How To Save Ink With A HP Deskjet F380

The HP Deskjet F380 is what is called an “all-in-one” printer. These devices are becoming more and more popular because they combine the usefulness of a printer, scanner and photocopier into one device; this saves space and means that the initial expense that one would have otherwise had to outlay on three individual devices is spared.

The HP Deskjet F380 Printer prints in a very high quality for such an inexpensive printer. It does this using inkjet, rather than laser technology. Although the benefit of inkjet is that it means the user can print both black and white and color documents, the ink is fairly expensive and, depending on how much a user prints, may need to be changed fairly often.

To limit the amount of times the ink needs to be changed (and hence the money you will have to pay), there are a few simple settings tweaks you might consider. By accessing the HP settings wizard that comes with the HP Deskjet F380, you can choose to print in a lower quality by default. This means that any unimportant documents, for your own personal use, will use less than half the ink. When printing a document to send to somebody else, you can manually increase the quality level using the properties button before you print. Using the HP utility, you can also adjust and lower the quality of the printout for photocopies.

However, when the ink does (inevitably) run out, it is a fairly simple operation to change it. Simply use the HP print utility to check the estimated ink levels. It should show that there is none left and give you the option to change the cartridge. By following the on screen prompts, the printer will extend the current ink cartridge to a point where you can pop it out and place a new one in its place. After this, continue with the on screen prompts and the printer will initialize the new cartridge and, if required, print a test page.

The HP Deskjet F380 is a versatile printer. By tweaking a few minor settings you can ensure that the ink lasts as long as possible and your ink costs are kept within your budget.