The Most Common Printer Mistakes to Avoid in Your Office

In a typical office environment, you can expect the printers be working overtime. In fact, according to the Paperless Project, the average office employee will print thousands of sheets of paper every single year. With so many printouts on an annual basis, the probability of things going wrong is very high. When they do, your company will likely lose time, money, and even have its reputation hindered by common printer mistakes made on a daily basis. Below are just some of the most common printer mistakes that take place in offices across Canada, and what you can to do avoid making them yourself.

Colour Printing

Many office workers make the mistake of accidentally printing in colour, even though most printouts are meant to be monochrome. These might only amount to a few extra cents but when you recall that a single employee prints thousands of sheets of paper every year, those few extra pennies can a quickly amount to several thousand dollars in a short period of time.

To fix this issue you need to simply go into the printer settings of your printer and ensure that the default colour preference is set to black-and-white instead of colour. If you are worried that some employees may be printing in colour against company policy then you can set up management systems that will actually restrict color printing unless the proper authorization is involved.

Using Low-Resolution Imagery

If you are planning on printing out a photo or two for a business presentation then you should make sure that the resolution of the photos is at least 300 PPI. PPI refers to pixels-per-inch, and finding the right resolution will vary depending on what type of software you are using as well as the type of computer involved. For instance, if you want to check the resolution on a personal computer then you can do so by simply right-clicking on the photo, clicking the properties tab, and then clicking on the details tab.

By looking through the image section you will be able to find out the dimensions of the image and in the file section, it will show you the size of the image file. However, if you are using a Mac, then you will need to open the photo in Preview mode and then simultaneously click on Command+I in order to check the info and PPI of the photo.

Poor Design Choices

Keeping designs and documents simple, especially in the business world, is of the utmost importance. Avoid overwhelming the eyes with bright and flashy colours and other imagery that may send your clients the wrong message. Instead, keep the text crisp and clean, and use dark colours. A document should not be saturated with content, as it may intimidate or overwhelm your readers. It is also recommended that you avoid using more than 3 colours per document, and the colours that you do use should complement each other if you want to impress your readers.

As for the font used, stick to the most popular corporate fonts, such as Georgia, Garamond, and Times New Roman. If, however, you would prefer a sans serif font over a serif font then you can't go wrong with Ariel, Century Gothic, or Tahoma. Essentially, avoid any fonts that are too detailed. Of course, there may be some exceptions to the rule, but, generally speaking, keep things nice and simple for most of your office printing needs.

Typographical Errors

Many behavioural psychologists claim that it only takes 4 seconds to make a good first impression. As such, if you want your company’s reputation to remain good, then you should always double-or triple-check your documents before you print them. Many companies make the common error of running a document through just a single spellcheck screening before they hit print.

Even a good spellcheck system is a fallible system and sometimes will still miss common diction errors. If a client notices spelling and grammatical errors then the professionalism of your company and its employees will be under heavy scrutiny. Take the time to thoroughly proofread documents. The extra 10-to-15 minutes of editing can make the difference between a deal going through and a deal going under later.

Printing Single-Sided Documents

While some copies and prints need to be single-sided many do not require it. In fact, by printing double-sided documents you can reduce your paper costs by 50% in an instant. In addition, make things easier on yourself and your employees by setting double-sided printing as your default printing mode via a print management system or the printer itself. By doing so, you can quickly switch the printer to the single-sided mode in the rare event that you need to print single-sided documents.

Printers are still central in virtually every office environment in Canada and serve as one of the most powerful and useful tools in the office supply industry. Unfortunately, many companies take their printers for granted, leading to printing issues down the line. By making the necessary changes to your printing habits you can save your company money, time, and effort, while also doing your part to reduce your company’s carbon footprint on the environment.

To learn more about looking after your office printer, call Direct Office Solutions at 1-647-557-1788 or contact us here.