Get a free 'green' font, save on ink
The free Ecofont typeface promises to consume up to 20 percent less ink.
(Credit: Ecofont)There are lots of ways to save money on pricey printer consumables.
You can configure your print driver to output two pages on a single sheet of paper. You can enable "draft" mode to use less ink. And, of course, you can bypass printing altogether and generate PDFs.
Then there's Ecofont, a free typeface that promises to consume up to 20 percent less ink.
Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, Ecofont closely resembles your basic Arial, but with one key difference: holes. Each letter has loads of little holes punched out of it, meaning it requires less ink to print.
But as you can see in the example, Ecofont is still plenty readable. So why not use it for all your everyday print jobs?
I know, I know, there are lots of outline-style fonts that would accomplish more or less the same thing. But not many of them look just like Arial--or have the environmentally conscious "Eco" prefix. That's how you know it's "green."
Anyway, it's been about a million years since I installed a new font. If you need a refresher course like I did, you can find help on the Ecofont download page.
Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog. 
especially the ones those tards on sunday have been posting
- by halftheink October 17, 2009 9:07 AM PDT
- PretonSaver Home is a software that turn every font to green font - saving you up to 50% of your ink consumption. And, it does it without compromising on print quality!
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- by beezeebe October 19, 2009 7:31 AM PDT
- I agree with halftheink. I downloaded the software and i love it. I have full control over savings and performance and it's so easy to use. I think it is the only software that allows you to set different saving level to different objects on the same page.. this is so cool! i can save 50% on all printed text and at the same time ask for only 25% on photos on the same page. I can even ask not to print images! I print a lot and in the last 3 weeks i saved almost $20! The software called PretonSaver and it does to any of font exactly the same thing that Ecofont does (i.e remove pixeld) but with PretonSaver you don't need to use only one font and you can use any font and any printer you like
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(12 Comments)Based on unique patent-pending Pixel Optimizer? technology, it uses advanced algorithms to identify and delete ?wasteful? pixels, pixels who are not required for achieving quality printouts.
You don't have to use new fonts or change the way you work. You install PretonSaver and it does the ink optimization in the background.
Try it out for free. Goto http://www.halftheink.com to download PretonSaver and start saving today.