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For example, I can choose the quality option on my printer like this. It resulted in sharper printouts but slower.

Print Quality (EPSON)

On the web some say that choosing high quality does use more ink while others say it's a myth. Which one is right?

s114
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3 Answers3

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It depends on your printer and how High Quality has been implemented.

On my Printers (HP) over time, High Quality does use a bit more ink and does take a bit more time to make the printed page clear and high quality text / picture features.

High Quality works for me.

A good test for you (your printer) is to print both ways and compare the results. Regular may be fine for you.

99% of the time, regular is fine for me as well.

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It's not a myth. But the printer manufacturers sure are glad this myth exists.

To be clear, I am only talking about inkjet and no other kind of printer. I am also talking about both thermal (the original) and piezoelectric (the new kind) printhead designs. This is probably true for laser printers as well but I have nothing but an assumption to back up my claim.

After all, printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids (by volume) available to mankind, even more expensive than crude oil, medicine and even human blood"

For an inkjet printer, that setting is directly proportional to amount of ink allowed into the ink chamber to be vaporized/sprayed. This is true for both thermal and piezoelectric ink jets.

I am not sure if it is very significant between std and high but on average draft mode will use only around about half of the ink.

Keep in mind, other factors also infuence your ink like:

  • Page coverage
  • Job frequency and time without printing (has to spray itself clean)
  • Paper type selection

The difference might not matter to some but to some of us "Ink N*zi"s, it makes a big difference in the life of my cartridges.

Some other links:

https://www.lexmark.com/common/images/iso-page-yields/understanding-print-cartridge-page-yields.pdf

https://www.imaging.org/site/IST/Resources/Imaging_Tutorials/How_an_Ink_Jet_Printer_Works/IST/Resources/Tutorials/Inkjet_Printer.aspx

Señor CMasMas
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I had a friend who complained about his Epson printer using so much ink. He ended up buying a new HP printer, which "solved" his problem. Afterwards I discovered that he used the high quality printer setting. As he already used his new printer and could not return it, I didn't mention it and made sure the new printer used the normal setting. It resulted in a life-long hate for Epson printers...

SPRBRN
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