A lower colour charge is only 20% of the answer

1. The Document Masters’ Digest brought to you by
Your regular guide to best practices in document systems
you can cut colour print
costs with simple - and
free - techniques
Reducing colour costs for printers and multifunctionals, new and old
Some techniques for colour cost reduction are frustrating because they can only be
applied to new devices and multifunctionals with the latest and most advanced
capabilities.
ITQ can help you
This Digest contains techniques that apply to all colour devices. ITQ’s expert
implement cost-
support staff are available to help you implement these techniques rapidly and
saving
techniques without disruption to day-to-day activities.
effectively.
Tips your staff can follow
As well as changing where printing take place, changing how it takes place can also
reduce costs.
Colour or mono?
Persuading staff The simplest way to reduce colour printing costs is to reduce the amount of
to use more colour printing. While we do not recommend eschewing colour devices (colour is
economical an indisputably useful facility), using the printer driver’s ‘monochrome print’
techniques is option saves a small fortune. Colour printing is often ten times more expensive
effective. than mono. Encourage staff to exploit this.
Toner-save
All print devices have ‘toner-save’ modes in their drivers. The print quality
remains adequate for internal proofing but toner consumption is reduced by
around 40%.
Multiple-up printing
Turn over to see
how these Almost all printers support n-up printing, where multiple pages can be printed
techniques can
on one side of paper. This is especially useful when printing PowerPoint
presentations; two slides fit perfectly on one side of A4. Because the slides are
be applied
smaller, they use less toner and cost less to produce.
automatically.

2. It’s all about profile
Asking staff to use complex features to save the organisation money might be
Profiles make it expecting too much. To be truly effective, money-saving features have to be very
easy for staff to simple to use.
select cost- Profiles help enormously. A profile collects multiple print
saving options. settings under a single icon, making them very easy for
staff to select.
An ‘Economy’ profile could, for example, print in
monochrome with toner-save enabled using double-sided
printing on draft-quality paper. There is no limit to the
number of options that can be saved under a single profile.
Improving colour economy with free network utilities
Applying cost- To simplify matters yet further, network
saving measures management utilities can make cost-saving options
centrally the default setting on all your network PCs.
maximises their
Having economy options applied automatically will
potential. dramatically reduce colour print costs and, at the
same time, using profiles to enable high-quality
modes gives users the flexibility to print everything
they need. It is truly the best of both worlds.
How ITQ can help you save money and enhance efficiency
ITQ has a team of highly-trained support specialists who can help you and your IT
department implement the techniques described in this Digest. With our
assistance, you will be able to implement cost-saving techniques rapidly and
without disruption to your office’s day-to-day operations.
Not only will this result in your printers and multifunctionals running in their most
economical fashion, it will also enhance staff efficiency by revealing capabilities
that may have been unrealised until now.
Also in this series...
User techniques for colour cost control: changing how staff use colour in
documents reduces colour print costs and increases their effectiveness.
Advanced solutions for colour cost control: print policies automatically optimise
document production to its most economical level.
Published in conjunction with
Phone: 01635 874848
Email: info@imagethroughquality.com
Web: www.imagethroughquality.com
© Forbes Baxter Associates Ltd.