Home Office: Printer Tricks That Save Bucks

Use draft mode, speed up your printing, pack more onto a page, and play miniature golf.

Steve Bass

The way I see it, no one in my home office watches the cash flow better then I do. I'm talking about the day-to-day strategies that keep the bucks in my pocket rather than someone else's.

I passed along some of my secrets in my Home Office column a while ago. You can read "Home Office: Pinch Some Pennies While You Print."

Boy, did I get a virtual truckload of e-mail, especially about printing checks from scratch.

Much of the e-mail I received had witty flames ("Bass, you really are a dope") and valuable insights ("Get out of writing, Mr. Bass, you don't know squat"). To answer your next question, these messages were from concerned readers, not my editor. But regardless of this worthwhile advice, I'll show you more ways to save you money on printing and share a reader tip.

Drafty Pages Save Dinero

"You can extend the life of any print cartridge," says David M. of Illinois, "by setting the default quality to 'draft' mode." I agree, David, and it's easy: From the Start menu, click on Settings, Control Panel, Printers, select your printer, then right-click Properties. Choose the Device Options tab and click Print Quality, select the lowest quality, and exit the menus.

David says he uses print cartridges at least three times longer than on regular printing mode. "Though the print and graphic quality is less than in 'normal' mode (text is a bit blurrier, colors not as vivid)," he says, "it's still quite acceptable for most day-to-day applications."

I like David's finale: If you often need to run high-quality printouts, use Control Panel's Add Printer to install a second copy of the printer driver, but set the print quality to a high level. (Name it "high quality" or "money waster.") When you need to change to the higher print quality for a job, choose File, Print and select that printer from the drop-down menu.

Dig this: Looking to kill an hour? From the famous Getty Museum in California comes the Devices of Wonder, a collection of odd, unusual, and culturally enlightening exhibits. After the opening animation, pick my favorite of the bunch, "Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer," the fourth icon down on the right side.

Pump Up Your Printer

You might want to read a few more gems I wrote about in "Fast Tricks for Slow Printers." Check it out and discover the value of swapping between color and monochrome, increasing your printer's memory, and using a free program to help with your printing chores. (My editor's worried that you may think a July 2000 column is too old to read. Have a glass of warm milk and relax--the content's still relevant.)

Quick download: FinePrint condenses printing so you can squeeze multiple pages onto one sheet of paper. You can create a booklet or zoom in on specific spots on the page. It's free to try and $40 to register.

I have another stack of printing tricks in "Tame Your Printer." Read it and you'll find out about USB cables and a neat printer utility.

You can't imagine how many clever tips I find in PC World's How-To columns. (And no, I'm not just saying it to kiss up to my editor, though it certainly can't hurt.) Take Lincoln Spector's "Answer Line: Print Documents Faster the Second Time Around," for instance. I learned that I could keep a stack of documents I print often readily available for quick reprint.

Dig this: Have you noticed that you're not paying attention to Web banner ads anymore? No wonder, what with their boring designs and wearisome pitches. But I've discovered dozens of banner ads that reach out of your monitor, grab at your collar, and drag you in. Don't believe me? Check out Bannertown.

If you don't find Bannertown as amusing as I did, check out the Mini-Putt site, a spot that'll easily cost you an hour. (Careful, there's a killer bowling alley trap towards the end.)

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