Black and White Photocopiers Fighting Back

Thursday, 28 May 2009 14:21

With the current economic recession affecting businesses across almost all industries, many businesses are looking to cut costs and reduce spending. This has seen businesses evaluate their printing and photocopying strategies, with many companies considering switching from colour to black and white photocopiers.

­The past few years have seen an increase in the number of businesses choosing to hire or purchase colour photocopiers and network printers over black and white devices. However, with more and more businesses trying to save money, many more are switching back to black and white printing, meaning that this colour printing trend may be set to reverse.

Switching from colour to black and white printing does not necessarily have to mean replacing all photocopiers and network printers. Colour photocopiers manufactured in the last few years often have the option to default to black and white printing and can be switched to colour printing only when it is absolutely necessary. This is a trend Canon Copiers have seen with an influx of enquires being sent regarding setting digital colour photocopiers to black and white printing as default.

Printing in colour has been shown to have many advantages, especially for promotional and sales materials, such as capturing attention, adding extra impact and looking more professional than black and white prints. The problem is that, despite the fact that colour printing and photocopying prices have decreased over recent years, it still works out substantially more expensive than black and white. However, when you incorporate the cost of outsourcing colour prints, it often works out more cost efficient to run a photocopier that can achieve black and white and colour printing and conduct all printing in-house.

Before deciding whether to switch to black and white printing as default from their colour device, businesses must make sure their colour photocopier or printer is capable of economic black and white printing. Some colour desktop network printers print in black and white by using all the colours together, if this is the case then switching to black and white output would not be more cost effective and could increase the amount of colour ink or toner used.

The current recession and changes in the world economy are bound to ignite many changes in businesses across all industries. The switch to more businesses being inclined to cut down on their colour printing is a sure sign that companies are looking for ways to reduce spending. Developing a strict print strategy in any business can be one of the quickest and simplest ways for any business to save money, and this could often mean only using the photocopiers for colour output when absolutely necessary, or choosing to run a black and white photocopier instead of a full colour device. Printing, if done correctly and organised so it is as efficient as possible, can be something that is vital for businesses to stay afloat.