How to minimize the use of color toner when printing in black and white?

When your laser printer tells you that the toner has run out, you probably don't think much about it and try to replace the cartridge as soon as possible. However, has it ever happened to you that, despite setting the printer to black-and-white printing, you still had to replace the color toners, even though the number of color prints was nowhere near the declared yield?

If you justified it at the time by chance, increased duplex printing, or printing color documents with more than 5% standard page coverage, perhaps that was not entirely the case and you were lying to yourselves. And if you silently cursed toner sellers back then, you were mistaken too. There may be one unbelievable reason behind the excessive consumption of color toners during black-and-white printing.

Intentional or an unintended misstep?

You will probably be surprised, but the consumption of color toner during black-and-white printing could easily have been caused by your printer. This fact was demonstrated by repeated tests of certain printers conducted by respected European consumer organizations. However, do not be misled. It was not an unforeseen printer malfunction. As unbelievable as it may sound, wasting color toner was deliberate, and manufacturers intentionally implemented it in configured printers.

If you logically assumed that black toner would primarily be used for black-and-white printing, be aware that this may not always be the case. And while we're on the subject of printer manufacturers, if you expected them to examine their conscience and repent, you'd be mistaken again. Only one manufacturer offered an acceptable explanation for the consumption of color toner during black-and-white printing. He justified the waste of toner by the necessary calibration of the print heads. Others among them invoked trade secrets and left questions of doubt hanging in the air.

Endless questions

The information concerning the management of a certain printer manufacturer did not contribute to building mutual trust either.

It had gotten into the habit of equipping its original toner cartridges with a chip that, after the declared number of prints was exceeded, prevented further printing despite the presence of toner powder in the cartridge. Such behavior is absolutely inexplicable. This inadvertently raises the question here of just how far some business entities are willing to go in the name of higher profit? We all probably know the answer very well.

From this perspective, however, printer manufacturers' requirements to use original cartridges seem unfair. Why shouldn’t customers have the option to use compatible toners, which can offer reasonable quality and cost savings? And why should they have problems when claiming the warranty? Manufacturers should provide rational and adequate answers to all these questions. However, so that it does not remain just words, in the following lines we will offer you a few specific tips on how you can minimize the consumption of color toners when printing in black and white.

Check your printer settings

Setting the printer to use black-and-white toner and restricting color toner usage during black-and-white printing is the simplest solution. Unfortunately, this option is only possible with printers that have such a function.Therefore, check your printer's user manual to see whether you have this option, and at the same time verify whether your device happens to allow setting black-and-white printing even when your printer reports an empty color toner cartridge.

Leave the printer in standby mode and print all at once

Do not turn off the printer during the day.

There is one good reason for that. As we have already mentioned, one of the printer manufacturers argued that toner is wasted during printhead calibration. In principle, he was right, because after every shutdown, or rather, When the printer is turned on, the print heads are calibrated and a certain amount of color toner is consumed. You can also prevent excessive use of black-and-white as well as color toner by not printing one document at a time occasionally, but instead printing several necessary documents at once.

TIP: Are you planning to replace the toner? Read the older article My toner has run out. What now?