Seven Steps to Lowering Print Costs within

90 Days

Changes to Devices Settings

1. Default use of ‘duplex’ (double-sided) printing

By printing in duplex mode, the government can save on paper costs and reduce the

number of trees “consumed” by agencies. IT personnel can encourage the use of duplex

printing by making this option the default for each duplex-capable piece of print

equipment (printers, copiers, or multi-function devices). To set this option, use the

device menu to navigate to the default factory settings (also accessible through the

network interface for networked devices) and change the document style setting to

duplex. IT personnel should also ensure that default print settings on user machines are

set to duplex.

2. Default use of ‘black and white’ printing

Printing in color can be up to 10 times the cost of printing in black and white. IT

personnel can use the default output options of print devices to encourage users to print

more documents in black and white. To set this option, navigate to the default factory

settings of the device and select the ‘black and white’ print output option. In addition, IT 

personnel must ensure that print requests are mapped to the correct printer to ensure

that black and white requests are not printed on color devices. IT personnel should also

ensure that default print settings on user machines are set to black and white.

3. Default use of ‘draft’ quality (rather than ‘high’ quality) printing

The use of draft quality printing can reduce toner costs by up to 20%, typically without

significant decreases in the quality of output pages. IT personnel can use the menu of each

piece of print equipment to navigate to the default factory settings of the device and

change the print mode to ‘draft.’ IT personnel should also ensure that default print

quality settings on user machines are set to ‘draft’.

4. Improved use of sleep mode

Most government print devices are generally on all day, but are used only a portion of the

time. IT personnel can lower costs and reduce energy consumption by changing device

settings such that the device moves to “sleep mode” at the end of the working day and on

weekends. Settings for networked devices can be changed remotely but settings for nonnetworked devices will need to be updated at the device. Users should also consider

powering off devices at night and over the weekends to further reduce energy

consumption.
Changes to End User Applications

5. Default use of toner-efficient fonts

The use of toner-efficient fonts can reduce toner costs by up to 30% over Arial. IT personnel can

modify the default font used in word processing or presentation software to more toner-efficient

fonts such as Century Gothic, Garamond, or Times New Roman. Agency policies should also be

considered to drive the use of toner-efficient fonts.

Changes to the Print Fleet

6. Removal of personal printers

Although personal printers have a low sticker-price, their high toner costs and energy

consumption rates have led leading commercial firms to eliminate them from the

workplace. However, these devices are still all too common in Federal agencies. By staging

a campaign for employees to “turn in” their devices, agencies will reduce toner costs and

energy consumption. For the desktop printers that remain, IT personnel should ensure

that print requests are mapped to non-personal printers to reduce the amount of printing

from these devices.

7. Freeze purchases of personal printers

In concert with removing existing personal printers, agencies can develop policies to freeze

the purchase of new personal printers to make sure these devices are not purchased in the

future.