Tweak Your Settings Before Hitting Print

To save paper and ink, preview your documents before you print, make sure you have the correct number of copies and destination, and use such handy functions as print selection and print manager.

Photo: Alex Slobodkin / istock

By Brian Clark Howard

To save paper and ink, preview your documents before you print, make sure you have the correct number of copies and destination, and use such handy functions as print selection and print manager. It only takes a second or two more, but will reduce the "d'ohs" at the printer tray and save a lot of waste.

Paper accounts for more than half of all trash. Do your part to reduce that by sending only exactly what you want to the printer. Most programs make it easy by allowing you to highlight what you need, then tick a box called "print selection." You can also specify a page number or range. Microsoft Word allows you to easily output two (or more) reduced-size pages on a single sheet.

Printing only the key information will also help you simplify clutter, and avoid the hassle of hunting through reams of repeated email signatures and other useless text. When printing off the Web, there are few things more maddening than ending up with copies of ads, footers and everything else but what you wanted.

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