is placed in the print head assembly, inside the print head assembly there is actual print head which has several nozzles that spray drops of ink. An Inkjet printer also contain a print head stepper motor which a mechanism that moves the print head across the paper.
There are two types of inkjet printers:
Bubble Jet Printer: The resistors create heat, which the heat vaporizes the ink into tiny little bubbles and the bubble is pushed out onto the paper. The bubble jet print head can contain 600 nozzles and they all can fire a drop of ink simultaneously.
Piezoelectric printer: Piezo crystal is found at the back of the ink reservoir which vibrates when it receives an electric charge. The vibration from the crystal will force the ink out of the nozzle.
This is a quick and simplistic view on how the most common printers work. Do you have questions on your printer? Just let us know!
Celebrate Your Dad and Win $100!
Clickinks.com is giving you a chance to win $100 towards ink, toner or other office supplies of your choice!
Father’s Day has been celebrated throughout the US, Canada, UK and beyond for over 100 years. This year, Father’s Day falls on June 19th, and I highly recommend that you honor Dad on this day.
Celebrate the Father in your life by submitting a photo on our Facebook page or via Twitter using the hashtag #CelebrateDad
All entries need to be in by June 20, 2011, when the finalists will be posted on our Facebook page. The finalists’ photo that gets the most “Likes” will win $100 to use at Clickinks.com.
Terms & Conditions
*The Clickinks.com panel of judges will select finalists and post them on our Facebook page to face the public vote.
* Final voting on the Facebook page will end on June 24, 2011 and the votes will be counted by the Clickinks.com panel of judges and the winner announced.
* Open to residents of US only.
Have you heard the buzz on 3D Printing? Maybe you read about the evolution of printing devices lately. More and more 3D printers are coming out on the market, and are ingenious for "printing", or manufacturing, a wide variety of products. With 3D printing you can mass produce custom or personalized products without incurring a significant price increase. We are talking about significantly lowering the cost and risk of manufacturing, transforming many sectors of the manufacturing industry.
Many more sectors are able to utilize 3D printing as we progress; new materials like stainless steel, glass, and in the last month, silver are added to the Shapeways line, an online marketplace offering personalized production via 3D printers spun out of of Royal Philips Electronics. Looking for more fun? FigurePrints, a Seattle company, makes 3D replicas of Xbox Live avatars and World of Warcraft characters. Larger manufacturers are also coming on board, including Clark’s, the British shoe brand, which this month began using Z Corp’s 3D printers for prototyping. More than 20% of the output from 3D printers is actually final products, according to Terry Wohlers, who runs a research firm specializing in the field, and this number is sure to grow substantially. 3D printing is also used for quite remarkable production, like medical implants that are more likely to stay put than conventional ones.
One day I am sure you will own something manufactured by a 3D printer, whether it is a custom made shoe, a replica of your avatar, or a femur implant.
- In case you missed our big announcement earlier this month, you can now use eBillme to pay for your orders from Clickinks.com. eBillme is safe, all you have to do is pay using your bank's online bill pay service. If you pay your utility bill online, eBillme works the same way. The best part about eBillme is that you can earn 10% Cash Back with Every Purchase, on top of our other Discounts!
- The more ink you buy with ClickInks.com, the more loyalty points you will automatically earn, and the more you save. Every purchase earns loyalty points, you can redeem these points for money off your next purchase, or save them up for a big spend. Loyalty points can be applied to anything from ink cartridges to starburst candy!
- The best known way to save at Clickinks.com is probably our remanufactured cartridges. Although we do offer OEM cartridges, our own professionally remanufactured cartridges available at up to an 86% savings!
- Free Shipping. The gas prices are so high, it is not worth driving around for the best deal anymore. Place any $30 order and we will ship it free to any street address in the Contiguous US.
- Sign up for our exclusive weekly email newsletters or follow us on Facebook. We will provide you with a discount on Day 1, and periodically there after for additional savings.