Easy ways to save money on printing

Spelling and Grammar checks are in the Tools menu.

Whether it’s a book report or a letter to a friend, always run a spelling and grammar check to correct any mistakes you might have made. It’s always better to look twice and print once. A lot of ink can be wasted printing pages you don’t need or can’t use.

Access the Print Preview feature from the File menu.

Print preview lets you see how a document will look on the page before you print it. Simply select File > Print Preview. Hit Esc to return to the normal view. Microsoft Word even allows you to type documents in page layout, so you can see what your page will look like in printed form while you’re typing. Just go to View > Page Layout.

Use the print preview feature to save on printing. Here’s how:

1. Select File > Print Preview, and look through the document for the information you want or need to print if you don’t need the entire document. Note the page or pages that it’s on.
2. In the print dialog box, select the desired page range (for example, pages 1 to 2). This way, you can avoid wasting paper and ink on pages you don’t need.

Get to know the Properties button. One you hit it, managing print quality (and ink usage) becomes much easier.

From Properties, you can do many things. We’ll highlight these two money savers:

• Choose print quality mode—draft, normal or best.
• Select color or black and white printing

Learn more about how using printer settings can help you get great prints.

Your printer has different quality settings that use various amounts of ink. It may be automatically set to print at a higher quality than you need for everyday print jobs like driving directions and recipes.

For these things, Draft mode, which is quicker and uses less ink, will give you what you need. Here’s how to set it up:

• Go to Print > Properties > print quality, and select draft quality.

Black and white is sometimes called Grayscale, Economode, or Monochrome, depending on your printer.

1. Go to File > Print and click Properties.
2. Choose the Color tab and check “Print in grayscale.”
3. Click OK, and you’re all set.

Print heads are activated when you insert the ink cartridge into the printer.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that even if you rarely print, your ink may start to run low. This happens because the printer may automatically run routine maintenance to clean the print heads (the little nozzles that distribute the ink). If you don’t want to use ink for this, here are two things you can do:

• Print regularly—once a week is a good goal. This will keep the print heads clear of any ink buildup. 
• If you go long periods between prints, turn your printer off from the on/off button. (Don’t turn it off from the power strip—the printer needs to reset before shutting down.)

Individual ink cartridges let you replace only the ink you need, when you need it.

It’s a good idea to use quality HP inks and papers as they have been specially designed to work with your HP printer. It may be tempting to use a refill device or generic cartridges, but non-HP inks may smudge (which may require you to reprint) and could clog your HP printer’s sensitive mechanisms. 

HP inks don't crust up when the printer is not in use, which prevents clogs on the print nozzles. QualityLogic, one of the world's foremost quality assurance organizations, tested the performance of HP inkjet print cartridges vs. remanufactured (refilled) brands. *The results: original HP inkjet print cartridges far surpassed ink refills in both print quality and reliability.

HP inks packages are color-coded to make it easy to get what you need.

HP inks and papers are designed to work perfectly with your HP printer. And when you buy them in quantity, you can realize some serious savings.

• Buy HP inks in a combo pack that combines the black and white and color cartridges for your HP printer in one convenient package. And when yu buy from HP, you never pay shipping on ink!
• For photo printing, HP value packs combine HP inks and photo paper for lab-quality prints at home for as little as 29 cents per picture**. As an added bonus, you get HP Photosmart Essential photo-editing software for free.

Learn more about HP ink options

HP SureSupply is a free and easy-to-use tool that sends automatic alerts when HP printers are low on print supplies, and order what you need. You can even choose between ordering online from your preferred retailer or directly from HP (and get free shipping). No more downtime from not having supplies when you need them.

There are several ways to print what you want from websites—without printing the things you don’t need. Try these:

When printing e-mails or web pages, search for a “printable version” link. This way, you’ll avoid printing any unwanted ads or other images.

• Print text only: Go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced. Then uncheck “Print background colors and images.”
• Look for PDF options for documents. You can save and print these like any standard document.
• Try HP’s Smart Web Printing utility. Download it for free, and get prints from the web that automatically fit your paper.

Learn more about the best ways to print from the web.