First and foremost, make sure you update your equipment to an Energy Star certified machine–that’s the first and easiest step! Make sure when getting rid of your past copiers to dispose of them at proper electronic disposal areas so your upgrade doesn’t, ironically, negatively impact the environment.

Next up is making sure the supplies you’re using are helping to create a greener office environment as well. To start, utilize ink cartridges that can be refilled or purchase manufactured cartridges, both of which help to eliminate the over abundance of certain plastics and inks. In addition, make sure you’re recycling the cartridges being used so they can eventually return to the market.

There are plenty of paper saving tips around, from utilizing recycled paper to not printing unless it’s totally crucial. One thing you can do, when it comes to your copiers, is to set them on duplex, which makes your copier print double sided, theoretically cutting your paper consumption by half.

Take a look at this article to learn more–and in the mean time, learn more about World Trade Copiers by watching the video below!

The major difference, you’ll notice at the checkout, is the price: Toner is generally more expensive than ink, but they both now come in refillable cartridges to save on money. Basically, toner is used in laser printers or color copiers while ink is, generally, only used in ink-jet printers (and occasionally high speed scanners).

Toner is actually created with a very fine grain powder that ranges in quality based on how fine the final product is. Coupled with a polymer, toner is placed on the potential image, then coated with said polymer (which type depends on the purpose) and can be seen from the glossy sheen created by its seal.

On the other hand, ink cartridges for inkjet printers evolved from the need for high-output business needs. Stemming from their inception in the medical field, they quickly became the choice for large corporations that burn through massive amounts of print loads. Recently, you’ll find many more inkjet printers in the home–as the technology developed to a point where printers are smaller and more affordable than their toner-based counterparts.

Office copiers can be a bit tricky to operate if you don’t have much experience with them. In order to get the perfect photocopy, it may help to follow a few of these useful tips and tricks:

Pick The Best Paper For The Job: If you are looking to make copies of business or professional documents for the workplace, 24 lb. paper may be your best bet. For copies of photos, try using photo or glossy paper, whichever matches your preferences.

Make Sure the Paper Is Neat and Organized: In order to prevent any potential paper jams, keep your paper neat, crisp, and organized. Make sure the edges aren’t sticking out and that the paper is in line with the machine. You also don’t want to pack in too much paper into your color copier.

Select The Lightness or Darkness Levels: To gain the best contrast for your photocopies, you can select the lightness or darkness levels to help bring out the text or pictures in your documents. Make sure to correctly adjust these levels prior to your copy.

Clean the Glass to Avoid and Smudges or Blurry Spots: Each time you make a copy, make sure to carefully wipe off the glass in order to avoid any smudges or blurry spots in your photocopies.

• Power off your office copy machine, open up your printer tray and carefully remove the cartridge.
• Look at the sticker with a series of letters and numbers on the back of your cartridge. Write down the corresponding numbers and letters to use when finding your new toner cartridge.
• Research your ink cartridge online or bring it into a local office supply store to find the proper replacement for your machine.
• Carefully insert the new ink cartridge into your color copier, turn it on, and wait for instructions.
• Your copier may make a few test copies to make sure that the new ink toner is working properly.

After replacing your ink toner, feel free to make all the work copies that you need! You deserve it, after all!

Bond Paper Weights: Often the most common type of paper used in office copy machines, bond paper comes in 16 lb., 20 lb, and 24. lb. weights. Although 20 lb. bond paper is the most popular copier paper, 24 lb. is more common for business letterhead and stationery. 28 lb. or 32 lb. is often used for two-sided print jobs, such as books or brochures.  The heavier the paper, the lower the show-through rate!

Cover Stock Weights:  Cover stock weight is a bit heavier than bond paper weights, coming in at around 65 lb – 100 lb. weights.  Restaurants often use 65 lb. weights when printing out their menus. 80 lb. stock is most commonly used for business cards, while 100 lb. stock can be used for invitations.

Index Stock Weights:  Index stock is the heaviest paper available, with an average weight of around 90 lb. – 140 lb. The heaviest 140 lb. paper is normally used for posters, table tents, and signage while the 90 lb. and 110 lb. stocks are designed to meet U.S. postal requirements for mailing applications. Just make sure that your office copiers are able to handle this heavyweight paper.

With most copy machines, you can easily remove the internal hard drive and free up some space by erasing all of the unnecessary files. You may also want to delete any information that others will take advantage of, such as confidential reports, personal identification, and bank statements.

In order to prevent this information from saving to your machine in the first place, you can easily install a security device at the time of purchase, These usually cost around $400-$500 and will erase your data within seconds of any copy you make. Installing security devices on your color copy machines will help you feel more at ease when copying any confidential or personal documents.