Printer optimization: how to cut your printing costs

To cut your printing costs, choose a printer based on how many pages you print each month and on the cost per page of its consumables, not on the price of the printer: at high volumes, ink or toner ends up costing more than the machine itself.

One of the questions our clients ask us most often is “Which printer should I use to keep my costs as low as possible?” What few people know, and what the guy at the printer store doesn’t want to tell you… :), is that when you choose a printer, you need to consider more than print speed and purchase price.

If you print around 200 pages a month, the consumables you need in a year can cost more than you paid for the printer. Think about what happens at 2,000 pages a month.

Which printer would help you save money?

The factors you need to consider are:

• How many pages do you print each month?
• What’s the ratio of black-and-white to color prints?
• How many people in your company need to print?

To give you an idea of how much costs can vary, we’ve tried to summarize the situations you may find yourself in. Below, you’ll also find out how to calculate the cost per page yourself.

Small companies – up to 500 pages printed per month, both black-and-white and color: the best option is an inkjet printer. We don’t recommend refilling inkjet cartridges unless they’re used daily. Otherwise, they risk drying out. Ink tank printers have also appeared in the meantime (for example Epson EcoTank, Canon MegaTank or HP Smart Tank): they cost more to buy, but the cost per page is much lower than with cartridges.

Between 500 and 2,000 pages printed per month, mostly black-and-white, we recommend two printers: a laser printer for black-and-white prints and an inkjet for color prints. When you choose the laser printer, check beforehand how much the toner costs and how many pages it prints. For black-and-white laser printers, we also recommend refurbished printers, because of their low purchase and refill costs.

For companies that print more than 1,000 color pages a month, we recommend a color laser printer. At this volume, consumables cost much less than with an inkjet printer. In this situation too, we recommend having one printer dedicated to color prints and one for black-and-white prints.

Also to cut costs, if you have at least 10 employees who need to use the printer, it’s much more efficient and less expensive to buy a network printer or multifunction device.

Watch out: some manufacturers use firmware updates to block cartridges that aren’t original. Before you buy a printer to use with compatible or refilled consumables, check whether it accepts them.

How do you calculate the cost per page?

Divide the price of the cartridge or toner by the number of pages stated by the manufacturer (the page yield). Manufacturers measure yield according to ISO standards (ISO/IEC 19752 for black-and-white laser, ISO/IEC 19798 for color laser, ISO/IEC 24711 for inkjet), so you can compare it from one model to another. For color prints, add up the cost per page of each color.

For laser printers, also include the consumables that aren’t part of the toner: the drum (imaging unit) and, on some models, the maintenance kit. Divide their price by the number of pages stated by the manufacturer as well, and add the result to the cost of the toner.

The total annual cost is the cost per page multiplied by the number of pages printed in a year, plus the price of the printer, amortized over the period you use it. Do the same calculation for compatible or refilled consumables, but also take print quality into account.

Why is the cost per page lower with a laser or ink tank printer?

Because printers with small ink cartridges are usually cheap to buy, but the cartridges hold little ink and are expensive relative to how many pages they print: the manufacturer makes its money on the consumables, not on the machine. A toner cartridge prints many more pages, and the bottles for ink tank printers hold much more ink than a cartridge, at a lower cost per page.

A laser or ink tank printer costs more to buy, but you recover the difference through the cost per page, and the more you print, the faster you recover it. In addition, toner doesn’t dry out if the printer sits unused, unlike the ink in cartridges. At low volumes, on the other hand, a cheap cartridge printer can remain the most economical option.

How else can you cut printing costs?

• Make double-sided and black-and-white printing the default; print in color only when needed.
• Use secure printing with a PIN or card: documents print only when the employee gets to the printer, so there are no more forgotten pages left in the tray, and confidential documents don’t end up with someone else.
• Track consumption per user or per department, from the network printer’s reports.
• Change the default password and update the firmware of your network printers: a forgotten printer can become a gateway into the company network.
• Consider outsourcing: instead of buying printers and consumables, you pay for the pages you print. Details in the article on outsourcing print services.

Through our IT maintenance service, we can also take care of your company’s printers: we install them on the network, configure them and deal with their supplier when a problem comes up. If you’d like to work out together which printing solution suits you, write to us through the contact form.