Being the "tech guy" within my circle of friends, I often find myself fixing common printer problems! Usually a simple power cycle does the trick, but what alarms me instead is how often people don't look at their printer settings. Usually, under Windows and maybe Mac/Linux OSes, printers by default are set to print at normal quality. There are actually more options to print using less ink! The actual way to do this slightly varies for each OS aforementioned, but to keep it simple, I will cover it for Windows 7.

• Go to Control Panel
• Search for print
• Under Hardware and Sound click on Devices and Printers
• Find your printer and right-click to printer preferences
• Change to desired settings
• Start saving money!

You might be hesitant to lower the quality but the difference is minimal (my college professors can't tell, don't know or actually care about the environment). As a side bonus, using less ink, allows for faster printing (I like being on time to class)! Skipping the complicated math calculation, I do find getting a longer-lasting printer cartridge and saving money (for food) in the long run! Try it for yourself, feel free to post questions and see if you like it!