Printer Toner

By Daniel Ambort

Printing like many industries has seen the onset of chain businesses to meet the needs of the consumer and businesses. As technology has gotten better it has lowered the barrier of entry in skills that a printer must possess to produce a larger % of print jobs.

Printing was a skill learned and it took years to train to be able to produce fine work. This is certainly still the case for most jobs but printing has segmented into different markets that are filled by different companies.

The chain printer is more of a convenience printer. They turn quick jobs and are usually available to service longer hours and weekends. Walk in business is not only welcomed but expected and staffed for that. The workers are usually not nearly as skilled but can get something out quick and in your hands fast. They have usually only been in the printing business for a short time.

Lower quantities are what the chain printer is in existence for. A customer will pay more on average for this convenience factor and get inferior quality but the chain printer certainly serves a purpose.

The commercial printer is more designed around custom jobs. The commercial printer will have some of the same equipment as the chain printer but will also have equipment made for larger quantity jobs and usually will produce more difficult higher quality jobs.

There are certainly exceptions to these rules. There are commercial printers that don’t produce quality work and some chain printers that do exceptional work. For the most part you are not going to go to chain printer xyz to get 100,000 brochures that have a diecut and are foil stamped. On the flip side though you are not going to be able to walk into a commercial printer Sunday night at 10pm and get 50 copies of a proposal for a Monday morning meeting.

Both have their respective places in the printing business and both fill a certain niche. There is certainly crossover of which both can produce the same product. For the most part with a good commercial printer if you are interested in building a relationship you will be talking to the same person that knows your needs and likes and will be able to produce a quality job in a cost effective timely manner.

The Odee Company.com. PrintPromotionguide.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_Ambort

r
By Gregg Hall

Are you in charge of purchasing office supplies for your business or your employer? If you are, then you know that one of the biggest expenses for the office is inkjet printer cartridges and laser printer toner. It is essential that your company save money as much as they can on these products.

These two items demand constant replacement, and are critical to the performance of daily office functions. So, wouldn’t it be nice to save a little money on these high priced items? Companies that use their printers constantly can save hundreds of dollars by purchasing their cartridges from the right company.

Most companies have a regular retailer that they use to purchase their toner and ink cartridges. This is usually a local company or store that everyone is familiar with. These local based companies do not usually offer the discounts that a business needs to remain profitable. So how can a small business remain profitable if they rely on a high level of printing?

You can do that by ordering inkjet cartridges and laser toner from online retailers, as opposed to traditional office stores. Online retailers have significantly reduced overhead, which means that they don’t have to store items on a shelf and wait for customers to come in and buy them. Online retailers do not need to spend money of high priced newspaper and television ads; instead they can directly market their product to online shoppers that are already searching for companies that offer cartridges.

This cost savings allows them to sell office supplies at lower prices, and also allows them to move more products. This is a win-win situation for both the consumer and the retailer! Here’s another thing to consider: if your office primarily uses inkjet printers, you should take advantage of the newly improved and highly dependable inkjet cartridge refilling services offered by many online retailers.

A USA Today report suggests that remanufactured inkjet cartridges can reduce your spending in this area by up to 85 percent, and reports from users reflect that recycled cartridges are performing just as well if not better than brand new ones. With the sheer volume of reports that have to be printed out, tax forms, spreadsheets, and other publications, imagine the amount of money you can save for your office by purchasing re-filled inkjet cartridges.

The next time you purchase laser toner or inkjet cartridges for your printers, don’t resign yourself to paying high retail prices. Instead consider saving yourself time and money buy browsing the online retailers that offer the products you need. Make sure that you get the most for your money by shopping online!

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as Discount Inkjet Cartridges at http://www.ink-jet-cartridge-plus.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gregg_Hall

By Chris Navi

There was a time when recycled cartridges sprayed ink unevenly on the paper, and they were not much preferred. Now, the quality of recycled printer cartridges has improved considerably, encouraging more companies and individuals to switch to recycled cartridges. The widening gap between the cost of a new and recycled cartridge has further fuelled the demand, and made this an attractive business.

Business Options

There are three different options available to an individual who wants to start a printer cartridge recycling business.

* The first is to sell empty cartridges to companies that buy them for $3 to 4 per cartridge. In this case, the individual will have to work out a system by which he visits offices and collects empty cartridges. He can then mail them to the ink-filling companies.

* The second option is to set up his ink-filling unit. In this case, he must install an ink-filling unit, and learn how to operate it. He also needs to publicize the setting up of the printer cartridge recycling business.

* The third option is to become a franchise of an existing ink-filling company. In this case, he will be provided the business expertise — both equipment and training — to run the printer cartridge recycling business.

Investment

There is no investment in Option 1. The individual needs to set up agreements to collect refills from offices and industries. Maybe, he can pay 50 cents or a dollar per empty cartridge. He can then mail them to ink-filling companies once or twice a month, and collect $3 to 4 per cartridge. His expenditure is limited to the purchase of cartridges and travel.

Option 2 will need an investment of around $20,000 to $25,000 in buying equipment and learning the craft. For instance, Ink Solution, which sells franchise rights, charges $22,000 to provide toner vacuum system, how-to-do manuals, start-up inventory of inkjet and toner cartridge, laser and inkjet printers used for testing and training. The franchise can then start his business.

An individual, who wants to set up the business on his own, will also make a similar investment. However, he will have to set up deals with different cartridge manufacturing companies, and undergo training with each one of them. This is a more tedious process, but will surely offer better returns.

Qualifications

The individual certainly needs to be trained in the craft of refilling cartridges. The agencies that are best equipped to train the individual are the equipment sellers, cartridge manufacturers or franchisers. They will charge the individual a small fee. But this training will equip the individual to handle 200-odd makes of toner and inkjet cartridges.

Business Promotion

The individual also needs to invest on promoting the printer cartridge recycling business. For this, he needs to print fliers and handbills and distribute it in offices, industries, hotels, hospitals, schools etc. The handbill must stress the economic and environmental advantages of refilling the inkjet and toner cartridges. Many companies will prefer to hand over used cartridges for recycling than letting them being carted away to landfills.

Financing

The individual certainly needs financing to start printer cartridge recycling business. The funds are not only needed to buy the hardware and software but also for publicity. The installation of equipment is not a problem. The individual can use any one of the spare rooms in his home to set up the equipment. The chances of funding depend upon competition. If there are already too many players in the market then the funding agency will be reluctant. Otherwise, there should be no difficulty. It is a win-win business.

Chris Navi

I am a true freelance internet advertiser who dabbles in website design. You can check out resources for having a profitable mail business at my website http://www.getpaid2workfromhome.com/

Also check out the 10 best places to advertise online that are completely FREE at: http://www.advertisesmallbusiness.com/free-online-ads

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Navi

By Carla Weaffer

Like many other long term owners of printers, over the years I’ve spent a fortune on printer ink. I even recall on one occasion I actually paid more for a replacement ink cartridge than I did for a bottle of good champagne. I always thought that as long as my printer kept printing then it was just another fact of life and there was little I could do about it so why complain?

Back then, on average, I paid anything from £20 to £25 for my branded ink cartridges because I simply didn’t know any better.

Although I’d heard of compatible ink cartridges, I didn’t really know enough about them to give them a try. I was a bit suspicious of them because the cartridges weren’t branded with a familiar name and I never gave it a second thought that they would be as good as branded cartridges. I even wondered if they might damage my printer.

Then one day, my partner came home with some compatible ink cartridges for my printer and although I wasn’t keen to use them I did. My existing ink cartridge was almost empty and I needed to get something printed so I cagily replaced the branded cartridge with the compatible, crossed my fingers and hit ‘print’.

I had visions of having to run out to buy a new branded ink cartridge or, in the worst case, a new printer and a new branded ink cartridge. The paper finally came out after what seemed to be an eternity and I was surprised to see that not only had my document printed as well as it ever had before, but my printer was still happily sitting on my desk, waiting for the next job.

I couldn’t believe it. The compatible ink turned out results that were just as good as with the branded ink I had previously spent a fortune on. At the same time, I was so happy to learn that the compatible cartridge had cost a tenth of the price I’d been paying and yet disappointed when I thought about all of the money I could have saved (and all of the champagne I could have had).

After sitting down and working on the figures, I’d come to the conclusion that I’d actually spent almost £500 on replacement, branded ink cartridges over the last 12 months alone. If I would have been using compatibles I would have saved an incredible 90% of my printing costs!

The next day, I went into work and told my colleagues all about what had happened and to my surprise two of them had also been spending more than they’d wanted on branded printer ink simply because they didn’t have enough knowledge about compatibles.

This inspired me to carry out research on compatible ink cartridges in order to find out the facts behind them; their advantages and disadvantages. I was astounded by what I discovered! Here are just a few of the things I found out:

• You can save between 60% and 80% on average from the price of a branded ink cartridge depending on the make and model of your printer.
• Despite the myths, compatible ink does not affect the warranty on your printer. By using compatible ink you’re cutting out a major profit source for the big brands so they may try to convince you that you can only use their own inks, but it’s actually illegal for them to void your warranty for using a compatible ink instead.
• Compatible ink provides the same number of printed pages as a branded cartridge.
• When buying your compatible ink, it’s always a good idea to ask the vendor if the cartridges are made to ISO 9000 standards. Ink made to these standards have the same amount of ink as original cartridges.
• Most compatible ink cartridges have a 24-month shelf life so you don’t have to worry about them spoiling in a short space of time.

Nowadays, I’m printing as much as I ever did, if not more. The great thing is that I’m spending less on printer ink, more on the enjoyable things in life and telling everyone I meet about the wonders of compatible printer inks!

Carla Weaffer was so won over by her experience that she started up her own business supplying and educating people about compatible printer inks. This article is brought to you in conjunction with Web Star Creations and is free to republish within the boundaries of the terms and conditions of the source. The content and resource box must remain unchanged and all hyperlinks active.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carla_Weaffer

By David Hickman

Introduction

This article looks at the issues surrounding printing digital photos and other graphics using an ink printer. It is aimed at users who may not have a lot of technical expertise but who can, with a little help from articles like this, get the best from their equipment.

It is written in New Zealand, for NZers, and while the information may be useful in other countries, it is not intended for use outside New Zealand.

Benchmark your performance

When you buy a new ink printer print some photos using the complimentary paper supplied by the manufacturer. This gives you a benchmark of the performance of your printer and when you use different inks, paper or software you have the original standard of performance to compare against.

Maintain your printer

Look after your printer. Keep it clean and cover it when not in use. Use it regularly. The ink is the lubricant that helps maintain the print heads in good condition so regular use is beneficial. Have it professionally cleaned and serviced, at least annually, more often if you use it heavily. Following these few simple steps will prolong the life of your printer and enhance the quality of your prints.

Troubleshoot methodically

If you’re not happy with your printed page then troubleshoot the problem using the following method:-

1.Print a nozzle test to see that all nozzles are firing. You will find the nozzle test in the printer software under a heading such as “maintenance”, “service”, “utilities” etc.

2.If all nozzles are not firing then run the print head cleaning utility and print another nozzle test to see if cleaning has made a difference.

At this point if you are using Print Head Cartridges put new ink cartridges in the printer. If you are using Non Print Head Cartridges then carry on. If you are not sure about your ink cartridges see the article “Printer Ink – Choosing the right cartridges for your needs”.

3.Repeat the above two steps until you get a good nozzle test. If you don’t get a good test after repeating these two steps at least six times seek help from a qualified printer servicing company.

Warning – cleaning print heads uses ink so you may run low on ink before you get a good result. And a good result is not guaranteed – the print head may have failed.

4.Having either got a good nozzle test, or having changed your print head cartridges, and you are still not happy – what else has changed?

* Are you using the printer manufacturer’s software to print your photos? Other software, perhaps supplied free with photo paper or over the internet, may be easier to use but may not get the best out of the printer.

* Does your printer need servicing? Despite all the care you have taken printers do get dirty and ink or dust in the wrong place can have some surprising effects, particularly in photographs.

* Have you changed the paper you use? Some photo papers and some inks can be incompatible.

* Have you changed the ink you use? Some inks and papers can be incompatible and some inks can react chemically with other inks.

Provided you buy your printer ink and paper from a reputable company they should help you to work through these issues to your satisfaction. Our experience at Second Image is that these problems are generally solved before, or by, the printer servicing step.

Alternative ink and paper
If you are doing a lot of photo printing you will find that the cost of original ink and the paper can be quite high.

Alternatives are available and, provided you buy from a trustworthy source, will generally give you good results. If you have done the benchmark exercise suggested earlier you can now compare results.

See the associated article “Printer Ink- Choosing the right cartridges for your needs” for a guide to buying compatible ink cartridges, refilled ink cartridges and ink refill kits. There is nothing wrong with using these alternatives provided you first do your homework and deal with a reputable supplier.

Some papers are incompatible with some inks. This incompatibility can occur between the original manufacturers as well as between original and third party products. The best thing to do is to find a mix of ink and paper that gives you the results you are happy with and stick to that.

Such an approach may mean that you need to experiment with different papers and inks. Remember the golden rule – only change one thing at a time, ink or paper, never both while you are testing, and only use the software supplied by the manufacturer with the printer. When you are happy with your ink and paper combination you can play with different software.

If you follow these simple steps you should have a lot of fun and get great results.

About the Author
David Hickman has 11 years experience in printer sales, repairs and providing valuable expertise to help people solve their ink jet printer and printing consumable needs, as well as all other printer models. Visit Second Image to see how David and his team can help solve your printer and printing needs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Hickman