Ink-Saving Typography: Choosing the Right Fonts for Printing Efficiency

When it comes to printing documents, most of us aim to conserve ink and reduce printing costs. Often, we resort to techniques like lowering print resolution or using grayscale to achieve this goal. While these methods can help, they won’t perform miracles. What many people don’t realize is that choosing the right font can also save a significant amount of ink—up to 50%.

Frequently, we default to using fonts like Arial that come preloaded in software programs. However, Arial is one of the most ink-intensive fonts, and while it looks professional, it’s not the best choice if you want to make the most of your expensive ink cartridges.

type writer

So, we’re here to present the fonts we consider the best for conserving ink when printing:

1. Courier New

  • A font with a long history, Courier New offers a slim and stylized appearance that minimizes ink usage. Printing with this font can yield approximately 256 pages of text from a single cartridge or toner.

2. Garamond

  • Garamond is a thin and elegant font with a classic touch. Its fine lines make it an excellent option for professional documents, and it ranks as the second most ink-efficient font, allowing for around 243 printed pages.

3. Ryman Eco

  • Ryman Eco, an English font, features a distinctive design where letters consist of hollow stripes. While it may seem unusual at first glance, it’s efficient when printed, providing approximately 216 pages of text per cartridge.

4. Times New Roman

  • Times New Roman is a classic font that has been a staple in various applications. Known for its professional appearance, it can yield about 166 pages with a single cartridge or toner.

5. Century Gothic

  • Recognizable and clean, Century Gothic is a Sans Serif font that’s easy to read. However, it’s not the most ink-efficient choice, offering only around 145 pages per cartridge.

6. Calibri

  • Introduced with Windows Vista and Office 2007, Calibri is a popular and attractive font. Unfortunately, it’s not ideal for ink conservation, providing a similar yield of around 145 pages per cartridge, similar to Century Gothic.

7. Ecofont Vera

  • Ecofont Vera, despite its name, doesn’t perform as well as expected. It includes gaps within the letters but results in fewer pages printed, around 146, compared to other fonts.

Choosing the appropriate font can make a significant difference in your ink consumption and printing costs. So, next time you print a document, consider opting for one of these ink-saving fonts to get the most out of your resources.