The speed at which technology progresses is so fast it can be hard to keep up with new developments, changes and products. These days hardly anyone uses the traditional paper and pen to write things out, practically everything is done on the computer. An important addition to a good computer is a good quality printer, if you have to do a lot of printing out then you'll know how much money is spent on cartridges over the period of a year.

Purchasing a printer can be expensive enough, particularly if you want a product that produces high quality images or photos. You also have to take into consideration the cost of the ink cartridges too, a point that many people don't think about until their original cartridge runs out and they have to replace it. As these need to be replaced at regular intervals the total cost of buying the printer and suitable cartridges can be a lot more than you bargained for. Follow these guidelines and your printer and ink cartridges are guaranteed to last longer.

To save money and make your cartridges last longer then try and reduce the amount of printing you do, this is actually a very practical solution and if everyone took the time to study their completed document before pressing the print button there would be a lot of ink saved. If you need to print out a web page then cut and paste only the parts that are necessary and forget about the colourful pictures or images if you can.

Coloured graphics are going to use a lot more ink than black text so if that is sufficient for your needs then cut away the images and save yourself a lot of ink over a period of time. Generally brand printers have a print preview option, this means you can have a good look at the print version before actually printing it out spotting any mistakes, typing errors or poor layout and thus reducing the number of printed copies.

At the end of the working day turn your printer off as you would any other piece of electrical equipment. All the time the printer is switched to on its print heads are exposed to the air which dries the ink in the nozzles up over time and this affects the quality of the printing. Turning the printer off will make your printer last for longer. If you don't print on a regular basis then it's advised to run a small printing test weekly to evade the inkjet cartridges from drying out and increase how long they last.

Extreme room temperatures are also not good for printer inkjet cartridges, try to avoid keeping them in rooms or areas that are far too hot or cold as this will also cause them to dry up. Ensure the room temperature is a normal as possible.

If you do a search on the internet you'll find software applications intended to reduce the utilization of your inkjet cartridges. Download Ecofont, a font that saves around 20% of the ink or toner in comparison to standard fonts. It's free to download and the site has easy to follow instructions on how to install it on Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux. You'll still get good quality printout copies but by using a reduced amount of ink even during high resolution printing.

Ink cartridges can be used over and over again, if you are concerned about the environment then there are printing companies online who will take back your used cartridges and recycle them. Look for suppliers who display the recycling logo on their website and help reduce the number of spent cartridges that get thrown into landfills every year.

Remanufacturing, in other words recycling, is simply a process by which cartridges get cleaned, serviced, refilled, tested and repackaged, they provide a cheaper option to customers but the standard of quality is just as good as the original.

Inkjet cartridges can easily be bought online, a much faster and often cheaper option than ordering from high street stores. Online you are guaranteed large discounts and delivery to the door. If you need to order cartridges regularly, for example Epson stylus ink cartridge or HP Photosmart c4180 ink, then you'll get an even better discount on bulk orders. Do some research online first as there are lots of websites with various offers, find one that has been established for a while and is trustworthy and reliable and guarantees quality printing products.