Top 5 Tips to Calculate Toner Use in Your Printer

toner-tips

Have you ever thought about how much toner you’re using?

Sure, all major manufacturers do their own testing. The standard measure is usually “XX pages at 5% coverage”, meaning that in the testing phase, the toner cartridge printed a page with 5% of the surface covered by toner XX times until the cartridge ran out. All manufacturers give you this number, however just like you measure the mileage you get for every liter of gas, you might want to do some testing yourself to see what kind of toner cartridge gives you the best print outs and the best mileage for your dollar.

Toner cartridges are no doubt a recurring cost, and saving even a few dollars every month can really add up if you do a lot of printing and copying.

Here are 5 tips to calculate the toner use for your copier or printer:

  1. To start the test, begin with a brand new, unused toner cartridge. Insert the toner cartridge in your printer or copier.
  2. In most modern all-in-one laser printers and copiers you’ll have a “page count” feature. Scroll through the printer menu until you find this feature or refer within your printer manual or online to see how to access it for your printer model.
  3. Before you start to print, jot down the print count or if you belong to a large organization monitoring toner use, tape it up next to the printer or copier. This way whoever changes the toner next can make a note of it again, and you can stay on track.
  4. In time you might see your prints streaking, fading or missing areas altogether. This is a typical sign that you’re running low on toner. When this happens remove the toner cartridge and give it a few shakes. Surprisingly, this just might give you a few more days of printing.
  5. After you’ve exhausted all of the toner in your cartridge, it’s time to swap it with a fresh toner cartridge. As you did before, locate the page count feature and jot down the new number or write it beside the old number you pinned up earlier. Minus the previous count from this one and you’ll have the page yield.

Here is a killer tip to help you get the most out of your toner:

Try all three types of toner cartridges: branded, compatible and remanufactured. Compare print quality, page yield and cost per print. You might be surprised by how much you can save using trusted third-party cartridges over branded toner, without losing print quality and even getting a higher page yield.

At Island Ink-Jet and Laser Toners we help millions of people save on toner every year. We’ve done the math and have concluded that our branded quality-tested toner costs at least 30% less than OEM. Visit our online toner website, enter your printer or copier model and find the replacement toner cartridge that will work for you.  Have questions? Just ask!