To check your ink levels on an industrial Epson Printer, go to your desktop and double-click the printer icon on the right side of your taskbar. A window should appear, where you can click the ‘Maintenance; tab. Then, select your printer. A graphic should appear that displays the approximate ink levels‒typically cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
You don’t need to replace every ink or toner cartridge every time you see the ‘low ink” alert.’ Airmark offers the best Epson commercial ink toner supplies so you always have exactly what you need on hand–and you don’t have to halt your orders.
In this blog post, we’ll dive into how you can check your ink cartridge levels before they run low and where to find the best inks for commercial printing with your Epson printer.
Checking Ink Cartridge Levels
If you’ve just received a large and intensive order or haven’t replaced your ink cartridges in a while, it’s a good idea to check their levels before you print. When your ink levels are low and you begin a large print job, your prints can come out less vibrant, spattered, and faded. This results in a lower quality product or a total waste of materials.
By checking your levels before you print, you can replace low cartridges before they can make a negative impact on your prints.
On Mac
To access the printer driver on your Mac, go to the system preferences on your Apple menu. Next, click ‘Print and Fax’ and select your printer from the list of printers in the box. From there, click ‘Options and Supplies,’ ‘Utility,’ then ‘Open Printer Utility.’
Then, select ‘Epson Status Monitor.’ You should see a visual graphic that details each ink cartridge and its current levels.
On Windows
If you have a printer shortcut icon on your desktop or Windows toolbar, simply double-click that icon. If you do not have a shortcut set-up, you can access your printer’s information by clicking the start button and selecting ‘Control Panel.’ From there, select ‘Printers and Other Hardware,’ then ‘Printers and Faxes.’ Select your desired printer.
Now, you should have access to the printer driver. Click the ‘Maintenance’ tab and click the ‘Epson Status Monitor’ button. This will show you a graphic that displays the approximate ink levels.
Can You Replace With Non-Epson Ink Cartridges?
While it’s tempting to replace your Epson ink with off-brands or other lower-budget options, the truth is that you get what you pay for. Printing experts don’t recommend substituting Epson inks with other brands for Epson printers because it can have major negative impacts on your projects and equipment. So, while you think you might be saving yourself some money, you could potentially cost your company thousands.
Here are a few reasons you should avoid replacing your Epson ink with third-party ink cartridges:
Lower Print Quality
These third-party ink cartridges typically come with compromised quality, causing your print jobs to suffer. If the ink isn’t compatible with your printer, it can result in blurry lines, fading, and blotting.
Damage to Printer
A common issue with third-party inks is malfunctions and printer damage. When you pay for low-budget ink, you can expect low-budget results. Typically, this looks like the cheaper ink gradually clogging printer heads. Blocked printer heads can result in streaks, dots, and absent colors in your prints.
While this can be fixed, it requires frequent cleaning for your printer to get it operational again. This creates expensive downtime that could have been otherwise spent on completing more orders. It also costs more labor hours to cover the repeated cleaning and maintenance.
Cartridge Failure
There are many situations in which your third-party large-format printer ink cartridges might not even work when you install them into your Epson printer. Many times, the printers don’t recognize the new cartridge’s chip, which can cause the printer to stall or stop the print job.
Additionally, these cartridges may not even fit into the cartridge slot. When you try to cram an incompatible cartridge into your printer, you could cause permanent damage to your printer. An improper fit can also result in an ink leak, which could damage other components of your printer’s internal parts.
Instead of scrambling for a cheap substitute that costs you more in the long run, browse Airmark’s wide selection of premium Epson inks today!
