Environmentally friendly printing

Gustavus implemented a printing policy in Fall 2009 to track and appropriately charge for printing both black and white and color documents on campus. Below are some tips and tricks to help you maximize your printing.

General

  1. Take a moment to think about what you are printing. Ask yourself, "Do I really need to print this?"
  2. Hit the print button only once. The computer and printer might be slow to respond your print request.
  3. Use the print preview option before printing to double-check how it will print.
  4. Double-check the color options before printing. If you need to print in color, make sure it is turned on before printing so you don't have to print twice.
  5. Ask your professor if you may submit digital copies of your paper.
  6. Use a smaller text size and font, if possible.
  7. Use a font that uses less ink, such as Ecofont.
  8. Always print double sided (duplexing).
  9. When printing large documents, such as a thesis, print in smaller increments such as 10 pages at a time.
  10. Print fewer copies of articles and papers and share with classmates.

PDFs

Instead of printing PDF documents and carrying the paper around with you, save them in your Home Directory, Google Drive, or import them into iBooks to view later.

Microsoft Word

  1. If you only need to print one page of your Microsoft Word document, be sure to select "print current page." This option will print only the page where your cursor currently is.
  2. If you only need to print a Word document to use as a guide, consider printing 2 pages per side of paper.
  3. Use the shrink to fit option to reduce paper needed to print the document.
  4. Spell-check and proofread your document before printing.

Microsoft PowerPoint

  1. When printing PowerPoint presentations, print the handout versions so you can put 4 or 6 slides per page.
  2. Consider saving the presentation on your computer and using your computer to review the presentation.

Web browsing

  1. Use print preview, and only select the pages that actually have the web page on them. Sometimes there will be a page to print that is blank or nearly blank and isn't needed.
  2. Instead of printing the entire web page, cut and paste the information you need into a Word document.
  3. When available, use the printer friendly links on web pages that will give you the best results for printing.

External link

  • Ecofont — free font that uses up to 20% less ink
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