Some printers measure ink levels inaccurately, which can cause your printer to notify you that you’re low on ink or out of ink altogether. However, your cartridge may still have plenty of ink left in it. The best way to determine how accurate your printer’s ink monitoring system is would be to continue printing after the warning until you notice streaks, spotting, or fading on your print work. Once you’ve seen visual signs of low ink, you’ll know approximately how many more pages you can print after receiving a notification before you actually have to replace the cartridge. You also have the option of simply turning off notifications from your printer’s ink monitoring system. Read on to learn how to turn off notifications.
Some consumers get frustrated by the fact that printers occasionally say the ink/toner is running low before it actually is. Sometimes this is a flaw in the printer, but other times your printer may simply be using too much ink or toner. You certainly want the most ink per page for important documents or high-resolution photos, but if you’re just printing unimportant documents or drafts your home printer comes equipped with an option to reduce ink/toner consumption. For inkjet printers, you’ll just need to switch your device from “Normal” mode to “Draft” mode. This conserves ink and may result in a slightly less-polished document, but it’s an easy way to save ink if you’re just printing out something that doesn’t need lasting quality. If you’re using a laser printer, you’ll need to change the output resolution setting on your device. A lower dots per inch (DPI) setting will get more use out of your cartridge and may also speed up your device’s print time.