PC Printer Toner and Ink Moreno Valley CA

A computer printer without ink or toner is an expensive paperweight. Inkjet printers need ink cartridges, while laser printers need toner cartridges. You have to refer to your printer's manual for specifics on removing and adding ink or toner. Note that sometimes the instructions are easily found right under the printer's lid.

Ink cartridges

Inkjet printers use from one to six ink cartridges, depending on the type of printer. Ink cartridges come in the following types:

• Black ink only

• Multicolor: yellow, blue, and red ink

• Multicolor: two yellow inks, two red inks, and blue or cyan ink

• Individual colors

How your inkjet printer uses ink cartridges depends on the printer's price and purpose. For example, professional color-photo printers use six ink colors (including black). Some cheaper ink printers just use three colors and no black ink.

Sometimes there are multiple inks per cartridge, and sometimes inks come in separate cartridges.

When a color cartridge is empty — even if just one color is in a multicolor cartridge — the entire thing must be replaced. That's why you should buy an ink printer that has separate cartridges, one for each color.

Yes, ink cartridges are expensive!

Toner

Just like copy machines, laser printers use toner cartridges as their inky substance. The toner cartridges aren't cheap! Fortunately, you can get more pages of paper from a single laser printer toner cartridge than an inkjet printer gets from a single thimble of ink.

Color laser printers require up to five toner cartridges, one each for black, magenta, cyan, and yellow, plus an extra toner cartridge.

Ink and toner tips

• Remember the cartridge or toner part number for your printer! Not all ink or toner cartridges are alike; they're not interchangeable.

• Buy the brand-name ink cartridges, despite their extra cost. The print quality is better.

• Keep spare toner or ink cartridges available. Whenever you buy a new cartridge, buy two. That way, when you run out, you don't need to rush to the store right away.

• Change the ink or toner when it gets low. Do not delay. Do it at once. Failure to do so can damage your printer.

When you first see the toner-low signal from your laser printer, you can squeeze a few more pages from it (an exception to the preceding rule). Remove the toner cartridge from the printer and gently rock it back and forth to redistribute the ink powder. Reinsert the cartridge into the printer. The next time the toner-low signal appears, however, you must replace the toner; this trick works only once.

• Yes, you can use those toner-recharging places, which is cheaper than buying new toner from the manufacturer. Ditto for ink refilling, but ensure that you're getting quality stuff.

• You don't always have to print in color. You can save ink on an inkjet printer by printing test images in grayscale rather than full color all the time.